Are these shoes really worth $229? [VIBRAM V-TRAIL V2.0 REVIEW]
Hey there, Rod Bucton here. How you doing?
Lately, I’ve had a swag of people ask me about my shoes, so I thought it’s time, it’s time to talk about the best pair of joggers I’ve ever owned.
Over the years, if you’re like me, you’ve probably owned a stack of joggers.
In the past I’ve owned road running shoes whole range of different joggers,
If I go back a few years, this was my jogger of choice; my first serious off-road shoe, a Salomon XT360, the Salomon and this was a great shoe and as you can see this has taken a bit of a beating, this is easy this could be 15/20-years older shoe and it’s been through everything, mud, water, rain, sand, you name it,
The soles still holding up, I haven’t been glued, haven’t been repaired, still doing its thing.
But something that I had and I’ve always had a problem with is– but I’ve always had problems with my legs and my feet,
I thought this type of shoe with super supportive sole, I thought this type of jogger with the supportive sole and heel would do the trick but over the years as you can see I’ve tried a whole range of different shoes of this type
but I’ve had to resort to orthotics, I’m an over pronator, so I needed to get bit more arch support for my foot, I’ve had leg problems, calf problems, knee problems,
all those things happening, all because of the way my legs are structured, my hips, my back, all that sort of stuff and so been working through that stuff for years and years
and been a little bit frustrating, got to a point okay, I thought I was destined, yeah it’s been a little bit frustrating but it got to a point where I thought these were going to be me forever with orthotics but even with orthotics they caused me a few problems,
I’ve had some in the past that have been too high on the instep and I’ve had blisters on the inside of my arch and I’ve had blisters on my arch and they’ve caused me a world of pain,
at the end of the day I just want to get out, I just want to run, I just want to do my thing when I get a chance, when I get the time, really frustrating, really-really frustrating.
It wasn’t until I did a bit of reading over last couple of years and I come across minimal shoes, and these have been around for a while
and I came across these shoes, first I thought: are they going to be any good? They’re not cheap, they’re over $200 and so it’s a pretty expensive test just to have a crack, just to see how it all goes.
And minimal shoes such as these super thin sole have also been around for a long time, not quite since the 1930s but for a number of years.
And these have been around for a while, this brand Vibram first started back when a mountaineer was using pieces of rubber, actual old ties cut up to make better soles for mountain climbing, so that was back in the 1930, so the vibram brand ran for a long while and barefoot shoes also had been around for a long while since.
but did a bit of research, I had a bit of a look around and read a few reviews, there’s some good reviews, there’s some not-so-good reviews and I went through all those but I was kind of give it a shot, keen to try something a little bit of different.
And why? This style of shoe helps to get your feet, your legs, back to the natural way in which our feet and legs were always meant to work,
this type of shoe with a hard sole, it relies a lot, heaps, it relies heaps on the support of that soul and unnaturally, it relies unnaturally, it relies, your foot in your leg relies on the support given from that sole and hence you’re dependent on what that sole does for your leg in your foot.
These get right back to the natural way in which your leg your feet are meant to work and it takes a bit of time, matter of fact it takes a long time for your feet, your legs to get used to them,
for the first six months or so, all I did was wear these around the house, nothing more, just to get used to your feet, your legs, working the way they were meant to without relying on a heavy sole big change, massive-massive change.
As you can see, they’re super flexible,
this particular model really-really thin sole, and so it is just like walking and then running, just like doing something barefoot except you’ve got a bit of protection on the bottom of your foot,
the upper over the top is a super-super thin material, so they breathe really-really well,
they are super-super light, incredible and what I find and how it feels when you’re using these, when you’re walking or when you’re running, jogging, it feels super light super free and that is the best way that I can describe them.
I love these shoes and I’ve worn them for probably twelve months or so,
the sole is just only to wear a bit thin there now, so I thought okay, what else is out there what else is similar to that, that I can wear, same benefit?
