I give my first impression here. http://deviantrunner.wordpress.com/
I have only run in them a few times at this point.
I have only run in them a few times at this point.
So I tried the Merrell Trail Glove
- Thread starter deviantrunner
- Start date
Glad you got them - sorry
Glad you got them - sorry your first impressions were similar to mine!
I actually went out and measured my feet on a Brannock device this week and discovered that in the year since I've only run barefoot or minimalist they are now almost a whole size bigger than they've measured for the last 40 years! I, too, will be trying them in an 11 or 11.5 when I get the opportunity but I think they are just a lot more shoe than I need for road running - and there aren't too many trails in NYC and none of them need more than Bikilas or Treksports!
Glad you got them - sorry your first impressions were similar to mine!
I actually went out and measured my feet on a Brannock device this week and discovered that in the year since I've only run barefoot or minimalist they are now almost a whole size bigger than they've measured for the last 40 years! I, too, will be trying them in an 11 or 11.5 when I get the opportunity but I think they are just a lot more shoe than I need for road running - and there aren't too many trails in NYC and none of them need more than Bikilas or Treksports!
I hope my assesment isn't the
I hope my assesment isn't the same as yours. Wearing them in the store last night I was concerned with the width but they guys at REI convinced me that being a member, If I hated them they would take them back. The narrowness caused me to go with 13's and they felt too large in the toebox and too narrow in the mid foot. But being barefoot or in my NB Wellness Minimus that are really wide and hard to feel on the foot, I was feeling the shoe and that felt strange.
Why would anyone buy these for the street? They are not a street shoe, they would bother me on the street. Use them on a trial only.
I hope my assesment isn't the same as yours. Wearing them in the store last night I was concerned with the width but they guys at REI convinced me that being a member, If I hated them they would take them back. The narrowness caused me to go with 13's and they felt too large in the toebox and too narrow in the mid foot. But being barefoot or in my NB Wellness Minimus that are really wide and hard to feel on the foot, I was feeling the shoe and that felt strange.
Why would anyone buy these for the street? They are not a street shoe, they would bother me on the street. Use them on a trial only.
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I will be curious to see how
I will be curious to see how this goes for everyone. They did not have a size up when I tried them on and there is no way I would have spent the money for the way they felt hoping they would loosen up over time. I have never liked a snug fit with any type of shoes. In Jason's review he states "The tightness is perfectly isolated; it doesn’t interfere with the foot function in any way. If the shoe were specifically designed this way, it is pure genius. If it wasn’t, it’s a damn lucky discovery." http://barefootrunninguniversity.com/2011/01/04/merrell-trail-glove-review/. I really wanted to try these on and have one of those "ah ha" moments and walk out the door with them. I am going to try them again when the next size up is available or find someone who will let me take them back if they do not work. This snug feeling in footwear is starting to become a problem.
I will be curious to see how this goes for everyone. They did not have a size up when I tried them on and there is no way I would have spent the money for the way they felt hoping they would loosen up over time. I have never liked a snug fit with any type of shoes. In Jason's review he states "The tightness is perfectly isolated; it doesn’t interfere with the foot function in any way. If the shoe were specifically designed this way, it is pure genius. If it wasn’t, it’s a damn lucky discovery." http://barefootrunninguniversity.com/2011/01/04/merrell-trail-glove-review/. I really wanted to try these on and have one of those "ah ha" moments and walk out the door with them. I am going to try them again when the next size up is available or find someone who will let me take them back if they do not work. This snug feeling in footwear is starting to become a problem.
The only really great benefit
The only really great benefit I can see about snug where these are snug is that they won't slip around leaving the toes loose and free to move. The Heel felt snug too and the shoe did not slip around like the NB Wellness I have been wearing. On a trail, I can see this as a great benefit although the jury is out how well this is going to work with my heel bone spurs. VFF's are actually snug in the midfoot as well although not as obvious as the Trail Glove. There is also a seam right in the snuggest point that may be a problem. Not sure what geniums thought to place a seem right where the shoe is in contact tight with the foot.
The only really great benefit I can see about snug where these are snug is that they won't slip around leaving the toes loose and free to move. The Heel felt snug too and the shoe did not slip around like the NB Wellness I have been wearing. On a trail, I can see this as a great benefit although the jury is out how well this is going to work with my heel bone spurs. VFF's are actually snug in the midfoot as well although not as obvious as the Trail Glove. There is also a seam right in the snuggest point that may be a problem. Not sure what geniums thought to place a seem right where the shoe is in contact tight with the foot.
Today I did my 3rd run and
Today I did my 3rd run and have 19 miles total now on the Trail Gloves. I like these much better than my VFF Kso's and these compliment my New Balance MT100's which are zero dropped and even less shoe than the Merrell's. I wear size 11 in most shoes and these have the best toe room of any shoe I've ever tried.
