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Merrell Trail Glove Failures and Minimal Running in a Communist Shoe

blatanterror.com

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Re: Merrell Trail Glove Failures and Minimal Running in a Communist Shoe

#51

Post by mbishop »

joncrane wrote: post #32
mbishop wrote: post #29

My friend, the company you need to go visit is Vivobarefoot. They are not as cheap as your Chinese shoe, but they are the wide-toebox, no-support, tough-as-nails-soles that you have been looking for. https://www.vivobarefoot.com/ Because of them, every shoe that I wear for every occasion can be minimal and I get to feel everything under my feet everywhere I go. I even have fancy black leather shoes for special occasi…

Those prices are astronomical, though. $240 for a pair of shoes, when according to the author of the original article, something that serves the purpose is available for a dollar a pair?!

You get what you pay for. These shoes last a very long time.

If you are timid about the price, they have regular clearance sales about twice a year, usually about 40% off. Just get on their mailing list. And buy quick as soon as the sale occurs!

Re: Merrell Trail Glove Failures and Minimal Running in a Communist Shoe

#52

Post by cag_ii »

Eric_WVGG wrote: post #24

Just a few days ago I was remembering a pair of these that I picked up back in the eighties for… a school play? I liked them so much that I wore them until they disintegrated. We picked them up from a martial arts store (this was during the Karate Kid fad), and sure enough, a quick search for "kung fu shoes" on Amazon is all it took, $10. I'm going to grab a pair as soon as spring rolls around…

Cool! After reading this article I clearly remember buying "Kung-fu shoes" in DTLA/Chinatown as a kid, they were a couple of bucks a piece and probably my favorite shoes at the time.

I also clearly remember they did very little to protect your feet from the black asphalt playground heat in the middle of summer, lol.

Re: Merrell Trail Glove Failures and Minimal Running in a Communist Shoe

#53

Post by kenm47 »

mbishop wrote: post #29

My friend, the company you need to go visit is Vivobarefoot. They are not as cheap as your Chinese shoe, but they are the wide-toebox, no-support, tough-as-nails-soles that you have been looking for. https://www.vivobarefoot.com/ Because of them, every shoe that I wear for every occasion can be minimal and I get to feel everything under my feet everywhere I go. I even have fancy black leather shoes for special occasi…

Oh hai, there is an HN Post... who knew. I'm the writer here... I have worn VivoBarefoot shoes. They were fine nothing more. I wasn't impressed enough to buy another pair but it's been 5 years maybe.

Re: Merrell Trail Glove Failures and Minimal Running in a Communist Shoe

#54

Post by kenm47 »

A couple of people have asked me separately about where I found these on Taobao. Here is a link: https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?spm=a230r.1.14.135.17cc5590...

I'm not sure it was this particular buyer I bought from, but they are approximately this. Beware, it's pretty difficult (read near-impossible) to buy off taobao without chinese because the seller will expect that you chat with them about the purchase before they ship.

Re: Merrell Trail Glove Failures and Minimal Running in a Communist Shoe

#55

Post by HaloZero »

noelwelsh wrote: post #35
mbishop wrote: post #29

My friend, the company you need to go visit is Vivobarefoot. They are not as cheap as your Chinese shoe, but they are the wide-toebox, no-support, tough-as-nails-soles that you have been looking for. https://www.vivobarefoot.com/ Because of them, every shoe that I wear for every occasion can be minimal and I get to feel everything under my feet everywhere I go. I even have fancy black leather shoes for special occasi…

Seconding Vivo. I've been wearing them for about a decade, from the time they were called Worn Again. Love their shoes.

But do you all go running in them? I feel the main post is about wearing out shoe with a lot of use.

Re: Merrell Trail Glove Failures and Minimal Running in a Communist Shoe

#56

Post by rpenm »

The author is incorrect - his shoe is a Vapor Glove 2, not a 3 - as evidenced by the design and clearly visibly label.

