10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A good transition to minimal- Review By: Intermediate Runner/Fitness junkie, May 14, 2011
First thing I noticed when putting on these shoes was a bump in the middle-bottom side of my foot; it's a design to nudge or roll you onto your fore/mid-foot. It almost feels like it has a negative heel (it doesn't), but in spite of this the shoe is very comfortable. The shoe is low to the ground, light weight, and so far durable, so it seems these shoes are great for guiding someone into better running form and technique.
If you've already owned a pair of transition shoes, these may not feel minimalistic enough for you. These are great replacements for the Nike Free v5 that I ran my last marathon in, however these don't come close to the barefoot feel of the NB Minimus trail, or Fivefingers.
For crossfitters and anyone that cares out there, these shoes nudge you forward, even when trying to shift weight back onto your heels. These shoes are not intended for any kind of technical weightlifting. I'm pretty sure this is obvious to most people, but I got away with my Nike Frees during crossfit excercises; these shoes are more specialized than the frees in relation to running, which makes them not so great for other excercises, or at least in regards to weightlifting.
I've worn them for almost two weeks now, and plan to put them through their second 10k tomorrow. These are great running shoes, especially for those looking to transition into minimal running, but don't plan on breaking them in during non-running excercises. If I could afford it, I would have bought two pairs.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Cool shoes that help produce good form, September 18, 2011
User: mid-range (half-marathons) male runner in his 40s. 175 lbs x 6'0". No experience in minimalist running, but plenty of training/PT focus on good form, stride and mid-sole striking.
Use: I took them out for the first time today on an 8 mile run just to get the feel. The surface was almost entirely asphalt with little or no camber.
Pros:
* feel the road and enforce good foot position
* light-weight
Cons: I don't have complaints about the shoe, per se, but did encounter a few problems that might be shoe related:
* chafing on one heel. I wear pretty low profile socks and the left one slide down enough that the shoe was rubbing directly against the skin on my achilles tendon, leading to a bit of rawness and bleeding. Easily solved, but not something that's ever been a problem for me with other shoes.
* slight tweaking in my right outside knee. My guess is that this is due more to my lapsing in PT exercises on weak abductor muscles. Since these shoes make it so unpleasant to have bad form, they do highlight other places where you might be compensating. (In my case the IT band, which has historically been a problem for me.) Time to get back to those clamshell exercises...
* The red die on in the inside of the tongue bled a bit and my socks picked up some of the red color. Doesn't bother me (and won't go on very long, I assume), but might bother some.
Net/net, these are great shoes to help constantly remind you just where to come down on your feet, because you'll really feel it if you heel strike. I've never tried full-on barefoot shoes, but based on comments in other reviews, these are a nice half-way point to start getting into it. My legs could definitely tell the difference of having less weight to drag around, so that was a cool sensation. I like to mix things up in order to avoid getting into a rut --- different shoes, different surfaces, different workouts. These will make a great addition to the rotation.
One sizing comment: I find that New Balance normally runs slightly small for me. In most brands, my shoe size is a 10, but for most New Balance shoes I buy a 10.5. This was not true in the Minimus --- a size 10 is a perfect fit. So if you are used to shifting sizes for New Balance, you might want to skip that for these.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Very Impressive Shoe, April 30, 2011
I was caught up in the craze of barefoot running, so I bought these to see how I would like it. I cannot stress how much more I enjoy running now that I am running in them. After a few weeks to get my feet, ankles, and calves used to a different running style they have become the most comfortable pair of shoes that I own. I bought the MT101's two days ago because of how much I have enjoyed running in these shoes. Be wary that for a few weeks you might feel things while you run that you didn't feel before. That being said, I strongly recommend these running shoes.
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