But my one big complaint was just how much your foot hurt, my big complaint was how much the bottom of my foot did tender hurt with rough surface, rough rocks, rough grab, all that type of thing with a super thin sole, you do feel the rocks, push through, point through and stab the bottom of your foot, not all that good.
So, I went to this particular one, the Vibram V2 trial, as you can see, very-very similar between the both minimal shoes, very similar in design
but this one in particular a little bit thicker sole, as you can a bit more aggressive tread a little bit thicker sole, still super-super flexy, as this one, super comfortable, still keep still gives you the same light free feel as this other model but that extra protection
Ive worn these outside at the rain and the mud in gravel, in rocks, that extra bit of protection there it just makes all the difference, it’s a breeze, it’s so enjoyable to use, these shoes are so enjoyable to wear,
I wear them everywhere, I wear them casually, day to day, I wear them when I’m coaching business, my clients obviously wear them walking, running, that type of thing, they are the greatest shoes.
A lot of people ask me about the toes, do my toes actually go into the sockets?
They certainly do, your toes go all the way to the end, it’s just like a glove for your foot,
it is a little bit, it does take a little bit of getting used to, just to get your toes into the sockets, you’ve got a line your toes up to get them in there, otherwise you end up with two toes and one pocket, got to take them off, put them back on again, bit of fiddling around but they have great-great shoes.
Some people don’t like them and it’s not their thing and that’s all okay because they’re not meant for everyone, they’re different, they’re really-really different.
In the past, I know I’ve read some reviews where and I think there might have been some court cases even where people have taken vibram, the manufacturer of this shoe to court because of problems that the shoes have caused their feet and their legs and things like that and they are different, they are not like our normal stiff sole shoe that we used to, that we’ve been wearing for a long-long time but I think you just need to give a time, you need to give yourself time, you need to give your body time to adjust to wearing these and let your legs, your feet work as they were meant to work and has that have been working for millions of years, so be patient, give yourself time.
I really-really rate these, these are awesome shoes, I
‘ll be wearing these for years to come, no problem whatsoever,
another small problem I had was wearing these, as wearing them all the time and they’re a really-really snug fit,
understandably, normal socks don’t work, can’t work, if your toes get what you do is you socket individually and so a normal sock wouldn’t suit, so I wore them barefoot straight into these as they are.
Over time though my feet became really-really sweaty and these shoes super-super smelly, not good at all and I used to wash them in the washing machine every couple weeks or so, hanging out in the clothesline of dry, all good no worries,
I couldn’t really get rid of the smell, so I thought ah not the greatest. So, what other options are they?
Came across socks, especially made for these type of shoes, made by Truefit,
As you can see, socks that have toes in them, same as the shoe, so the toes goes into the socket, similar to a glove or a mit if you like, and then wearing a socks inside the shoes eliminate all of the sweat problems and any chaffing problems you might get, that sort of things, all good.
Keep in mind though, the fit of these shoes is super snug,
when you buy them that it is very-very tight, so with a sock keep in mind the sizing you might have to go up a half a size or a size whatever but just keep that in mind as well
they do stretch a little over time, just with wear and tear as usually happens with most shoes but I got these shoes through a local supplier, by the internet and was great, the first pair too small didn’t fit was able to exchange those and a new pair back next size up perfect fit, all in order, good to go
So, if you’re looking for a new shoe, something new, something a little bit different, you’ve heard a bit about these, I know it’s expensive, this pair $220, it’s a lot of money, it is a lot of money for a test and you want to hope it works, otherwise to throw them away, big loss,
you can’t get other shoes that are similar to this at local sports stores and things like that, the build quality is not quite as good and the fit is not quite as good as well, these are super snug, they fit your foot like a glove would fit your hand, so really snug, really comfortable,
check them out, great trail shoe, great walking shoe, can’t speak more highly of them.
So, that’s it, my quick review. So, that’s it, my review Vibram V2 trail, so that’s it, my review of vibram v trial v2, joggers, the greatest joggers, can’t say how, I can’t tell you how much I love these shoes, check it out next time you get on for a new pair of joggers.
Have a great day.