Minimus trail 00

[barefootCrossCountry]

Ground Feel 3.5
Zero Drop 5
Flexibility 4
Toe Box 5
Weight 6
Comfort 4
Fit 4
Traction 3
Durability sole-5 upper-none
Performance 4
Cross Training 2
Design 2
Aesthetics 4-they're definitely loud...
After having used the original minimus trail for well over 800 miles with still some life left in them, most of which where on road, I was ecstatic to hear they were releasing a newer version that nearly weighed half as much. The fact that they were touting their horn about the soles durability made me even happier as I hate having to drop money on new shoes. After about one week of having bought them from my local newbalance store, the interior around the heel came unglued, so I exchanged them for a new pair. By now I have gotten ~100 miles on my current pair. The entire interior heel lining has basically peeled off. On both shoes. and the part of it under my Achilles has a hole in it, meaning every so often It makes my heel bleed, leading me to return to my trusty original minimus's or vff's with socks and band-aid. In the end, they were to concerned with saving weight to give these shoes a working upper.

 

[mokaman]

I ran in these today around a parking lot some, brand new pair a friend of mine bought, he will use these for mostly roads a little bit trails. I was surprised how light these are...measured out around 4 oz for size 11.5, they feel very good for road shoes...hope they hold up for him.

Oops thought these were road shoes at first... I would like to try these on some technical trails maybe... I think they would be just slightly more protective than Vibram Kso's.

 

[scedastic]

annoying that you keep having separation issues. definitely not cool. thnx for the review

 

[ElyDave]

I've done about 100 miles in mine as well with absolutely no issue with them at all, I would currently rate the upper durability as 4-5, sole the same.

How come you're only giving them a 2 for design? I think there's some serious thought gone into these shoes

 

[barefootCrossCountry]

Because of the upper. If the same part of the shoes fail constantly for me, I am inclined to think of it as a design flaw. Also The forefoot tended to fold over a bit right under were the laces were, which meant my feet (right above toes) would occasionally bleed on long runs(10+), and the heel lining problems meant my heals would bleed often unless I wore socks, which is against the point of wearing these shoes. While its nice that the interior worked out for, the fact that it gave me so many issues made me consider it somewhat of a design flaw. While they definitely put lots of thought into the sole, and did a really good job of it, I feel like the upper was more of an afterthought.

 

[ElyDave]

I don't know whether you just got a bad pair as I have had none of your troubles with them, socked or not. I think the upper has had as much thought to it as the sole, definitely in terms of the technology to produce it vs more conventional methods of sewn layers and ending up with a heavier weight.