I like the tight mid-foot fit for trail running...I did a 7.5 mile run on the roads and loosened up the laces a lot for that. They seem to be doable for roads but I wouldn't get these if thats what you run mostly. I don't run roads with shoes except for testing purposes or maybe just to run with others in the winter.
So far these are great shoes on the trails and have good potential for the really long runs where my feet swell a bit.
I have 2 gripes so far but no deal killers at all:
1 - There needs to be an Achilles notch at the top of the heel for runners like me who have trouble with skin abrasion there, I've had to cut a notch in other shoes to run sockless and these Merrell's rub my skin so I can't run sockless in these. I'll try sockless again after about 100 miles when they are broke in good.
2 - The rock plating in the front half is good but why didn't they put it in the whole shoe? I would have liked that better.
And I almost forgot...I wish they had sticky rubber on the outsole!
Today I did my 3rd run and have 19 miles total now on the Trail Gloves. I like these much better than my VFF Kso's and these compliment my New Balance MT100's which are zero dropped and even less shoe than the Merrell's. I wear size 11 in most shoes and these have the best toe room of any shoe I've ever tried.
I like the tight mid-foot fit for trail running...I did a 7.5 mile run on the roads and loosened up the laces a lot for that. They seem to be doable for roads but I wouldn't get these if thats what you run mostly. I don't run roads with shoes except for testing purposes or maybe just to run with others in the winter.
So far these are great shoes on the trails and have good potential for the really long runs where my feet swell a bit.
I have 2 gripes so far but no deal killers at all:
1 - There needs to be an Achilles notch at the top of the heel for runners like me who have trouble with skin abrasion there, I've had to cut a notch in other shoes to run sockless and these Merrell's rub my skin so I can't run sockless in these. I'll try sockless again after about 100 miles when they are broke in good.
2 - The rock plating in the front half is good but why didn't they put it in the whole shoe? I would have liked that better.
And I almost forgot...I wish they had sticky rubber on the outsole!
Wore them all day yesterday
Wore them all day yesterday and even gave them a short trail run as well as 4 miles on a treadmill. The trail run was just a quick test since I really was prepared to do a trail run yesterday. They certainly are a lot more shoe than the VFF and I assume they have a rock place since they have a whole lot less ground feel than the VFF's which I see as a good thing. Too often barefoot, with Cherry Cole Huaraches and in the VFF's I would land on what was a seemingly innocent pile of leaves only to find a sharp pointy rock underneath. I have wanted a nice lite rock plate sole with good traction, these have both.
I agree with mokaman, the heel might be an issue with my Achilles but only time will tell. Without socks I was feeling a slight hot spot where the shoe meets the Achilles, with socks, not so much. They have a great roomy toe box, better than I expected after the first wearing and the tightness through the midfoot assures a really good trail fit. I don't think I will ever run on the road with these as they just feel a little too clunky, too much sole. Although they don't have lift, or very little, they do have a thicker sole.
Overall, I am happy. Once I get a substantial trail run in I'll tell you if my opinion changes. So Far, I think I am happy other than I wish they had the red ones. The yellow aren't my thing.
Wore them all day yesterday and even gave them a short trail run as well as 4 miles on a treadmill. The trail run was just a quick test since I really was prepared to do a trail run yesterday. They certainly are a lot more shoe than the VFF and I assume they have a rock place since they have a whole lot less ground feel than the VFF's which I see as a good thing. Too often barefoot, with Cherry Cole Huaraches and in the VFF's I would land on what was a seemingly innocent pile of leaves only to find a sharp pointy rock underneath. I have wanted a nice lite rock plate sole with good traction, these have both.
I agree with mokaman, the heel might be an issue with my Achilles but only time will tell. Without socks I was feeling a slight hot spot where the shoe meets the Achilles, with socks, not so much. They have a great roomy toe box, better than I expected after the first wearing and the tightness through the midfoot assures a really good trail fit. I don't think I will ever run on the road with these as they just feel a little too clunky, too much sole. Although they don't have lift, or very little, they do have a thicker sole.
Overall, I am happy. Once I get a substantial trail run in I'll tell you if my opinion changes. So Far, I think I am happy other than I wish they had the red ones. The yellow aren't my thing.
I picked up a pair of these
I picked up a pair of these on Saturday at REI in a size 10 since the toe space felt ok. My Surf City marathon gave me some shin/calf issues so can not try them out on the local trails yet. Decided to wear them to work today and immediately realize that I should bump them up a size due to the little toes rubbing a bit.
It's actually been over a year since I've walked around in "normal" shoes so I kind of forgot how they are supposed to feel. The arch on these are a little weird for me. More stiff then the Treks and KSOs I normally wear for work.
