Product Review: Terra Plana Vivo-barefoot Achilles (Running Sandal)

deviantrunner

Chapter Presidents
Apr 3, 2010
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Holly Springs, NC
Let me start by throwing many thanks to Planetshoes.com for providing the Terra-Plana Vivo Barefoot Achilles sandals for my wear-test and review. I would also like to thank the Barefoot Runners Society and all of its membership. I have never had so much fun running until I ditched my shoes.

As many people may have discovered, as well as our ancestors who began making footwear in the first place… barefoot does not always fit the terrain. Footwear becomes a necessity at times. Thus… the Terra Plana Achilles…

“a barefoot multi-terrain running sandal. Suitable for: trail, beachside and urban exploration.” (http://www.vivobarefoot.com/us/mens/achilles-m-3924.html)

As advertised on Terra Plana’s website, some of the bullet points used to describe the sandals are as follows…

• Anatomically neutral outsole and wide footbed

o My comment: the footbed is plenty wide and accommodates my wide foot just fine.

• VB sero-pitch performance last

o My comment: I have no idea what this means… Anyone? Anyone?

• Split toe guard

o My comment: This was supposed to be a good thing… more on this later.

• Medial toe-bridge to maximize ball of the foot balance and response

o My comment: Another overly technical description which means nothing to the average consumer… such as me. Wait… I am average?

• Poly-Urethane insole

o My comment: OK, I can dig this. Contributes to the vegan quality of the sandals.

• VB intergrated 3D upper-outsole

o My comment: Again… I have no idea what this means… Anyone? Anyone?

• Dual-moulded reinforced nylon O-rings

o My comment: Thanks, but what exactly does this do for me?

• Removable and fully adjustable foot strap

o My comment: Adjustable is good… or was supposed to be, but don’t remove this strap! If you do… it’s like some mutant flip-flop.

OK, now on to the real meat of the review. I received these sandals early in May and have been wearing them and running in them all month.

Aesthetics:

When I saw these sandals, they immediately caught my eye. The colors were nice and the styling made it friendly to look at. When wearing these sandals, the people who do notice them didn’t seem turned off by the appearance. The Achilles are unlike the Vibram Fivefingers… which can sometimes draw odd looks from other people. I was pleasantly surprised by the way these sandals looked on my feet. See here…

https://www.dropbox.com/gallery/25653298/1/Terra_Plana?h=dbebba

What? You want to know how they feel? At first they feel great. I mean, what could be better than running sandals. When you run barefoot, one of the best things about it is the open air. When you wear shoes, your feet become saturated with sweat and you can become prone to a blister here and there once you add a bit of friction. When the Achilles are first placed upon your feet, all you want to do is go out and run. You can give your eyes a bit of a break from studying the ground as you run… helping to prevent that stone bruise that everyone is warning you about. …not to mention that hypodermic needles laying everywhere that you might step on. Just kidding…

The strap is simple to adjust and feels fine wrapped about your ankle. Adjusting the position of the strap and tension of the strap is very simple and doesn’t seem necessary. Once you fit them… you are set. They didn’t come loose when running or walking.

Ground Feel:

The ground feel was decent. This is an item that I don’t tend to put a lot of weight upon when wearing a shoe. Ground feel, to me, is something that you either have… or you don’t. Let’s face it… when you are wearing a shoe… you don’t have ground feel. Don’t argue… you know it’s true.

Zero Drop:

These sandals couldn’t be more zero drop. Flat as a pancake… just as they should be.

Flexibility:

The Achilles do not add a support structure, which is a very good thing. The foot is allowed to move however it wants. Please note… I said foot.

Toe Box:

The toe box? Well, this is where the trouble begins. The width of the toe box is fine. The wedge that fits between the toes… well, that becomes the Achilles heel of the Achilles. It is absolutely uncomfortable. The urethane upper (in this area) does not flex enough and rubs your second toe horribly. This part of the shoe is not flexible and caused me to remove the sandals after the first two miles… every time I ran with these. If you want to appreciate your bare feet… wear these for two miles and take them off.

Weight:

The Achilles only weigh 6.5 ounces and were not noticeably heavy during use. I was happy with the weight of the sandals.

Comfort:

Oh my… these really look comfortable. But they aren’t. Sorry Terra Plana, but you have work to do in the toe area before these could be recommended for running… in my opinion.

