Barefoot Running Shoes

Vibram Bikila’s and Other Five Fingers in Stock at TravelCountry

barefootie — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 21:32:14 +0000

Our friends over at Travel Country have passed along the good news that they have just received a brand new shipment of Vibram FiveFingers. This means if you were trying to get a hold of the right size FiveFingers you now have a better chance of doing so (it’s crazy how popular these shoes are!). The even better news is they have more Bikila stock so act quick before someone else scoops them all up.

Here’s what they told us they have:

Sprints Mens Black sizes 40-47
Sprint Womens Grey/Hawaiin Ocean sizes 36-42 (selling quickly!)
KSO Mens Red/Black Remix sizes 40-47
Resupplied on Mens Bikilas (all colors EXCEPT new Royal Blue) sizes 40-47
Bikila Womens Sky Blue/Dark Grey sizes 36-42 (as well as a resupply on the other colors!)
KSO TrekSport Mens Black/Charcoal sizes 40-44
Classic Smartwool Mens Charcoal/Black sizes 40-47
Classic Smartwool Womens in Champagne AND Charcoal colors sizes 36-42 in each

Don’t know if you saw but Classic SmartWool FiveFingers they have available. If you didn’t know these are the Vibram Classic shoes that everyone has grown to love, but only now made with SmartWool fabric which prevents odors and increases breathability. Good stuff!

Matt’s Fake Vibram FiveFingers KSO Experience

barefootie — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 12:00:30 +0000

Here Matt explains his experiences with both the KSO and KSO Trek’s as well as his experiences with the fake Vibram FiveFIngers (Be careful!). Thank you Matt for sharing.

I wear barefoot shoes exclusively. I have some KSOs for casual and KSO Trek for work. I work in a hospital setting and they cause quite a stir. I got the second pair so I could get black on black and be closer to OSHA compliance. I used to have pain in my right hip–it is totally gone. My toes look different and have more independent movement. My gait has changed and my right foot does not turn in as much as it did (it always has turned in slightly). I swear by these shoes and I give testimonials to 5 people a week at least. I am 25 years old and live in Atlanta.

I decided to try barefoot running shoes because I was tired of washing socks and I wanted a shoe that was durable–I was excited they could be washed in the clothes washer.

The process of getting my KSOs was a little dramatic. I went to buy online and after my purchase I discovered that I had bought from a fake web site in China. I had to trick them to cancel my order by telling them I ordered the wrong size and color. I then went to REI and bought one of the two varieties they carried. I got my second pair at Abbadabba’s, a local company I think.

The only argument I have heard to contradict my personal experience and just logical conclusions regarding these shoes is that our ancestors did not run or walk on surfaces like concrete. Other than that running barefoot must be better for you. Millions of years of evolution sculpted our feet to be perfect–that being said, some people may be mutated or mixed in their feet!

I have attached a pic of me wearing my KSOs–it is a casual day for me!

Matt

To submit your own experiences, visit out User Submission section.

New Balance Minimus Teaser Photos and Surprises

barefootie — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 05:26:15 +0000

OK so it seems like no one really liked my personal rendition of what a New Balance Minimus shoe might look like. But desperate times called for desperate measures since searching online for any photos yielded nothing tangible. However, it looks like our prayers have been answered. New Balance has sent us some teaser photos of the Minimus…and they look sexy! Looking at the photos also reveals some very surprising info. Read and watch on!

Recap for anyone not familiar with the Minimus Shoe Collection:

This is a dedicated barefoot-inspired shoe line that will include 3 different modesl to start: running, trail running, and a wellness model
Minimus will launch officially in March of 2011
Minimus collection is built on lots of testing and past experience with other minimalist shoes (like MT100/WT100 and the upcoming New Balance 101 shoes)

Looking at the photos (especially the last photo) reveals some interesting information

Looks like it’s using a very breathable mesh-like material (similar to the 100 or 101 line of trail running shoes)
Most shocking is the fact that Vibram, who is well known for their Vibram FiveFingers barefoot shoes, is supplying the outer sole for the shoe and their logo is prominently featured on the shoe

It’s interesting how Vibram will be supplying parts of the shoe for the Minimus collection. Vibram, if you didn’t know, well before the popularity of FiveFingers, has been in the business of making high quality rubber outer soles for other shoe makers…a lot of their soles end up making their way into boots. What’s intersting is how the Minimus collection represents competition for FiveFingers, but at the same time a business opportunity.

