Shoes with wide toe box

kanichol

Barefooters
Oct 7, 2011
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So my work lets us use money every year for a Life and Learning account and this includes fitness. So partially I call it my shoe fund. :) Anyways I am looking for a new pair of shoes for when I don't want to run barefoot or for when its too cold or whatever. I guess I need a fairly wide toe box. I have a pair of vivobarefoot Neos but they are too narrow and bug my feet. When I'm wearing my Stems (or Lemings or Lems, whatever you want to call them) my toes touch either side of the shoe (and I thought Stems were pretty wide....). What shoes have a good width to them? I like the idea of Skora shoes, but I heard they can be pretty narrow. Any word on the new styles of Skora? Any other shoes might work?
 
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Thanks deviantrunner, but I'm kinda just looking for running shoes right now. For casual I love my Lems and don't need anything else. :)
 
I highly disagree with the Merrells. They are narrower than Skoras. If you can find a pair in a size wide they MIGHT be ok, but I have yet to find any in a size wide (even at the local Merrell store) but they are so narrow in the midfoot that I personally never recommend their shoes to anyone. It's pretty tough to find a wide shoe that you do not have to conform your feet to in some manner. Everyone's feet are slightly different shaped and not many people are going to have a similar enough shape to have the same shoe fit the same. Basically, the best way is to just go out and try a ton of shoes on and find what works for YOU. I find the width of the VB Neo's to be too narrow as well, and the Altra Adams are ok (not perfect) and then the vff speeds fit real well for me as well. Lems fit well for me for everyday use but I did not like them for running. The Skora Base were kind of ok for me, but they feel like the are almost on a point on the heel so you feel really unstable in them when walking on your warm up or cool down. I was afraid to wear them for use in the gym. Best course of action really is to just go out and try on a bunch of minshoes and finding what works best for your feet. Some places even have a 30 day wear guarantee where you can wear the shoes for up to 30 days and if you don't like them return them and exchange for something else. This has allowed me to really go through a lot of shoes and find what really works best for me and I feel is really the best way to find a good shoe for the individual. Some shoes feel good in store but once out on the road/trail you find something wrong that doesn't work for you.
 
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Check out http://www.softstarshoes.com/

You can have them costumed made to your liking as well.
I forgot to mention them. For some reason for me the pair of Dashes I tried caused my PF to flare up horribly bad, but I bet for most people they would be great. I really need to drive over to where they are so I can try on numerous models to see if I can find a pair that work for me. I do love that they have 2mm soles available on some models.
 
Vivobarefoot Aqua Lite. Wider than Neo and Evo. 3mm. Have almost 200 miles on them, with Drymax Hyper Thin socks. Starting to wear through the lining inside of one shoe under the ball of my left little toe. Might just be my form/landing. Great shoe.

Edit: I think that wear spot is just me. I just noticed the same wear pattern on the inside of the Dharma. I have a bit of a callus on that area of my foot.
 
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VIVOBAREFOOT Neos were too narrow for you? Geez, those are some wide feet, Bro. Merrel, New Balance, and definitely Skora are all more narrow than your VIVOs. Altra would be might suggestion. My Adams are the only shoe I own with a toe box wider than my VIVO Neos (which are the same as my Neo trails and Oaks). I think that the Samsons are roughly the same.
 
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VIVOBAREFOOT Neos were too narrow for you? Geez, those are some wide feet, Bro.
Feet come in all different sizes, and so do shoes! I found the Neo to be stylish, but stiff, heavy, narrow, as compared to the Aqua Lite.
Anyway, the Natural Running Center has some good reviews, and they list the relative size of the toe box. Good luck finding the right shoe for you!
 
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ya skoras are nice but narrow. i had to go up a size and remove the insole to fit without feeling squished. if you can go try some on instead of having to ship back and forth.
 
I believe that Stem didn't widen their toebox until sometime around when they changed their name to Leming. The Stem shoes I've seem (online reviews) have a narrow toebox but the Lemings I've seen (in person) are definitely wider in this regard.

The shoes I know of with the widest toebox are the Altras.
 