Fit:

They fit great and are comfortable… until you start walking/running. Then the pesky toe-wedge thing starts to annoy. Do these ever break-in or do my feet have to break-in? I was hoping for the first.

Traction:

No issues here at all. I enjoyed wonderful traction. The sandals held the road and my feet did not slide around… much. I did find that my feet would find their way smooshed up against the front of the sandal. This added to the discomfort that developed within the first two miles of every run.

Durability:

The Achilles are well constructed from my experience, however, one of the sandals is developing a stress crack… in the toe-wedge. Like I stated before… that wedge needs to be more flexible. Ouch! At least the sandal is breaking and not my toe.

In summary, I regret that I would not recommend the Achilles for running… or even walking. The toe-wedge is a deal breaker. If that item could be corrected (are you listening Terra Plana?), these sandals could be a very nice option for running. The fit is good but the pain starts almost immediately. I can not run in shoes and will not. However, I do want some footwear at times. A sandal keeps your feet mostly free and breathing; which is why I want a running sandal.
 
Some of this review may sound

Some of this review may sound pretty harsh. My feet are fairly normal I think. I have a slight mortons toe on the left foot... but the pain I felt from the toe wedge wasn't isolated to the left foot.

I really think this could be a great sandal if the toe wedge area could be improved. Anyhow... Thanks for reading.
 
Thanks for the review. This

Thanks for the review. This is an interesting product. I hope shoe companies will continu to explore and improve the area of running sandals.
 
Good review, I was really

Good review, I was really curious what your take on the toe wedge thingy was going to be. The first picture I saw of these, I thought that would be a rubbing issue. But I wasn't thinking that quickly.

I like how you commented on their bullet points. I don't know why companies continue to put technical crap down that half of the public have no clue what they are talking about. It's like they think you will be mezmorized by the technical jargin and just have to buy it.

By the way could the VB reference refer to Vibram soles? Just thinking.
 
I've also had these for a

I've also had these for a while as TP sent me a press release pair for review. I have not posted a full review of these yet for some of the reasons that you mentioned Deviant. I will however address what I can at the moment and fill in the blanks later.

I too like the look of these and the immediate feel was awesome. I don't run in huarraches because I don't like fiddling with the lacing so these seemed to be a good option. When I got them I walked around in them some and they felt great so I went for a run. For three quarters of a mile I was completely sold on them as one of the most comfortable things I've ever run in. At the 1 mile mark I took them off because I had developed blisters on both feet between my great and second toes. I was sad about it but wrote it off to first time use. My second run yelided the same issue but a little after the mile marker.

I wrote to my people at TP and they responded interestingly by comparing these to flip flops. Their thoughts were that everyone would have an adjustment period with these sandles the same way they would when they first pull the flops out for summer. At first I disagreed because I'm in Texas and I start wearing my flops and shorts in February but then I realized that I wear leather flops; not the kind with rubber straps. I dont wear them because they irritate me between my toes and give me blisters.

With that revelation I have gone back to the drawing board with the Achilles and am giving it more time as my feet try and adjust to them and it's working. Still not quite there yet but it appears that I will be there soon and these might not give me problems anymore. I've also found that not tightening the strap so that my foot is pressed up against the toe split helps a lot.

According to TP this is not an adjustment or fit issue but one of adaptation. So it would appear the question is whether or not you want to take the time to adapt.
 
I got a pair of these last

I got a pair of these last week. I don't have a lot of time in them yet but here are my first impressions. First night I wore them out to Costco, walking around I found them to be pretty comfortable. The next day I took them for there first run. I ran4 miles with no blisters, but I did feel some irritation on my second toes, especially when running on a crowned road which put sideways pressure on the shoe. My run had one downhill stretch which also feel odd with the sandals. I think its much like Jimmy Hart said above, that it will take some adaptation to get your toes adjusted to the pressure the wedge exerts on them.

I was plesantly surprised that the plastic footbed of these sandals does not cause my feet to sweat like I thought they might and instead are surprising comfortable on the bottom of my feet. We shall see how they are down the road, but I remain hopeful that they and my feet break in together.
 
I searched the Vivo website,

I searched the Vivo website, and I couldn't find them for women. Are they available for women?
 
