New Balance Men's Minimus 20 V2 Trail Running Shoe, Yellow Blue, 8.5 2E US

I was once scared off by the whole "barefoot running" trend years ago due to my own poor form when running in a pair of Vibrim Five Fingers. However as my clunky old running shoes had given up the ghost a long time ago, I reasoned that it was well past time to get something new. I had heard good things about these shoes and based on customer reviews purchased a pair.I'm very satisfied.**SIZING: I wear a 12.0 and based on reviews ordered a 12.5. I have some room left at the toe, and the fit is generally great.** HOW TO RUN IN THESE: Heel striking is okay while walking in these. (1)If you've never run on minimialist shoes, I suggest two things: patience and form. Seriously, repeat these two words over and over before and during your run. (2) Purposely set out to *not* break any personal records on the first few runs. (3) Focus, instead, on landing on the mid portion of your foot. To do this, rotate your foot downward, hinging on the ankle, just before your foot hits the ground. In other words, begin the motion that pushes your foot off the ground -- pushing off with your toes -- *before* your foot actually makes contact with the ground. (4) You may need to shorten your stride, avoiding longer strides that force you to land on your heels. I know it sounds odd, but give it a try and in doing so, the right form will occur naturally. This motion is in contrast to landing on your heel, rolling your foot toward your toe, then lifting your foot back off the ground with your toes pointed upward to set up for another heel strike. Don't do this wearing these shoes or you'll demolish your shins and knees!You'll have to make a conscious effort to do this for the first several runs. If your calf muscles are sore after the first run or two, you're doing it right. Be patient, and again, focus on form -- not speed or distance!Might as well start practicing this with your old shoes while waiting for these to arrive in the mail, right?I run on a lot of dirt and gravel (about 1-inch rocks) and these shoes handle the terrain and bumps very well.

First, a caveat: I am pretty new to barefoot / minimalist shoes, and I NOT a runner, just more of a weekend warrior hiker/ active person. With that being said, I really like these running shoes.The Pros:Awesome tread and grip on the bottom. Props to NB for going to Vibram for soles on these shoes, it was worth it. They have cool little rugged knobby shaped bottome sole that grip really well. I have done sprints on dirt and grass and had better grip and traction than my standard Nike runners gave. The flipside is even with the thin soles, you don't feel the shape of the tread when on hard surfaces (I wore these all day at a theme park recently).Generally a comfortable fit, they are like a loose glove, no blisters. I wear them daily when I can these days. They seem to breathe fairly well, I do sometimes wear them without socks and they dont stink up immedietely.Cons:None really that I can think of, other than being so lightweight these shoes lack as rigid a structure as a stanndard shoe. I could see this being a problem if they fit too loose and your foot moved around too much.Sizing: I thought the sizing was pretty spot on. I'm a 12.5 but usually end up wearing size 13 in athletic shoes. (My generic Nikes and casual shoes are size 13). I went ahead for the 13s in these and they fit quite well, still loose enough even with socks. So I would say, order like you would any other athletic shoe in terms of size.I would say minimalist shoes are something your feet have to get used to though. Even though being barefoot or as close to it is NATURAL, most of us would get cramps trying to walk very far barefoot even though our ancestors obviously were adept at it. Walking a few miles in these early on I got muscle soreness in my shins, like I was using my leg muscles differently. I have an upcoming section hike of the Appalachian Trail, and I will likely leave these at home since I have not tested them over long distances yet. I have some Merrell hiking shoes for trips like that. As I am going more minimalist though, who knows, you could see me walking 20 miles per day on rugged trail in shoes like this.

I really liked these shoes as a minimal shoe. They are the second pair I’ve gotten of the same model, and I just had to retire them recently due to excessive wear and tear.The shoes are insanely light, being basically paper thin. The bottoms have no support, so if you don’t run with a mid-foot strike, I would strong discourage these shoes. While I really enjoyed them for running, because they are so light I used them for cross-functional training and pick-up sports as well.The biggest issue people seem to have with these shoes is the material wearing away. Holes in the lining, rips on the seams, and the rubber bottom pieces falling off. I also had these issues, but I wore my pair through some rough trail running, including 2 Tough Mudders, and other various long-distance races.All-in-all they are very comfortable, light, and fit great. The prices have dropped significantly now, so these could be a very good shoe to supplement your training (and they will last longer that way).