I am not allowing myself to run for another week but I have a couple good trails in mind for when I do begin again.
I picked up a pair of these on Saturday at REI in a size 10 since the toe space felt ok. My Surf City marathon gave me some shin/calf issues so can not try them out on the local trails yet. Decided to wear them to work today and immediately realize that I should bump them up a size due to the little toes rubbing a bit.
It's actually been over a year since I've walked around in "normal" shoes so I kind of forgot how they are supposed to feel. The arch on these are a little weird for me. More stiff then the Treks and KSOs I normally wear for work.
I am not allowing myself to run for another week but I have a couple good trails in mind for when I do begin again.
After several days of wearing
After several days of wearing them, running in them and even wearing them to work. I gave them a rest and put back on my Treks. It amazed me how much ground feel I lost with the Merrell's. Definitely a whole lot more shoe than the Trek and even more than the KSO. I like em but they barely make the grade as minimal shoe in comparison to what I wear anymore. Maybe my standards have really changed. I also got a little blister wearing them running just behind the big toe on the side of the foot. Seems there is a seam or a crease there that irritates just a little.
After several days of wearing them, running in them and even wearing them to work. I gave them a rest and put back on my Treks. It amazed me how much ground feel I lost with the Merrell's. Definitely a whole lot more shoe than the Trek and even more than the KSO. I like em but they barely make the grade as minimal shoe in comparison to what I wear anymore. Maybe my standards have really changed. I also got a little blister wearing them running just behind the big toe on the side of the foot. Seems there is a seam or a crease there that irritates just a little.
Lavarunner,I had the same
Lavarunner,
I had the same problem with the rubbing on the side of the foot behind the big toe on both feet. There is a little triangle of material sewn in to cover where the outer overlays are attached to the uppers and on mine there was some extra material beyond the thread that would bunch up and rub. Just unlace them and the tongue and you can carefully trim the extra material away. That has so far solved it for me.
Lavarunner,
I had the same problem with the rubbing on the side of the foot behind the big toe on both feet. There is a little triangle of material sewn in to cover where the outer overlays are attached to the uppers and on mine there was some extra material beyond the thread that would bunch up and rub. Just unlace them and the tongue and you can carefully trim the extra material away. That has so far solved it for me.
I know it's outdated, but my
I know it's outdated, but my REI recently got them in, so I finally tried on both the Trail Glove and the True Glove. After wearing both in the store for about half an hour, I won't be buying either. Way too much arch support, which from what little I know is one of the premises behind barefooting. Mind you I have very sensitive arches, and have never been able to handle any arch support whatsoever (even before minimalist shoes came to exist).
I was surprised that for a minimalist shoe, they would incorporate arch support. Did no one at Merrell read Born to run?
I know it's outdated, but my REI recently got them in, so I finally tried on both the Trail Glove and the True Glove. After wearing both in the store for about half an hour, I won't be buying either. Way too much arch support, which from what little I know is one of the premises behind barefooting. Mind you I have very sensitive arches, and have never been able to handle any arch support whatsoever (even before minimalist shoes came to exist).
I was surprised that for a minimalist shoe, they would incorporate arch support. Did no one at Merrell read Born to run?
DruBo: I know what you mean
DruBo: I know what you mean with the arch, but I don't think I would really call it "arch support." It's more like they molded the arch area in order to hold that part of the shoe snug to the foot. yep, it can feel weird.
I've been wearing mine since mid-january both for running and as my regular every day shoe (I spend about 10 hours in them some days at work), and I still really like them although I have had some issues that I've been trying to work out. When I first got them the "rock plate" bothered me a lot, but over the last 3 months I think I've worn that part of the shoe in where I don't notice it as much these days. The width in the toe box hasn't been an issue for me, but after spending some long days wearing them I can totally see where all it would take is a tiny bit more width in my foot to make them a bit uncomfortable.
I've also struggled with the arch area, and still haven't found a sweet spot for how I want them to fit (left foot is great, right foot is slightly different and has trouble with all shoes). Some days I tie them so they are a little loose and they feel great, but other days when they are loose I slide around in them a little and start developing some soreness along the arch (it fefels like I tend to slide inward and get a lot of pressure there). On those days I will lace them tighter and the problem goes away, but for sitting around or walking around the office tightly tied shoes can get uncomfortrable (yeah i know they weren't designed for that
).