All along I was thinking how Vibram would need to look out for competition from New Balance, but it seems like it’s not so clear cut anymore…since technically they are partners too. Overall I think it’s a good win/win situation…can’t wait for more details to emerge.

Let us know what you think. You think they’ll also do a FiveFinger toed version New Balance shoe?

New Balance Minimus is Coming…FiveFingers Watch Out?

barefootie — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 09:30:59 +0000

We just got some exciting news from our friends over at New Balance about their upcoming barefoot-inspired shoe line called the “Minimus”.

If you weren’t aware New Balance is or has been working on their own line of dedicated minimalist shoes. With all the popularity that Nike Free and Vibram FiveFingers have been getting it only makes sense that New Balance would officially jump into the barefoot fray themselves.

Even though the Minimus line doesn’t go on sale until March 2011, New Balance plans to officially debut the Minimus publicly for the first time at the 2010 Outdoor Retailer Show next week in Salt Lake City.

In preparation for this exciting launch New Balance recently just posted an interview with the Minimus’s product manager, Katherine Petrecca (pictured on right). You can read the whole interview here. Below are some of the highlights from the interview.

Minimus line was developed as a response to an increased interest in barefoot running from runners and the scientific community as well (based on Lieberman’s research)
It will be a cross functional shoe good for road running, trail running, and general wellness
They’ve taken their 4 years experience with minimalist trail running shoes (like the MT100 or WT100) to develop the Minimus
They’ve tested and confirmed Lieberman’s barefoot running research in the lab, so a lot of the Minimus’s development is based on their scientific findings
Won’t be available until March 2011 (so be patient)

What’s interesting to see is how New Balance views barefoot shoes and how the Minimus fits into that equation:

With NB Minimus, the idea is to balance this desire to deliver a “closer to barefoot” experience with the realities of the terrain on which people are running today, and the fact that most of us have been raised in shoes. With that in mind, for NB Minimus we developed a new, more anatomically-correct last, along with midsole heights specifically-engineered to deliver more natural movement, and better form.

We’re pretty excited for the Minimus and can’t wait to try them out. Even before that we are pretty curious to see what the look like. After a quick google search the only thing I could find was a half covered prototype of the Minimus (courtesy of Flickr user phungy.iphone).

We can’t confirm if this is actually it, but for now that’s what all we have until next week when New Balance officially announces the shoe.

On the interview page they do give us some teasers (see below) on what this shoe may look like.

So using our internal shoe rendering programs (ie namely myself and my photoshop skills) this is what the Minimus could look like when released.

Until then we’ll just wait with anticipation. We’re confident it will be worth the wait come March 2011 when they become available.

[Update/Clarification]

Katherine was kind enough to inform us that the Minimus is actually the name of the entire shoe line New Blance is planning on launching in March, and not specifically a name of a shoe. What has been confirmed is that there will be 3 different models during launch…

3 different models: running, trail running & wellness. All of the models share key elements of reduced stack height, 4mm heel to toe drop, new last and extremely low weight. But the sole and upper of each has been tuned for different end uses.

Thanks for the clarification!

New Balance MT100 Official Review

barefootie — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 12:00:36 +0000

Like we mentioned in our first impressions of the New Balance 100 shoes we were very fortunate to have New Balance send us a pair of MT100′s to allow us to review. Now that is’ been a few months and I’ve been able to spend some significant time with these shoes we thought it’d be good to give you guys are “official” look into these shoes.

If you you want the quick and dirty version of our review be sure to check out video review below:

Intro

For those of you who aren’t familiar with the New Balance 100 (MT100 is mens, WT100 is womens) line of shoes these are their off-road trail-running, minimalist shoes. I know that’s a mouthful, so I really like to think of these as an off-road barefoot running shoe. Something where you could technically run with your Five Fingers with, but honestly wouldn’t since your foot would probably be in so much pain you wouldn’t get that far. It’s great to see that since New Balance declared that there was validity in the barefoot running movement that they’ve dedicated resources to developing shoes that follow this philosophy. The New Balance 100 and its successor the New Balance 101 are all consequences of that decision.

Style

Out of the box I really liked these shoes. While maybe not as fashion forward as some of the Nike Free shoes, I liked the simplicity and “earthiness” look to these shoes. I’m color blind, so I can’t really speak too much as to the color choices, but I know don’t mind them and they seem to match my jeans just alright.

