Merrell Glove Shoes

[BLURR]

How many of you have read Born to Run? If you haven't and are a runner(Even recreationally), it will probably change your view point of what shoes you will buy in the future(As well as the way you run). I know if did for me. I am averaging about 25-30 miles Monday-Friday...and used to buy the expensive running shoes and was still getting Runners Knee. Since reading this book, I have stopped buying the high end running shoes and have gone the minimalist route and have had fewer injuries. I want to get a pair of the Merrell Barefoot Trail Gloves as soon as my current pair hits the 500 mile mark. Also interested in the Edge for work.

[JR]

Have you seen the training advice from Vivobarefoot? The other minimalist shoe manufacturers probably have their advice as well. I saw that book in the references but haven't read it. How does the advice by Lee Saxby relate to that book? The videos are on www.vivobarefoot.com. I certainly changed running form. I had all of the usual flaws corrected in those videos. I'm too new and injured to run much at all per session. I'm in the acclimatizing phase despite having played DG in Vibram Komodosport last and this season. Speed golf is looking less and less like murder

I don't like the Merrell Trail because of the hard fairly slick sole and thin lugs If you want more traction and a disc golfable shoe there are minmalist shoes with better traction. Vibram Spyridon has insane grip with reduced ground feel that still trumps sneakers. Vivo Off Road is waterproof and so far i've found 3 possible problems for those to whom they fit. Not so wide a shoe. Price is high, ground feel is less than with the Spyridon and being waterproof and not having as much toe room the hotness and balance is compromised vs VFFs.

Minimal shoes FTW!

[JHern]

So, my glove shoes are still holding up pretty well. They still look great, and while the nubs on the soles are fairly worn, the shoes still have nice grip/traction. They are not going to be the best during the rainy season, so I'm going to be in the market for something for wet rounds, probably a couple months away.

I've had a few occasions of foot discomfort, in the ball of my left foot, after playing long rounds or walking long distances. But sometimes this has occurred when I had socks bunch up under the ball of my foot, and didn't know it until it was too late...so at least part of the time it is a sock problem, not a shoe problem. I still feel like there is something adding a little extra pressure, like a bump or something in the sole, just under the rear-center part of the ball of my foot, but I can't feel anything with my hands so this might just be my feet adjusting to minimalism.

[Jewdy]

That is what happened with my MT20s. It started feeling like a hot spot during rounds and ended up with a hole being worn into the sole of the shoe. I think the fact that the bottom nubbs on the shoe are so hard and at the same time the sole is so thin is why it happens. I love the minimalist shoes for disc golf but think this is just going to be the way they wear.

[JR]

JHern have you looked at the Vivobarefoot Off Roads that are water proof?

[JHern]

JHern have you looked at the Vivobarefoot Off Roads that are water proof?

I've only seen the online photos, they don't look minimalist, or is that just an optical illusion?

[JR]

Minimalism is probably somewhat individual and they are about twice to two and a half times stiffer feeling than my Vibram Komodosports when i use them with the insoles. It feels so good that i don't want to take away the insole. But there certainly exists the option to make it lighter and more tactile with the removal of the insole. See the side by the ball of the foot? It has a dip in the leather where the shoe bends without much resistance at all like a good minimalist shoe should. Backward of that it is more like a regular shoe offering more protection against stabbing. There is a fair ground feeling even with the insole. The sole is thin the lugs are 4 mm tall. That means great traction with ok feedback from the ground and you can feel some ground texture. The last is wide but not the widest with the insole because the sides curve up like Ion rim to flight plate. I got one Euro size larger than my normal size so that i could also use Seal Skinz with it. They work great with and without. I'm happy to call them minimalist enough but with the best traction across all kinds of surfaces i've met. Vibram Spyridon ain't for wet weather but on hard flat floor their traction is better thanks to a softer material and larger effective surface size from the lugs and the small texture on the lugs.

[JHern]

...I'm happy to call them minimalist enough but with the best traction across all kinds of surfaces i've met...

Cool, sounds nice. I might have to try them.

Vibram Spyridon ain't for...

Just curious, did you learn to speak/write English this way at a Finnish school?

[JR]

TV. Well i learned English at school from age 9 but have read it already at age 7 and i have read a lot of books for fun and studying for a degree in English. And i despise grammar bullshit especially if it is redundant and inefficient for communication. The use of the and a are pretty useless often times because we all know what the Spyridon is it does not necessarily need a or the to go with it. I know that in proper grammar the quote you took should be The Spyridon is not good for... I'm coming from a much more efficient language and am bored by the too rigid too wordy English language and grammar. A Finnish author taught style and impact of words by showing how and why it may sometimes be a good idea to shorten the sentence it rains outside to just rains. Which is grammatically correct in Finnish.

[JHern]

That makes sense, I think it's great to become proficient in a language very different from one's native tongue, and Finnish is perhaps the most unique language of them all. I've only learned Español and Français, but they are not so distant from English, at least in terms of the basic latin grammatical structure and conjugation. I look forward to learning an Asian language (Japanese) in the near future, and Chinese characters.

I have to say, however, that the stylistic components of the English language (particularly the variety spoken in the USA) is very rich and extremely difficult for non-native speakers to use in a way that sounds natural. We can perceive subtle incongruities in the use of various phrases that alert us to the undeniable fact that the source is foreign. I've spent some time in Paris bars trying to teach a French person to say "motherfucker" with the attitude, depth of feeling, and intensity, of an American. No luck, thus far.

I've also learned that one can be both grammatically correct and stylistically proficient in a language, while also being concise. That's the true state-of-the-art, in any language. In American English we still love the art, even if mastery of English by most Americans is poor, and getting worse every year.

[JR]

In some parts of the US chances are that you need to ask do you speak English and all you get is a blank stare or que?

[JHern]

In some parts of the US chances are that you need to ask do you speak English and all you get is a blank stare or que?

That's why I chose Spanish as my first second language in school. In California, more people speak Spanish than any other language (including English).

[JHern]

So my leather glove shoes are close to the end, the soles are wearing down pretty much smooth and it will only be a matter of time before a hole is there. The rest of the shoes are in immaculate condition, I wonder if it is possible to resole these shoes? I'm going to try, either way!

In the meantime I caught a sale on Merrell Trail Barefoot shoes and they have a much more rugged sole than the leather gloves ever had, and I'm going to use these new shoes almost exclusively for disc golf. I will file a report on these in the next few days and weeks.

[dgdave]

I almost got some Glove shoes. They had really good reviews

[JHern]

I almost got some Glove shoes. They had really good reviews

Nice, I almost bought the last tough glove shoes I could find, but it's a little pricey ($120).

I wore these trail shoes all day today, and they are breaking in fast. They began a little tight around the forearch, but loosening up fast and now just a loose feeling grip.