

(It’s the same bouncy material used in Topo’s Ultraventure Pro model.) To ensure stability, the platform was widened, too. The thicker midsole is composed of a new Zipfoam compound that’s lighter and more responsive. Even though the shoe doesn’t have a rock plate, the increased stack height-Topo added 5mm to the heel and forefoot-serves as a buffer on rugged terrain. “The Vibram outsole is sticky enough for rocky trails, but it’s not like a cleat,” said a tester. Its lugs are shorter and wider as well, making the shoe versatile for both roads and trails. (The Ultraventure 3’s lugs measure a fairly modest 3.5 mm in length.) The outsole, made of grippy Vibram rubber, is more lightweight and sectional than the previous iteration. For gnarlier trails, you’ll want to choose the brand’s MTN Racer or Terraventure, which have toothier treads. He also noted how ultrarunners like Topo’s shoes because of their wide toeboxes. This is the long-haul shoe,” one tester declared. Hybrid shoes have shorter lugs (2mm to 4mm) and a softer on-road feel than their burly siblings, and are well-suited for soft singletrack and local wooded trails that don’t make you slow to a walk due to unsure footing. These shoes will serve you better the more rugged the terrain and may work for day hiking as well. Rigid shoes with deep lugs (5mm+) are best on technical trails with poor footing, but they’ll also be far less forgiving, even uncomfortable, on road runs. With the latter, try to think about whether the trails you encounter are technical or smooth, flat or steep, have loose or firm footing, and whether or not you cross water.

The two main things to consider before purchasing trail running shoes are what type your feet need (think stiff or pliable, neutral or stable, wide or narrow, high or low heel-to-toe drop) and what type of shoes the terrain demands. Whatever your preference or personal ideology, we think everyone can be a trail runner, especially with the help of a good pair of shoes. Trevor Raab What to Look for in a Trail Running Shoe Let me know in the comments if you’ve had success with any of these, or if you have other alternatives to minimalist running shoes.A quality trail shoe needs to be ready for the trail’s obstacles, like rocks, roots, and wet leaves. Look for something that is fairly light, has a thin, flat sole, has a little room in the toe box, and doesn’t look like it’s likely to cause any blisters, and it might just work as a running shoe. You can try your local discount shoe store for something that might work as a running shoe, but isn’t specifically marketed as one. They usually have pretty decent grip, handle fairly well in the wet, and some have a handy drawstring to make the fit fairly secure. The soles on these shoes generally aren’t as durable as a purpose-built minimalist running shoe, but you can pick them up at quite affordable at your local outdoors store. They might look a little strange, but not a lot more than normal barefoot shoes.
Minimalist trail running shoes free#
Running without shoes is free (as long as you don’t injure yourself).

It’s pretty obvious, but I thought I’d put it in anyway. Unfortunately, the list of cheap, minimal running shoes is quite small, but here is my attempt at a list of alternatives. Here are some low cost alternatives, so you can begin minimalist running without forking out unnecessary wads of cash. The cynic in me thinks there might also be some price gouging.

Manufacturers of barefoot shoes are generally quite small and produce only a small number of shoes. I suspect it’s just that the volume of sales is quite low, so manufacturers can’t minimise costs with high volume manufacturing. OK, so what else could it be? Well, minimalist running is still a niche market. Maybe it’s a topic for another article, but why do most of them look so silly? Also, quite a few minimalist shoes look ridiculous. I can’t find any hard data to back me up here, but most recreational runners I see jogging about the place are not wearing minimalist shoes. Really? I think both of those points could be safely disputed. If you ask Google why minimalist running shoes are so expensive, the top results suggest that it’s because they are “so popular and look appealing”. Shouldn’t they essentially be a thin shell to protect your feet from cuts and abrasions? So what’s with the high price tag? Is there something sinister going on? Why is it so? They don’t need the highly engineered features that traditional running shoes come with. They are constructed of much less material and necessarily weigh significantly less then a traditional shoe. Minimalist running shoes are supposed to provide as little interference between your foot and the running surface as possible. It seems counter-intuitive that minimalist running shoes are often more expensive than traditional/maximal running shoes.