I've beaten mine in enough where road running doesn't feel that weird to me (I have probably 200 miles on them already), but I do prefer the road feel of my VFF Flows. I bought the Trail Gloves as a winter shoe for running in snow, and for that they worked extremely well (in my opinion) between the traction and since they made a much better rescue shoe than my VFFs for winter conditions (easy on/off). So the short version here is snowy roads/trails = win. Bare roads = ok, not great (and this is after many miles on the roads).
one weird thing I've noticed, and this might be becasue I'm still a relatively green runner, is that in the trail gloves I have a tendency to overstride ever so slightly and I start getting strains on the area just below and behind my ankle bones. barefoot or in my VFFs I have a really short stride these days and I don't feel any stress there until I hit around 15-16 miles (might be around when my form gets tired and lazy, but still investigating this). In my trail gloves it hits around mile 9-10. I think this is just a mental problem for me personally, but in the Trail Gloves I have the feeling of "wearing a shoe" more and I think it makes my form a touch lazier.
these issues are relatively mild for me though, except for the overstriding thing (whih i am working on), and generally I am happy with them probably 80% of the time.
overall though, I like mine enough where I'm going to look at the kids models for my daughter and will continue to wear them to work and in the winter (as long as my feet still fit them by next winter! ha!) or maybe if I head for some rugged trails. I still prefer barefoot to either the trail gloves or my VFFs.
sorry to get so long-winded. I've been wearing them long enough now where I thought my input might be useful to anyone checking this thread out. Sorry to hear people have had bigger issues with them than I did, but like they say, no single shoe will be perfect for everyone (I don't particularly care for the way my VFFs fit my toes, but many people really like them!).
DruBo: I know what you mean with the arch, but I don't think I would really call it "arch support." It's more like they molded the arch area in order to hold that part of the shoe snug to the foot. yep, it can feel weird.
I've been wearing mine since mid-january both for running and as my regular every day shoe (I spend about 10 hours in them some days at work), and I still really like them although I have had some issues that I've been trying to work out. When I first got them the "rock plate" bothered me a lot, but over the last 3 months I think I've worn that part of the shoe in where I don't notice it as much these days. The width in the toe box hasn't been an issue for me, but after spending some long days wearing them I can totally see where all it would take is a tiny bit more width in my foot to make them a bit uncomfortable.
I've also struggled with the arch area, and still haven't found a sweet spot for how I want them to fit (left foot is great, right foot is slightly different and has trouble with all shoes). Some days I tie them so they are a little loose and they feel great, but other days when they are loose I slide around in them a little and start developing some soreness along the arch (it fefels like I tend to slide inward and get a lot of pressure there). On those days I will lace them tighter and the problem goes away, but for sitting around or walking around the office tightly tied shoes can get uncomfortrable (yeah i know they weren't designed for that
).I've beaten mine in enough where road running doesn't feel that weird to me (I have probably 200 miles on them already), but I do prefer the road feel of my VFF Flows. I bought the Trail Gloves as a winter shoe for running in snow, and for that they worked extremely well (in my opinion) between the traction and since they made a much better rescue shoe than my VFFs for winter conditions (easy on/off). So the short version here is snowy roads/trails = win. Bare roads = ok, not great (and this is after many miles on the roads).
one weird thing I've noticed, and this might be becasue I'm still a relatively green runner, is that in the trail gloves I have a tendency to overstride ever so slightly and I start getting strains on the area just below and behind my ankle bones. barefoot or in my VFFs I have a really short stride these days and I don't feel any stress there until I hit around 15-16 miles (might be around when my form gets tired and lazy, but still investigating this). In my trail gloves it hits around mile 9-10. I think this is just a mental problem for me personally, but in the Trail Gloves I have the feeling of "wearing a shoe" more and I think it makes my form a touch lazier.
these issues are relatively mild for me though, except for the overstriding thing (whih i am working on), and generally I am happy with them probably 80% of the time.
overall though, I like mine enough where I'm going to look at the kids models for my daughter and will continue to wear them to work and in the winter (as long as my feet still fit them by next winter! ha!) or maybe if I head for some rugged trails. I still prefer barefoot to either the trail gloves or my VFFs.
sorry to get so long-winded. I've been wearing them long enough now where I thought my input might be useful to anyone checking this thread out. Sorry to hear people have had bigger issues with them than I did, but like they say, no single shoe will be perfect for everyone (I don't particularly care for the way my VFFs fit my toes, but many people really like them!).
You sir, are correct. Arch
You sir, are correct. Arch support was probably too strong of a word. Yet there is definitely some sort of arch molding or shape or something there. It's not just a flat sole, it contours up with the arch. I'm still surprised it does so.
For me, I can not stand to have anything touch the arch. It's my achilles tendon, so to say. Anything touching the arch causes intense pain, so all I've ever worn is flat, or at least level-soled, shoes.
You sir, are correct. Arch support was probably too strong of a word. Yet there is definitely some sort of arch molding or shape or something there. It's not just a flat sole, it contours up with the arch. I'm still surprised it does so.
For me, I can not stand to have anything touch the arch. It's my achilles tendon, so to say. Anything touching the arch causes intense pain, so all I've ever worn is flat, or at least level-soled, shoes.
