The Evolv Cruzers are not (yet) well-known parkour shoes. This may be because they are not actually parkour shoes; they are approach shoes, meant for rock-climbers who need a shoe that’s grippier than a hiking boot, but not a hardcore climbing shoe built for cliff faces. Sound like it would be an ideal shoe for parkour? Let’s find out.

Comfort

The Evolv Cruzers are the only “parkour” shoes that I know of to have a split tongue, which is quite nifty. It eliminates the problem of the tongue shifting to one side or the other. Hopefully this feature will become more common on other parkour shoes – and shoes in general – in the next few years.

The Cruzers fit really well, nice and snug. Even when tightened enough that they’ll stay on during high speed maneuvers, they’re not so tight that the top laces dig into the top of my foot. Speaking of laces: they’re a good length, neither too short nor too long. They’ll come undone during swift movement if you’re not careful, but a double-knot or lace replacement should fix that problem.

The arch support is so minimal it’s doesn’t even classify as arch support. The removable insole is thick, but the actual shoe sole is pretty thin. The end result is a shoe that’s comfortable when accidentally heel-striking, but still has the sensitivity of a thinner shoe.

The only complaint I have about the comfort is that during long training sessions, the back of the shoe will sometimes dig into my Achilles tendon. This could theoretically be mitigated by wearing thicker socks, but that’s far from an ideal solution. However, the heel is designed to be tucked under like a clog or a slipper. In the unlikely event the chafing on your Achilles tendon gets so bad you have to stop training, you’ll be able to walk to your car in comfort.

Grip

Generally amazing. Predictably, since it’s a rock-climbing shoe, it sticks like a dream on brick, rock, and rough bark. This shoe is a dream for wall runs and tic-tacs on brick. The grip is decent on flatter surfaces like wood and marble; it isn’t great on wet surfaces, but it’s not terrible either.

A few weeks after getting the Cruzers, I hiked a mile uphill, during a pouring rain, on a trail that was basically a muddy stream. In retrospect, it was not the best time for a hike – but I didn’t slip once. If you’re fond of “nature training,” this is the shoe for you.

Rail precisions are the only area on which I don’t like the grip. The Trax rubber just isn’t suited for them. They’re certainly doable, but other shoes are better for that particular movement.

Weight

The Cruzers, weighing in at sub–8oz, are a solid ounce less than Feiyues. For you metric people, that’s less than 227 grams. Objectively, they’re really light. Subjectively, they don’t even feel like they’re there. If you have problems with the Cruzer’s weight, just go barefoot.

Flexibility

This picture needs no explanation. They’re plenty flexible. I wouldn’t roll them into a ball like Feiyues, but they’ll be absolutely fine for normal parkour shoe usage.

I will note that the Cruzers are stiff around the toe box, wherever the black rubber rises above the sole. This is to be expected, but it may take you a few days to get accustomed to it. I tripped a little the first two times the toes unexpectedly caught on an obstacle while passing over it, but after that my spatial awareness extended to be aware of that aspect of the shoe. It shouldn’t be a big deal as long as you learn to manage it.

Durability

In the interests of full disclosure, I did not put this shoe through a truly extensive durability test full of hundreds of arm jumps and wall runs. However! I did do enough to get a good grasp of how they will wear. They’re about middle of the road. Nothing too special, but they’ll definitely last a while.

Around the laces, the cloth has gotten a little frayed, but all the crucial attachment points are still rock-solid. I don’t foresee that being a problem in the future.

The eyelets under the most stress are metal. Nicely done, Evolv.

Bottom Line

The Evolv Cruzers are my current favorite parkour shoe, replacing the Onitsuka Tiger Ultimate 81s. Why? I liked the Tigers because they are a jack-of-all trades, doing everything well. The Cruzers do almost everything just a little bit better than the Tigers. The Tigers surpass the Cruzers is in rail precisions, maybe durability, and price. The Cruzers beat the Tigers in grip, comfort, flexibility, and utility; i.e., they have more uses. For me, this is enough to call it a superior shoe for the majority of traceurs. Are you in that majority? I can’t tell you. Decide what’s most important to you and buy your shoes accordingly.