Build

Build quality of these shoes are really good as you would expect from a company like New Balance. What is deceiving about these shoes especially if you were just to look at the pictures is just how light these shoes are. it looks like a traditional shoe, but it’s much lighter than you would expect. I wouldn’t say it’s as light as the Nike Free 5.0 v4 or Vibram Classics that I own, but it comes pretty close (and remember this shoe is designed for off road trail running).

Check out the video below to see how flexible the MT100 is compared to Nike Free 5.0 or Vibram Classic:

The back of the shoe is made with this kind of foam like/cardboard type material that has some flexibility, but also supports and maintains the overall shape of the shoe. The outer part of the shoe is made with a breathable light plastic mesh material. It’s kind of trippy since if you hold the shoe up to the light it let’s light through as it’s semi-translucent.

The other part that I thought was cool are the shoelaces. At first I thought there was something wrong with the shoes since they were all kind wavy and scrunched up. But then I discovered that that was done on purpose and is what New Balance calls their “Sure Lace” shoe laces. It’s shaped all bubbly to help prevent your shoelaces from becoming untied.

One thing that will strike you at first about these shoes is the strong chemical smell when you first open the box. It’s not totally unpleasant, but it’s a pretty synthetic plasticy smell (luckily over time this goes away). I think of it kind of like a new car smell…

Running

I was a little skeptical how well these shoes would do while running in them. From the outside it looked like a normal running shoe. But yet again I was reminded by life’s humble less that you can’t judge a book by its cover. The first thing I noticed while running in these shoes is actually how flat these shoes are. It’s kind of deceptive but it’s actually relatively easy to run with a flat foot strike or mid-foot strike in these shoes After taking another look at the design if you look inside the shoe you’ll see that the heel is not as raised high as other running shoes which allows the foot to be relatively flat on the ground.

Contrast this with the Nike Free 5.0 and it’s definitely no comparison when it comes to trying to run with a more flat footed gait. The Nike free has a much higher heel when compared to the New Balance 100.

I spent quite a few miles running in these shoes and it’s been quite the treat. I love the fact that I can focus on running more mid-foot / fore-foot strike in these shoes and i like the fact that there’s more padding than say Vibram FiveFingers Classic which allows me to runner for longer and slightly faster (since the shoe minimizes the impact of the hard concrete, which I normally run on).

Issues

While I really like the shoe there were some small issues that I did have with the shoe. Just like the Nike Free, the New Balance 100 shoes claim that you can wear them without socks. Thanks to the breathable outer layer it’s supposed to help keep your feet dry. In theory this makes sense, but in practice your feet will still sweat (I did at least).

The bigger issue, though, is that I gave myself a nasty blister on the back of my heel. These were such a joy to run in that I probably over did it. I did like 3 miles without socks and came home to a blister. Partly to blame is the stiff back portion of the shoe. With socks, though, I haven’t had that many problems.

The other minor issue others might have is the smell. I wore these shoes into work a few times and for 8 hours I smelled that chemical plastic smell. It’s not a very healthy smell (but again it wears off).

Conclusion

I like these shoes a lot, actually more so than my Nike Free 5.0 shoes. Though not as flexible as the Nike Free, I like how they are more flat than them which in turn allow you to run more naturally barefoot-like. I like the look the and feel as well. Unfortunately if you are looking to get a pair that might be hard as many stores seem to be low in stock as they are clearing them out. Check out our shoe page for the MT100 (mens) and WT100 (womens) for places that sell them. Don’t despair if you can’t find a pair as the New Balance 101, the legitimate successor to the New Balance 100, are just around the corner. New Balance plans on selling these new shoes in October of 2010.

New Barefoot Running Shoes Website Design

barefootie — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 00:02:38 +0000

We’re happy to announce that we have a brand new website design for BarefootRunningShoes.org. If you are reading this post on our website then you are looking at our new design right now. If you aren’t then you should come to the site to check it out. We haven’t really added more features to the site as much as just organized and presented information in a better way. Keep reading for the changes and improvements we’ve made.