And the Vapor Glove is definitely not a follow-up to the Trail Glove, it's a different shoe. Merrell still makes Trail Gloves (though yes, the design has changed both for better and worse). I'm currently considering the Trail Glove 4.

Re: Merrell Trail Glove Failures and Minimal Running in a Communist Shoe

#57

Post by frabbit »

rhinoceraptor wrote: post #17
frabbit wrote: post #3

I just wish I could get shoes wide enough for my feet. Anything wide enough is too long (a good 4cm of wasted space at the front). I have tried supposedly extra wide shoes like Lems, but the only thing that is comfortable is either the Vibram Five Fingers or Crocs (terrible for running) or some Birkenstocks (just).

I think most specialty "wide" shoes are only normal wide, that is they're the correct width for people who don't have particularly wide feet. I have a pair of Otz boots that I love, they look like Timberlands but have a really nice wide toe box, and a zero drop vibram lugged sole. And of course, they don't make them any more. I would have bought 3 or 4 pairs if I knew that to last me a while. It's even worse with bik…

The widest fit bike shoes I have been able to find currently are Sidi Dominator 4s. And they are not wide enough. I had an old pair of Lake M-somethingorother that I got from Performance before they closed. They were actually comfortable. In general the MTB stuff is where its at.

Re: Merrell Trail Glove Failures and Minimal Running in a Communist Shoe

#58

Post by frabbit »

frabbit wrote: post #3

I just wish I could get shoes wide enough for my feet. Anything wide enough is too long (a good 4cm of wasted space at the front). I have tried supposedly extra wide shoes like Lems, but the only thing that is comfortable is either the Vibram Five Fingers or Crocs (terrible for running) or some Birkenstocks (just).

Thanks for all of the helpful suggestions below. Am going to be investigating them. Sorry to OP if I hijacked this at all.

Re: Merrell Trail Glove Failures and Minimal Running in a Communist Shoe

#59

Post by frabbit »

noelwelsh wrote: post #37
frabbit wrote: post #3

I just wish I could get shoes wide enough for my feet. Anything wide enough is too long (a good 4cm of wasted space at the front). I have tried supposedly extra wide shoes like Lems, but the only thing that is comfortable is either the Vibram Five Fingers or Crocs (terrible for running) or some Birkenstocks (just).

I have very wide feet. In the UK shoe measurement system a width of H is the widest. One of my feet is H, and the other one is wider. I wear Vivobarefoot https://www.vivobarefoot.com/ and they actually fit. I'm no longer buying shoes 1-2 sizes too big to fit my feet. I'm currently wearing Gobi for every day wear, and exercise in a Stealth II. All of these needed a bit of time to break in. When I tried on a Primus the…

I definitely have what could be (disparagingly?) called Saxon feet. Widest width on their own are definitely not enough. The overhead image of the StealthII looks like the most promising thing I have seen for a while.

Re: Merrell Trail Glove Failures and Minimal Running in a Communist Shoe

#60

Post by joveian »

mbishop wrote: post #51
joncrane wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Those prices are astronomical, though. $240 for a pair of shoes, when according to the author of the original article, something that serves the purpose is available for a dollar a pair?!

You get what you pay for. These shoes last a very long time. If you are timid about the price, they have regular clearance sales about twice a year, usually about 40% off. Just get on their mailing list. And buy quick as soon as the sale occurs!

I got my current pair on sale a couple of years ago and they are not dead yet (although fairly light use), but this year they didn't have any in stock of more than six styles I checked within hours of the sale announcement. I emailed them and they said they had been out for months. So sleazy advertising and expensive and most of the styles look horrible IMO (and, as the article complains, any style you like will no longer be made once you need another pair), but good shoes.

I'll keep an eye out for the cloth shoes. Not many options for thin sole shoes. Concrete can be horrible on shoes with softer soles, however, and the Vivobarefoot soles are the best thin soles I've seen for use on concrete.

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