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Minimalist Footwear Thread

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Tav H 25 Feb 11:59am, 25 Feb 2025 3,883 posts	Quote Pin Tav H I'm getting nervous about the half marathon on Sunday, specifically whether I will get carried away and injure myself again. So I have gone pretty maximal and just bought some Inov8 Roadfly. They'll be here tomorrow, so I should be able to get some miles in before deciding what to do. If they're OK, I'll probably use them on Sunday, and use them in the future for stretching the length of runs, as I'm aiming to increase mileage and training duration as much as I can this year. Happily enough, my bursitis isn't stopping me from doing anything at the moment, except sometimes walking down the stairs like someone who is actually under 80. The Wildsole straps are looking questionable. On the Mamtor, after just a few runs, they have frayed alarmingly on one foot, where the strap goes under the sole. I think I'll always have some backup in a rucksack whenever I venture out in them from now on, but I did suggest to Wildsole that maybe selling replacement laces was a good idea, which they didn't agree with. My next purchase will probably be Xero H-trail, just to avoid that weak point.
Tav H 26 Feb 8:52am, 26 Feb 2025 3,885 posts	Quote Pin Tav H Some more sandals to consider: Bosky boskyshoes.com These look interesting as they have pre-formed the soles so that the strap attachment points are off the ground. This UK store stocks a few models. happylittlesoles.co.uk Panta pantasandals.com They use Vibram, but I don't see any photos of the strap attachment points so I have no idea if they do something to protect the straps when they go onto the bottom of the sandal. They do, however, have a nice all-red and all-blue option.
wolves1877 28 Apr 6:40pm, 28 Apr 2025 427 posts	Quote Pin wolves1877 I don’t run a lot but am thinking about trying barefoot shoes. Can anyone give me some advice? Do you have to transition to wearing them and can you swap between barefoot shoes and normal trainers easily? WhThis is my husbands account so asking via him
Tav H 29 Apr 8:42am, 29 Apr 2025 3,991 posts	Quote Pin Tav H @wolves1877 It depends what you're looking for I suppose. It you want to end up in sandals or other zero-drop footwear with little to no cushioning, then in my experience you can either start from scratch in your target footwear, doing very short slow runs and building up from there, or you can go to a more "natural" shoe as a transition, which still has some cushioning but no arch support or other bits of tech like a rocker geometry or carbon plate. With the transition shoe, you should still be able to do a regular short run as part of your normal running, and use the shoe more and more often as you get used to it, alongside whatever shoes you currently wear. I think you can swap to a certain extent, but ideally just between more or less cushioned versions of the same type of shoe. For example, if you end up in thin sandals, then for a long run you may be OK in a pair of Altras or other zero-drop cushioned shoe. I think the main thing I am looking for at the moment is a "natural" shoe with anatomical shape and no arch support, and I'm moving away from zero cushioning unless it's for walking. The last thing to say is that I'm not an expert and I'm just speaking from experience. At the moment I'm running in various Inov8 shoes as they now have an anatomical shape to them and varying levels of cushioning and drop. I have some Roadfly which are 6mm drop with some cushion, some Trailfly Speed which are 4mm drop with less cushioning, and some F-fly which are supposed to be gym shoes but have 4mm drop and similar cushioning to the Trailfly Speed. Inov8 are also coming out with zero-drop versions of all 4 of their running shoe models, which will have around 20mm stack height (more for the models with bigger off-road lugs).
Red Squirrel 29 Apr 3:24pm, 29 Apr 2025 25,472 posts	Quote Pin Red Squirrel I’ve been wearing my Freet Strides now the weather’s dryer. Great for dry trails and I cycled 10 miles in them, which I’d not done before. They are the most comfortable shoes I’ve ever owned: freetbarefoot.com