Old Home Page:

New Home Page:

Here are some of the changes we’ve made:

Barefoot shoe brands have moved to the top of the page (instead of along the left side of the page)
When you look at a shoe brand page we’ve added a section of where you can buy that brand of shoe both for men’s and women’s styles of that brand’s shoes
Increased the width of the website (so that means you hopefully have less scrolling to do while reading)
Added a popular barefoot shoes section on the home page (so you can see what other people are liking)
Added a prominent “Feedback” page where you can let us know what you think or ask us any questions

That in a nutshell are some of the major changes we’ve done to the site. Take a look around and let us know what you think. Do you like the new design? Hate it? Don’t care? Or have something else that you wanted to let us know? Let us know by leaving us comment below or trying out our new feedback page.

2010 Nike Free Shoes Line Explained

barefootie — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 20:06:25 +0000

For some reason Nike insists on making their shoe names the most complicated and convoluted system on the planet. OK, so it’s not THAT bad, but in my humble opinion it’s pretty darn silly and confusing for consumers looking to buy a pair of their shoes. This is especially the case with the Nike Free line of shoes

A little background on the Nike Free shoes. When they first started the Nike Free line of shoes Nike decided to take an innovative approach to the naming of their shoes. They created a scale from 1.0 to 10.0 (not sure why they have the “.0″ since I’ve yet to see a Nike Free 2.5 shoe) where 1.0 is supposed to represent the feeling of running barefoot while 10.0 is supposed to represent your traditional well-supported and typically not so flexible running shoe. Alongside this scale they started to name their shoes. They had the Nike Free 3.0, Nike Free 5.0, and then the Nike Free 7.0. Once you understood this you had a good idea that if you wanted a more “in-the-middle-of-the-road” barefoot-like running experience you’d probably go for a Nike Free 5.0 versus a Nike Free 3.0.

However, as the Nike Free line of shoes started to get more popular Nike naturally got more greedy and want to capitalize on this new barefoot “flexible” phenomenon. So they started getting extra fancy with their naming and features (which we explained in our post on deciphering Nike Free naming conventions). They started to be inconsistent with their naming conventions (putting roman numerals in the names, version numbers, etc…).

What I didn’t realize until this year is rather than keep the same name of a popular shoe like Vibram does with their Five Finger shoes, Nike likes to come up with brand new shoe names which replace older models (example is Nike Free Run+ replacing the Nike Free 5.0 v4 shoe).

Anyway, I’ve ranted on long enough, below I’ve tried to make sense of the 2010 Nike Free line of shoes so you don’t have to suffer like I did trying to figure it out.

2010 Nike Free Shoe Line

Nike Free 3.0 V2

As mentioned before the 3.0 is Nike’s most barefoot-like running shoe. There’s minimal support and padding on the shoe and it’s even more flexible than the Nike Free 5.0 or other Nike Free shoes. The V2 means this is the second version of the shoe. They make this shoe for both men and women.

Learn more about Nike Free 3.0 V2 Men.

Nike Free Run+

This we believe is the successor to the now discontinued Nike Free 5.0 v4. It features many of the same color combinations and look and feel as a Nike Free 5.0 v4, with some improvements. The biggest improvement is that the Run+ features a sensor in the sole of the shoe to be used with their running monitoring system (which allows you to run and track your runs via your ipod or other supported devices). If you are interested in learning more check out our unboxing the Nike Free Run+ Video. Comes in both men and women sizes.

Learn more about Nike Free Run+ Men or Nike Free Run+ Women.

Nike Free 5.0 ID

So they got rid of the Nike Free 5.0 v4, but they do offer the original Nike Free 5.0 ID shoe. What’s ID mean? It just means you can customize this shoe by deciding what type of design pattern to use. Of course you pay extra for this feature.

Learn more about Nike Free 5.0 ID.

Nike Free N7 5.0

Like I said nike gets increasingly creative with different ways they can add random letters and numbers to their shoe names. Here we have the N7 5.0. After reading Nike’s product description it appears anything with “N7″ in the name just means eco-friendly. Only comes in women’s sizes.

Learn more about Nike Free N7 5.0.

Nike Free 5.0 v4 ID

If the original Nike Free 5.0 ID wasn’t good enough you can opt to get a Nike Free 5.0 v4 ID. A customized version of the 5.0 v4. So if you really still like the Nike Free 5.0 v4, but can’t find it anywhere, then you can order it directly from Nike. Comes in both mens and womens sizes.

Learn more about Nike Free 5.0 v4 ID Men and Nike Free 5.0 V4 ID Women.