You can get the Evolv Cruzers from Amazon.com and many other places on the web. The average price seems to be in the $70 range.

Fizzle- Little Pieces

Sasha Sheva: My twenty-twelve

LUCI STEEL ROMBERG – Pro Freerunning Reel

Tam With A Cam 04 (Tam Breaks The Cam)

[Make sure to click on 2 underneath the related posts.]

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14% Speeders Famiy “Jumping in the Streets again”

Fizzle- Little Pieces

MONKEY’S-R-US

I was second, because i am loser

Sasha Sheva: My twenty-twelve

AZO Showreel 2012

The Weekly Video Showcase is a compilation of the best parkour videos from the past 7 days.

Watch them all here.

But does this mean your skills have to regress since you can’t train? Of course not. There are plenty of ways to keep up your skills and make progress, even if you live someplace absurdly cold.

Keep training (even in the snow)

It was actually snowing during this pic. Lazy snow.

If you can, keep training as you normally would in summer, although you may have to put on a shirt. Snow adds a completely different dynamic to your usual training spots. You’ll have to be slower, more precise.

Of course, this is completely irrelevant if you live in Florida or Texas or Southern California. Lucky. Send me a postcard.

Condition

Reach/Escape shirts are cool

Why not gain some muscle and therefore power? Go on a caloric surplus (eat a lot), train a lot, and sleep a lot. Provided you don’t go too crazy with the food part, you will gain a decent amount of muscle and a hopefully minimal amount of fat. A session of LISS (low-intensity steady-state) cardio (jogging, cycling, swimming, etc.) after your strength work may keep fat gain to a minimum. This article is a good place to start learning about bulking and cutting.

The actual conditioning should be the usual parkour bodyweight standbys of pull-ups, muscle-ups, push-ups, handstand push-ups, tuck jumps, quadrupedal movement, etc. If you don’t have one yet, I highly recommend buying or building a pull-up bar, then pimping it out.
If you have the option, consider adding barbell lifts to your training, especially the squat, deadlift, bench press, and overhead press. Contrary to popular belief, weight training will not make you slow and heavy. There’s a great deal more to be said on the topic of weight training for parkour, but that will have to wait for a later article.

360lbs and a vertical jump like that? Must be doing something right.

Technique

Rolls, precisions, smooth vaults, and flow can always use more practice. The great thing about that is you can find one place to work the technique, and then have an hour-long training session in that spot. You can find spots for most of these in sheltered or indoor areas, too.

When you’re done training, why not watch parkour videos? Both ‘showreels’ and tutorials will help. The more you see a certain movement, the more you will understand it and the better you’ll be able to perform it.

Mobilize

A front split on thin ice is not one of my brighter ideas, but at least it’s a cool picture.

I am stealing this from Ryan Ford because he is absolutely right: the triumvirate of “prehab” and longevity in parkour is strength, technique, and mobility. We just talked about strength and technique, so let’s talk mobility.

Mobilitywod.com has a lot of excellent drills. Buy a large diameter PVC pipe and/or a lacrosse ball, and roll around on them. Don’t bother messing around with commercial foam rollers, they’re not hardcore enough. If you’re not hardcore enough for a PVC pipe, then wrap a towel around it The goal of the PVC pipe and lacrosse ball is to use the concentrated pressure to break down soft tissue restrictions, a process known as myofascial release. If you’ve not heard of this before, it may sound odd, but I can vouch that it works. The basic technique is to roll the pipe or ball back and forth hard across a muscle or joint for several minutes. It’s a deep tissue massage you give yourself. Obviously, if it causes you pain, you’re doing it wrong. It should hurt – in a good way.

My two favorite spots for foam rolling are the illiotibial band and the quadriceps, especially the rectus femoris muscle directly above the kneecap [Note: do not roll the kneecap itself]. Every major muscle group can use some action, though.

Click for a bigger size.

Learn new skills

Any sports or discipline that involves movement will have some good carryover into parkour. A small list of especially good ones:

•  Gymnastics
• Martial arts
• Rock climbing
• Olympic lifting (if you have a good coach)
• Handbalancing
• Dancing

The list goes on. Again: just about anything that requires you to become stronger, better at moving, or more spatially aware is going to help your parkour skill.