This just in from Terra Plana

This just in from Terra Plana about the women's version of the Achilles. They did not release with a female version because there was no interest. All the polling they did said there would not be a market for these on the women's side so they went men's first. Much like what happened with Vibram and the Trek release the women have since spoken up for being left out and TP is counting the female release for part of the 2012 line.

That is not a confirmed but of information though as they said it is only being "planned" on the 2012 line so if you ladies want these then you need to start making it known.
 
The place that I buy my shoes

The place that I buy my shoes has these down as water shoes. I was just curious what you people that own them think about this. I would like to use them as that also, but I would be worried that your foot would be slipping all around in the shoe itself especially on creeks that have say a bunch of 5"-8" rocks in them. Am I wrong?
 
I think it would depend. On

I think it would depend. On one side, there is nothing to really soak up any water other than the strap and the way they are made allows water to drain very quickly (even under the foot, because of the footbed design), so they work well with water. However, the soles are made of TPU, which is a fair stiff, slippery plastic and although they have treads molded in them, I think the material would tend to want to slip off of already slippery rocks in the 5-8" range. In other words, they would work great for at the beach, but probably not so great in a rocky stream bed.

To update on my previous post, I've run a couple more time in these and my feet definitely feel better than the first time I ran in them, however these are not my favorite shoes to run in, so they don't get used for that much. I do however like wearing these for stuff like casual wear and yard work and would wear them running if it was raining or really wet out (deep puddles). I even like them for mowing the lawn since afterwards i can just hose them off clean and 10 minutes later they are dry again!
 
Just to add in to the other

Just to add in to the other reviews. I have done two runs in the Achilles. On the first run my left foot developed a blister on my 2nd toe on the right foot. So after the first mile I had to stop since it hurt and it was bloody. On the 2nd run, I put a band aid over the blister spot on my right foot, but then I developed a blister on the same toe except on the left foot. I also got some irritation from the strap which managed to bleed a little as well. I didn't find the toe spacing to be a problem for me though. I intend to keep running with these, but I may be putting on some band aids before the runs :)
 
You could use a product like

You could use a product like 2Toms powder which will stop that friction, so you don't develop blisters.
 
I ran in them again last

I ran in them again last night, and I am not sure it's a friction thing, as much as a cutting me open sort of thing. I might try the powder out though.



I really do like them though.
 
I have been a fan of

I have been a fan of Vivobarefoot..i have a few of their shoes. I have to say I can't seem to adapt to the Achilles: i really like them for their lightness, flexibility, feel for the ground etc...but the seemingly inevitable friction and consequent blister on my second toe is frustrating. I have been wearing them for walking around a lot with no problem (except when i did a long downhill walk and the blister came!)....but the only way I can run in them is if I use Mole Skin...wrapping my second toe(s) with it. My skin does does not adapt. (First it was the right side..now the left) Now here in Italy I can't find Mole skin and the products they have here are like fancy band-aids...plastic and expensive and they are not working! So now I am basically bare-footing it and wondering what to do with my Achilles....
 
Jimmy Hart wrote:According

Jimmy Hart said:
According to TP this is not an adjustment or fit issue but one of adaptation. So it would appear the question is whether or not you want to take the time to adapt.



I have a problem with this statement. Feet shouldn't adjust to shoes (that's why we have foot problems now). While I applaud you for trying to adjust to them, I think it's a development problem with the shoe if it doesn't work for more than just a few people. They should be adjusting their shoes to fit their customer's feet, not the other way around. Just my .02$



Aaron.
 
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I so agree, Puff.  We

I so agree, Puff. We shouldn't have to adapt to fit into the shoes; the shoes should have to adapt to fit us. Good point. Adapting/adjusting to a shoe is what causes foot deformities. Just look at mine!
 
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I think a lot like you on

I think a lot like you on that thought. Shoes shouldn't need to be broken in or adjusted to. With the Achilles I didn't mind because it wasn't my foot needing to get used to the shoe. The shoe is good the way it is and doesn't mess with the mechanics or natural shape of my foot. What needed to adapt was the skin between my toes which was soft and sensitive which allowed it to get blisters from this shoe. Now that my skin has gotten used to having the rubber between the toes I have no issues with the shoe at all. It feels great under my foot and my form is smoother and lighter than in any other shoe I own except for my ZEMs.

Still it is something that you have to adapt to and that was a bit of a hassle.