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Review: Vibram Five Fingers Classic

crunchgear.com

21–30 of 56 posts

Re: Review: Vibram Five Fingers Classic

#21
These shoes were the ones that informed me that I am disabled. I never considered my mutation to be a deformity because it really didn't impact me until now. It is only after seeing these shoes a while back that I wasn't able to do something I wanted to do thanks to my malformation.

My second and third toe are fused together at the skin and vascular level. They have independent bone structure and ligaments, but they never fully separated in the womb. I could theoretically have surgery to make them "normal", but I always felt I should be proud of who I was and not have mutilate my body to make it like everyone else.

For now I'll continue to have to go barefoot.

Re: Review: Vibram Five Fingers Classic

#23
post #7

I completely adore these shoes, which allowed me to take my barefoot running off of the rubber track and onto any surface I desired. Fantastic sensitivity, forced my running technique into shape, and they disturbed anyone who saw them. Unfortunately, they also provide little to no toe protection, so when I smacked my 2nd toe against a wooden ridge, the nifty independent-toe design happily allowed that one toe to hype…

Blisters, knee and ankle pain, and now surgery inducing injuries. I think I will stick with my over-padded, waffle sole Nikes

I guess I am lucky and never have had running injuries, but why are people giving these things such good reviews?

Re: Review: Vibram Five Fingers Classic

#24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agree wholeheartedly - I went jogging up in the santa monica mountains in brentwood (near la) yesterday morning with my fivefingers (sprint), on a trail with lots of loose stones and gravel. The feeling of walking on gravel and stones was incredible, as long as I didn't step on anything sharp directly (but that'd be enough for it to hurt in any shoe). I liked it even more because it's something I enjoy doing barefoot…

What's up fellow Angelino! I've been thinking about these things for surfing since there are so many damn rocks everywhere. I don't recall a time whenever I've gone into the ankle snapping, toe jamming continental shelf and felt anything incredible about it (other than on the pain scale) :D, so the more I read, the more interesting these look. How do they hold up against sweat / moisture?

Yay another LA person!

Anyway...I honestly couldn't say. I don't surf, I only swim, and I've never gone swimming with mine. Other than that, I don't think I've noticed anything weird about how they handle sweat or moisture compared to other shoes...they get wet when you're wearing them somewhere wet, although I find myself sweating less on my feet with these because I'm not wearing socks with them (although you can wear toe socks) and they don't smell yet (they're only about a month old). The upside is tossing them into the washer to clean them.

I have the sprint version though, vibram makes a "flow" version made of neoprene that might be more appealing to you if you surf.

Re: Review: Vibram Five Fingers Classic

#25
post #2

Proponents of these shoes love to make the argument that we were made to run without shoes... but they never seem to mention that we weren't made to run on asphalt and pavement either.

The Tarahumara tribe runs on rocky terrain, not cushy grass. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/moslive/article-1170253/The-...

"Strips of old tire" (from your cited article) would be thicker than the soles of my Fivefinger Sprints. All of my running surfaces are rocky or gravelly, and the Sprints do not provide enough protection for me against stone bruising. Perhaps my feet will toughen, with more miles in these shoes... I don't know.

They're great fun as river shoes, though I have to guard my toes with greater care than I did with worn-out trail runners (my previous river shoe of choice).

Re: Review: Vibram Five Fingers Classic

#26
post #7

I completely adore these shoes, which allowed me to take my barefoot running off of the rubber track and onto any surface I desired. Fantastic sensitivity, forced my running technique into shape, and they disturbed anyone who saw them. Unfortunately, they also provide little to no toe protection, so when I smacked my 2nd toe against a wooden ridge, the nifty independent-toe design happily allowed that one toe to hype…

yea...i ripped both my shoes on separate event sin 14 days...i'm going to use them less hard and hope the new ones don't break so quick

Re: Review: Vibram Five Fingers Classic

#28
post #5

as a 27-year old with incredibly flat & wide feet, relatively good shape (170 lbs at 5'10" and pretty strong), I always had some flab cause I couldn't really run due to my bad knees/feet/ankles. While these shoes aren't saviours, they are easily worth it IMO. First couple of weeks made my ankles and calves hate me, but afterwards I've always felt great.

When you say they aren't saviours, what are the drawbacks you experience? I'm curious to try them since I'm pretty athletic but they seem kind of Skymall-ish, you know? :D I have yet to meet anyone who's actually worn them and had informed criticism. Do you use them all the time now or just here and there?

Some drawbacks:

running on hot pavement - the thin soles enable you to feel the temperature of whatever surface you're on. It never gets unbearable, but you'll definitely know when you're standing on a hot surface.

stepping on a single small rock - wearing normal shoes, the soles don't bend much if you step on a rock, but the vibrams flex around the rock so you'll definitely feel the pain.

stubbing your toes - the vibrams make it feel like you're barefoot, but the shoes make your foot slightly larger so sometimes you might trip on yourself walking normally because your body assumes you're barefoot.

not good on small clipless pedals on bikes - I bike a lot and sometimes I'll jump on my bike without my shoes with cleats. Normally it's not a problem with normal shoes since the rigidity of the soles protect me from the small surface area of the clipless pedals, but the vibrams make me feel like pedaling on tightrope.

getting sand in shoes - I have the KSOs, but sometimes a small sand particle will still make it in. Once in, the sand particle will make it down to the sole area and you'll definitely feel it since you don't wear socks to wear vibrams.

You'll get over most of these drawbacks after a few months though. The shoes are definitely worth it over the small drawbacks. If you're not sure, you should try them out in a running store first, you don't have to order them over the net.

Re: Review: Vibram Five Fingers Classic

#29

Has anyone had bad longer term experiences with these or other "barefoot" shoes?

My girlfriend had some significant issues with an attempted transition towards Nike Frees. The higher impact on the foot gave her sesamoiditis and a stress fracture near the big toe. If you have a foot structure that's not the norm, it's worth thinking twice about these.

Rotating your shoes is one of the best ways to prevent injuries if you're trying to move towards more lightweight shoes. I try to use a combination of racing flats, Nike Free 3.0s, and trail flats, and variety really does help cut overuse injuries. If you intend to run fast on trails, you can get many of the benefits(e.g. low weight, flexibility, and a more responsive foot feel) with a trail flat like the inov-8 X-Talon 212, while avoiding a lot of the catastrophic injury possibilities.

One final note: although I love my pair of Five Fingers KSO, they smell really bad very quickly. If you get a slightly larger size, some people have luck using the Injinji toe socks with them.

Re: Review: Vibram Five Fingers Classic

#30

Amazing shoes, however I would recommend buying either the sprint or the KSO if you will be doing any running in them, the addition of a strap across the top of your foot helps a lot with keeping them on well when running.

I bought a pair of the sprints and ended up returning them because the strap was irritating and uncomfortable. I don't have any problem running in the classics, and I also like simplicity. The best advice is try on both styles before you purchase.
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