One Moment Biodegradable Shoe Review

Andy Tomlin

Barefooters
Oct 15, 2011
157
27
28
38
Newmarket, UK
They're crap.


Perhaps I should expand a little... Since these are about £8, I took a punt and ordered a pair.

Shoes that arrive like this show promise:
IMAG0166.jpg


However, once I had them on, my fears regarding the toebox were proven to be correct:
IMAG0168.jpg


Ouch. Despite the material being incredibly thin, they just wouldn't conform around my toes. They aren't just narrow like smart dress shoes, they're even worse. I couldn't stand to have them on my feet for more than 5 mins sitting at my desk, despite them being a little oversize, by the looks. Another thing you might have noticed is that I'm wearing socks with them. This is because the material is so far from breathable, I could tell that my feet would be dripping with sweat in minutes. Oh also, they smell extremely strongly of freshly moulded rubber/plastic.

I was about to write that I could not find a single redeeming feature of this shoe, when I remembered the thing that made me first click on the link... they're biodegradable! I'm off to chuck them in the compost right now... Nothing ventured, nothing gained!
 
Ha ha ha ha ha ha!
 
Didn't the Smurf's wear those?
 
Oh well, I can't be too hard on these -- not terminally hard anyway -- not chucking mine away, even though I didn't find them good for running. I kinda have a soft spot for them. Because of their price and the brilliant customer service over at Barefoot Britain where I got them, they were my first (and my son's first) pair of minimalist running shoes. Without socks, I could feel the ground pretty well, but yeah my toes were rather scrunched together just like in regular shoes/trainers. They were very helpful for my first couple of 'barefoot' runs on the treadmill at my local gym, as the staff there weren't going to allow me to do it properly barefoot (health & safety regs etc). And for that, quick familiarisation type runs, they were fine.

My son, 7 yrs old, still uses his for short runs without socks. But neither of us would want to go longer in them, because yup the sweat would start rolling for sure. My son cannot stand running on pavement without them and can only go barefoot on grass or soft trails, so he'll be sticking with these until his feet stop growing every other month and we can afford to by him Vibrams or other minimalist shoes.

Even though I don't find them good for my running, I keep them by the back door as garden shoes, or for quick runs to the shops on wet days.

They are really just ankle high wellies in the end. And for £9 I paid, not bad for that purpose.