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Review: Vibram Five Fingers Classic

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Re: Review: Vibram Five Fingers Classic

#51

Post by oconnor0 »

lux wrote: post #42
lux wrote: post #41

I bought a pair of their Flow shoes and they really seem to work well. I'm barefoot as much as possible anyway, and these give me as close to that experience as I can have when I'm out and could be faced with a "no shirt, no shoes, no service" scenario. Unfortunately, I only bought one pair of the toe socks for use with them and going barefoot in them makes for a sweaty experience. So I ordered another 6 pairs of soc…

The back-story to me buying these was that I developed really bad shin splints a few years back and had to stop running, tennis, basketball, ultimate, or pretty much anything with an impact on my feet/legs. I was able to keep mountain biking and kickboxing, but I wanted to get into running and couldn't. Doctors and shoe specialists all told me I needed better support. The supports and insoles only ever made it MUCH M…

Was it just shin splints that you had issues with? Have you had any feet,knee,or ankle problems since going barefoot?

Re: Review: Vibram Five Fingers Classic

#52

Post by jplewicke »

oconnor0 wrote: post #50
jplewicke wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

Did the sesamoiditis & stress fracture heal and does she still wear Frees or did she give up on the transition? Did you have any problems?

She has bipartite sesamoids, which happens when they don't fuse together correctly. That unfortunately means that it's highly likely to happen again. On the positive side, it's something that proper orthotics or padding should let her fix.

I started to get a little plantar fasciitis from too much mileage in my racing flats and excessive downhill running, but was able to fix that by rotating my shoes more and sticking to the flats.

Re: Review: Vibram Five Fingers Classic

#53

Post by sh1mmer »

lsc wrote: post #45
sh1mmer wrote: post #10

After I'd seen a bunch of people with these who wholly recommended them I kept meaning to buy some. Last week I did. One thing I think is interesting, is that Vibram seem to be getting a lot of grass-roots evangelism but the company itself has done a terrible job of encouraging that. Someone I know who's had Vibram's for way over least a year (to my knowledge) asked them repeatedly if he could sell them somehow, sinc…

Also, vibram is an established brand; I have horribly flat feet and prefer large and heavy boots with industrial-strength arch supports over running flats, but when I go to buy boots, I look for the yellow vibram logo. I don't think I've bought a pair of boots without vibram soles in the last 10 years. The idea is that they don't need to use shady marketing practices; they have a good reputation and innovative produc…

I don't see how this is shady.

If I like the product and people ask me about it I don't mind evangelizing it. However if so many people ask me about it that it becomes a burden I can see why people want a little love back.

Re: Review: Vibram Five Fingers Classic

#54

Post by [deleted] »

sh1mmer wrote: post #53
lsc wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also, vibram is an established brand; I have horribly flat feet and prefer large and heavy boots with industrial-strength arch supports over running flats, but when I go to buy boots, I look for the yellow vibram logo. I don't think I've bought a pair of boots without vibram soles in the last 10 years. The idea is that they don't need to use shady marketing practices; they have a good reputation and innovative produc…

I don't see how this is shady. If I like the product and people ask me about it I don't mind evangelizing it. However if so many people ask me about it that it becomes a burden I can see why people want a little love back.

[deleted]

Re: Review: Vibram Five Fingers Classic

#55

Post by lsc »

sh1mmer wrote: post #53
lsc wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also, vibram is an established brand; I have horribly flat feet and prefer large and heavy boots with industrial-strength arch supports over running flats, but when I go to buy boots, I look for the yellow vibram logo. I don't think I've bought a pair of boots without vibram soles in the last 10 years. The idea is that they don't need to use shady marketing practices; they have a good reputation and innovative produc…

I don't see how this is shady. If I like the product and people ask me about it I don't mind evangelizing it. However if so many people ask me about it that it becomes a burden I can see why people want a little love back.

do you think Herbalife is not shady? I think the shady part of herbalife is the MLM, not the placebo they are selling. GNC sells plenty of placebos, and they don't seem to be shady.

I guess it's a matter of opinion, but it seems to me that if you have to pay for good word of mouth, then maybe your product isn't so great after all.

Re: Review: Vibram Five Fingers Classic

#56

Post by lux »

oconnor0 wrote: post #51
lux wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The back-story to me buying these was that I developed really bad shin splints a few years back and had to stop running, tennis, basketball, ultimate, or pretty much anything with an impact on my feet/legs. I was able to keep mountain biking and kickboxing, but I wanted to get into running and couldn't. Doctors and shoe specialists all told me I needed better support. The supports and insoles only ever made it MUCH M…

Was it just shin splints that you had issues with? Have you had any feet,knee,or ankle problems since going barefoot?

Technically because of my one flat foot, I believe I still have a bit of metatarsal stress in that foot. People often complain that it feels worse without support (ie. barefoot) but I find it to be the opposite in my case, although after walking for an hour or more either way I do start to feel it pretty good.

What I'm hoping and seems to be working a bit is that walking barefoot more helps strengthen my arch and other less-used muscles in my foot and that helps eliminate this too. But I expect that's not a 100% solution and long-term I'll probably need some sort of treatment to correct the underlying cause, which is the fallen arch.

The shin splints were really painful though, and those are completely gone. If I put any downward pressure on my legs (sharp stops/turns, jump shots, etc) it used to feel like my legs could snap in half. Not fun :)

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