Rehab

Winter is the perfect time to take care of any persistent nagging injuries you have. Rest and rehabilitate those crunchy knees, clicky hips, poppy shoulders, and crackly ankles. The rehab process will depend on the nature of the injury, so do as much research as you can.

Hopefully these ideas will make your winter pass more quickly and productively. Have fun, and stay safe and warm.

–Alan

Via Facebook

I apologize for the shortness of this week’s Showcase. Been a bit busy, but the coming few weeks are gonna be good.

Tempest Freerunning – Diddy’s Morning Run – Paul Darnell

I really really really enjoyed this video. Diddy has really good landings, strong glute activation.

World Aquatic Parkour Masters 2012 ft. Jason Paul and Zyrken

Life’s A Game – Parkour Animation

What it means to be a Freerunner – Team Farang

Get Up! – Pueyo Parkour 2012

Life in a Handstand: The Snatch (ep 5)

Best Life in a Handstand yet.

The Weekly Video Showcase is a compilation of the best parkour videos from the past 7 days.

Watch them all here.

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Goku Training: Because Strong Isn’t Strong Enough

FARK but Caleb is powerful.

Javanaise

YAY! TAM!

Movement of Three

Running Precision + Front 540 – Gaëtan Bouillet

So clean…

Level 4 Climb Up (From Cat Leap & On Smooth Wall)

Ryan Ford is such a manly man.

3RUN & HeliPOV – The Impossible Shot 2

I know they’re saving up the good shots for later, but I wish they would make a longer video with the Helicam.

The Weekly Video Showcase is a compilation of the best parkour videos from the past 7 days.

Watch them all here.

Via Facebook

Biggest news this week? Universal Parkour. Go check it out.

Light Emitting Dudes – LED Freerunning

Absolutely sick work with the lights. (To give credit where it’s due, Farang got a lot of their inspiration on this project from Jonathon Lucas.)

PROJEKT 9

NOTHING IS SOMETHING – #1 The bench

Ep. 2 – How to Survive Height Drops  - Q&A w/ Ryan Ford

Rabblerousery

Aleksey Savin | Hanstand part #2

The Weekly Video Showcase is a compilation of the best parkour videos from the past 7 days.

Watch them all here.

Team Farang has a new video coming out soon… Color me excited. And color them blue, green, and red, apparently.

Aura 2012 – Remember, November

I love the movement of both these guys.

8 years of training down the drain

In the comments Bait says the last jump isn’t him… But who is it!?

TUTORIAL – Land & Roll on Concrete

Kyle Mendoza, you make a lot of fantastic tutorials. Sadly, this is not one of them. See the next video for a much better roll tutorial.

Beginner Roll Tutorial (Part 1) – Parkour Ukemi

Goodbye Cambridge

Scott Bass/Ampisound’s videos never fail to impress.

‘Apparel Sunday’ – Episode 114

The Observer Modifies What He Observes – Anthopk13

Those locations… Wow.

The Weekly Video Showcase is a compilation of the best parkour videos from the past 7 days.

Watch them all here.

Height drops. Via Facebook.

The most interesting thing that happened this week is probably this article by Blane from Parkour Generations.

Getting Dusty ft Jason Paul and Zyrken

This is seriously next level. Wow.

Live and Uncut III

Jesse Turner’s “IMAGINE” 2012

shade in zlat 2011 i trained before (part 6)

‘Backstreets Back’ – Episode 113

P.O.V Storm Freerun Exploring Elephant & Castle

Andrea Catozzi – 104 EVENING – CAPOEIRA ACROBATICS Performance

Beautiful…

The Weekly Video Showcase is a compilation of the best parkour videos from the past 7 days.

Watch them all here.

Source

La Voix de la Forêt – Sébastien Foucan

Assassin’s Creed – A Parkour & Freerunning Tribute

Um… wow.

fails

Bait…. What?

Prodigy Of Movement – Summer 2012

Find your exit!

‘IMAX Warfare’ – Episode 112

The Weekly Video Showcase is a compilation of the best parkour videos from the past 7 days.

Watch them all here.