I believe that Stem didn't widen their toebox until sometime around when they changed their name to Leming. The Stem shoes I've seem (online reviews) have a narrow toebox but the Lemings I've seen (in person) are definitely wider in this regard.

The shoes I know of with the widest toebox are the Altras.

I like my Lemings, they have a wide toe box. I found the first pair was too small (short) so I had to order a full size bigger.
I wear them for everyday work and shoping. I have used them for running a few times, they are fine.
My only complaint is with the heel counter, there is no ridgid plastic to hold the back of the shoe up, consequently the heel fabric has sagged down producing a wrinkle or fold which presses into the back of my foot. I am sure this would lead to a blister if I was to run very far.


 
My Vivo Breathos are wide enough for me. They seemed narrow at first but in the real-world of running across the fields and over the hills, my toes have plenty of room.

That's without socks and insoles, of course.

I don't have a lot of experience with minimal shoes but I have tried a few different brands /models and I'm thinking there has to be some amount of trade-off between forefoot freedom and arch smugness.

There has to be SOMETHING there to keep the shoe on the foot.

The NB and Merrell shoes I tried had way too much arch for me, which is worse than toe-smugness, and they were tight in the toebox as well.
 
My Vivo Breathos are wide enough for me. They seemed narrow at first but in the real-world of running across the fields and over the hills, my toes have plenty of room.

That's without socks and insoles, of course.

I don't have a lot of experience with minimal shoes but I have tried a few different brands /models and I'm thinking there has to be some amount of trade-off between forefoot freedom and arch smugness.

There has to be SOMETHING there to keep the shoe on the foot.

The NB and Merrell shoes I tried had way too much arch for me, which is worse than toe-smugness, and they were tight in the toebox as well.
I'm not sure I'm following you.

"Arch smugness"? "Toe-smugness"? Are those spelling errors?

If you're saying that a shoe needs a certain amount of snugness in the toebox, I'll refer you to the Altra Adam. Mine are one size larger than what I believe to be my shoe size. Their toebox is wide enough for me to splay my toes (my big toes, at least - I'm not concerned about splaying my little toes - although these shoes don't bother them). The strap which crosses the instep of the foot can be tightened a lot without being uncomfortable at all. It locks the shoe to my foot and I'm happy with how the arch of the shoe flexes. My shoes are sized up enough to allow me to wear a heavy wool toe-sock, if I so choose (yes, I've tried it) but, they also work without socks.

So it's a matter of engineering. Some designers follow the new paradigm while others merely pretend to.
 
I'm not sure I'm following you.

"Arch smugness"? "Toe-smugness"? Are those spelling errors?...

If you're saying that a shoe needs a certain amount of snugness in the toebox, I'll refer you to the Altra Adam...

No, I'm sure my spelling was competent, but my phone had other ideas. Tappatalk strikes again!

I didn't say a shoe needs to be snug in the forefoot area. I said there has to be something about the shoe that keeps it stable on the foot and I was referring to the arch area. This is especially true if the forefoot is roomy.
 
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I've noticed over the past few weeks that my Dharma's have been feeling snug. Perhaps all the barefoot running and such has finally allowed my toes to spread out a bit. I think that my bunions have improved, too! Anyway, I went ahead and ordered a pair of the next size up.
 
Ah well, I had good half a year of running, then all of sudden, my fivefingers just stopped working. My right calf gets painfully stiff when running with vff. Before vff, I was desperately searching for good wide "ultra-minimalistic" shoe, spend a good amount of money to try several differend shoes and brands. Seems like not much has happened since I started barefoot/minimalistic running in choice of shoes. There still are only vivobarefoot, huaraches and fivefingers and pretty much nothing else. Tons of zero drops, but it seems that they are too thick, too narrow or just somehow else not good.

This calf getting stiff, well, with vivo ultras and altra adams, no problems. Ultras and adams work, but ultras give me blisters and are bit too cold at winter and adams - well, I just don't like them much, although they are the most reliable shoe I have ever had.. Fivefingers felt much better when they were not giving me stiff calf. It kind of feels like replacing spring with stiff stick, every foot strike feels like jarring impact, especially in calf, but also at the ball of foot, knee and thigh..

Sigh, I guess it's second round with huaraches.