Nike Free N7 5.0 v4

Here we have the N7 5.0 v4. In case you forgot N7 means this is an environmentally-friendly Nike shoe. Again this is another option for you if you are really looking for a pair of 5.0 v4 shoes but can’t find them. Only comes in men’s sizes.

Learn more about Nike Free N7 5.0 v4.

Nike Free 7.0 v2

The v2 suggests that this is Nike’s second version of the Free 7.0, but the funny thing is that back when I first learned about Nike Free, I didn’t even know there was a Nike Free 7.0 v1! Apparently, these look like they are replacing the Nike Free Everyday+ 2 (minus the sensors) in terms of where they fit on the barefoot scale. As such these come in both men’s and women’s sizes.

Learn more about Nike Free 7.0 v2 Men or Nike Free 7.0 v2 Women.

Nike Free TR Training Shoe

The name suggests that this is a cross training shoe and from the fact that they have also discontinued the Nike Free SPARQ’09 I’m guessing that the Free TR replaces the SPARQ’09. This is a men’s shoe only.

Learn more about Nike Free TR.

Nike Free Hyper TR Training Shoe

You might think by name alone that TR shoe is just a crazier more extreme version of the TR training shoe (afterall what else are you supposed to infer from the word “Hyper”). But that would only make sense in a logical world, and Nike doesn’t play in that world. Instead the Hyper here seems to mean women as this shoe only comes in womens sizes and designs (where as the TR only comes in mens). Don’t ask me why…

Learn more about Nike Free Hyper TR.

Nike Free Run+ Initial Review and Exhibition

barefootie — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 11:41:15 +0000

This is my initial review of the Nike Free Run+ shoes after running 4-5 miles in them on the treadmill. If you can’t tell by the video, I am excited that these shoes are so comfortable. This is what I think so far:Nike Free Usage

Great for running, very light
Great for casual wear because it’s so comfortable
Not bulky but not as minimalist as the Vibram FiveFingers, it’s still a real shoe.
Has an elevated heel but the flexibility of the shoe makes it so striking on the mid foot feels more natural than it would in another shoe.

Nike Free Style

I like the simple style of the shoe, maybe my neon green colors isn’t the best for casual and going out wear but the simple breathable design is perfect for my tastes.

Nike+ Technology

As you can see the shoe is Nike+ technology capable which allows you to place a chip and track your running progress. But this is sold separately and costs about 30 dollars USD.

Overall Impression

Great Feel, never had such a light running shoe that was actually a shoe (as opposed to the FiveFingers)
Price is very reasonable, around 85.00 Dollars USD. I could buy 2 of these instead of the Newton Running Shoes.
Comfortable and I don’t mind wearing them out all day casually.

Video

Below is a video of my wearing and moving around in the Nike Free Run+ shoes. As you can see they are pretty flexible and light:

Vibram Bikila Unboxing and First Impressions

barefootie — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 12:00:05 +0000

The folks over at Travel Country were very kind to send us a pair of the super popular (and from we’ve discovered) and super hard to get Vibram Five Finger Bikila shoes. Why are they so hard to get? Because people are buying them faster than Vibram can make!

Anyway, what makes the Vibram Bikila so special compared to the other Five Finger shoes is this is one of the first Vibram’s design specifically with runners in mind. It has more traction and support than previous Five Fingers and in terms of quality it seems that Vibram used nicer materials to produce a nicer looking five toe shoe. The extra support makes a lot of sense as one of my past complaints of the FiveFinger Classics has been when you run on concrete it does put more stress on your forefoot. If you are a beginner that can be quite painful. From the looks of the Bikila it would seem the extra support would go a long way to providing extra comfort for runners.

Once we get to spend some more time with them we’ll post up a follow up review. For now enjoy these pictures.

Nike Free Run+ (Plus): The Unboxing

barefootie — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 07:26:39 +0000

In this video I am unboxing the New Nike Free Run+. This shoe is a so called upgrade from the Nike Free 5.0s. Although the differences between the 2 shoes are not that huge, there are a few differences that they talk about. One is the material near the ankle of the shoe. It is softer and gives it more of a “sock” feel to it and is less irritating.

These Nike Frees are also Nike+ ready. The shoe allows a chip to be placed in the shoe so you can record the distances you run using the Nike+ technology. To find out more information about the Nike Free Plus, watch the video and then go to our Nike Free Plus page.