Vibram Five Fingers

[Carmen Amara]

Thanks Slizzardman. Hope you are well.

[ASForum]

I should be getting mine by Tuesday..

[ASForum]

I just got them

KSO Black M 42. They are so cozy. I feel good. Some issues I feel with them. Will outline more later.

[Carmen Amara]

Great...what issues? My husband just got his pair. We love them

[Jay Guindon]

I have the sprints and think they're great. I prefer them to feel a little more like a sandal so I opted out of the KSO due to the extra material. I wear my Vibrams for everything but work.

[Animalonfire]

Any thoughts on the KSO trek vs the KSO?

I think their main selling point is durability of leather+4mm sole, but I haven't yet heard of any problems there anyway. Is the grip particularly special compared to standard KSOs?

I'm waiting on getting paid before buying myself a pair of either (looks like regular KSO though)

[Tarun Suri]

What do you guys think of the new vibram bilika and the UK only speed (with laces!!!)?

[David Picó García]

I have the KSO and the speed. The speed have more sole and you feel less the stones which is a plus if running cross ( which i do). the speed also have more grip. For running i would recomend the speed over the kso, but they are less versatile as they cant be used for water sports. The speed are really, really light. The laces are good for casual wearing but the fact is that i prefer the system of kso, the feeling of the tonge without socks is strange and i like a lot how the kso fits firmly the foot like a glove, Just for running i would like the bikilas as the closing sistem is closer to kso, but they seem to have even a bit more sole. I feel more sole as better because they dont offer cushiong but protection, so still forces to run with the barefoot style. Yesterday i went to run with my old nike max and they felt like kettlebells attached to my feet.

[Archie Moses]

The Bikilas are amazing!! I had the sprint for about 6 months and then moved onto the Bikila. The Bikila is just more comfortable overall. The sock design fits much better, and the thicker sole is more forgiving, especially for distance running (which of course, I stopped doing soon after I bought the Bikilas).

However, I do feel that the thicker sole of the Bikila does detract from the ground feel.

I didn't realize that the speed had been released in UK!! I really want to try a pair! By far the best looking of the VFF!

[Nicholas Sortino]

I've had the normal KSO's for about 18 months and they are falling apart, but still wearable. The sole in my right shoe has a small hole on one of the toes, and the seam on top of the big toes of both feet are split. There is also another split further back on the foot on a seam on both of them. The velcro strap on my right one is also just hanging on by a few threads, literally.

I doubt this is normal wear and tear though. I used to wear these things all the time. I gave up normal shoes for a long time and would not wear anything but those, unless I was in uniform. Then I got the KSO Treks and started wearing them more. Up until I got my shin splints I would only wear one of these two shoes whenever I went out. After the shin splints started (not really related to the VFFs) I started wearing normal shoes again for the cushioning.

I haven't ran in either of them in some time either. I run in my Newtons these days. Despite being shoes, these actually feel lighter on my feet than the KSO treks do. I also like the lug in the forefoot because it forces me to keep my stride short and fast. I wouldn't mind getting the Bikalis (sp) sometime soon to get back into running in VFFs, I had been up to 8mi runs in them on the road, and I would like to build that foot strength back up.

For now my KSOs are only used in the gym for non-running workouts and my Treks are sitting around waiting for my shins to get better so I can go back to wearing them as "normal" shoes.

[Wheelson]

Hey guys, I was looking into getting some KSO's, but then one of my friends showed me the 2011 line that's coming out the komodo Sport is supposed to be even better than the KSO, but I don't know if there's going to be much of a difference

-do you guys think I should just go for the KSO's, or wait for the new line to get a pair of fivefingers?

[ASForum]

Hey guys, I was looking into getting some KSO's, but then one of my friends showed me the 2011 line that's coming out the komodo Sport is supposed to be even better than the KSO, but I don't know if there's going to be much of a difference

-do you guys think I should just go for the KSO's, or wait for the new line to get a pair of fivefingers?

They are on Backorder almost all the time atleast when I order via REI. How long do you want to wait for the experience? Do you know when they come out.. I am guessing Summer time.

[Wheelson]

well I guess I'd have better luck with finding the KSO's and I'm assuming the earliest they could possibly come out is january with the lastest being summer... not sure if I can wait haha

[Animalonfire]

Got mine today, and they are great. If you'll excuse the crude analogy they're like wearing a condom having previously used a wooden box or something. It's great to feel little sticks/etc under my feet really clearly. And they are ridiculously light so no shoes off and checking for litter before tumbling

[Animalonfire]

True story: I am early for school, doing a (pretty wide) straddle HS in my vibrams to pass the time. A group of young girls walks past. "OH MY GOD!" shouts one of them "LOOK AT HIS SHOES!". I laughed and dropped to my feet just in time to see them all suddenly look the other way and scuttle off.

[Wheelson]

I just bought the new TrekSports and so far so good! I'm quite happy with them so far; however, some of the barefoot feeling is taken away by the extra 2 mm of sole, but I wanted the extra traction, so I'm happy so far. -How long would you all recommend waiting to do the weighted sprints in the workout of the day's in five fingers?

[Nicholas Sortino]

I just bought the new TrekSports and so far so good! I'm quite happy with them so far; however, some of the barefoot feeling is taken away by the extra 2 mm of sole, but I wanted the extra traction, so I'm happy so far. -How long would you all recommend waiting to do the weighted sprints in the workout of the day's in five fingers?

I do those in them... But i've been wearing VFFs for over 1 1/2 years now. I would start off slow with em. I can't tell you how long till you are ready, but definitely build into, whether is walking, running, or weighted sprints if you are not used to them.

[Mark Weaver]

I just bought the new TrekSports and so far so good! I'm quite happy with them so far; however, some of the barefoot feeling is taken away by the extra 2 mm of sole, but I wanted the extra traction, so I'm happy so far. -How long would you all recommend waiting to do the weighted sprints in the workout of the day's in five fingers?

I found sprinting wasn't much different for me, as I already sprinted on my toes/front part of my foot whether I was wearing shoes or going barefoot on grass, the same way I run in Vibrams.

[Neal Winkler]

I love my vibrams, but I try harder than the average person to expose myself to arguments that contradict what I believe (overcoming confirmation bias).

Here's a website dedicated to slowing down the barefoot hype machine.

http://www.runningbarefootisbad.com/

[Joshua Naterman]

What a biased page. Tons of people get hurt from weightlifting too, but that doesn't mean it is bad for you.

RUnning barefoot for long distances or sprinting and jumping right off the bat will obviously screw withyour bones if you have no significant background in foot impacts. Bones take time to remodel. If you grow to adulthood without significantly stressing the foot bone structure, and then start running barefoot, you're making a stupid decision. You should start short slow jogs and increase the distance slowly so that your foot bones have time to remodel, harden and add minerals. When you get to a target distance, like 3 miles, then you SLOWLY increase the pace. I mean seriously, this is common sense and straight out of the running handbook in general, yet people do not follow it, and do not understand how long it takes for bones to remodel.

That, my friends, is a failure of the barefoot community to properly research for themselves and/or propagate the relevant information. It is not a failure of the bare foot to be capable of running. The timeline for moving up to hardcore, high volume sprinting or long fast runs should probably be similar to the bone hardening performed by Iron Fist and Iron Palm practitioners. It takes 6 months to develop a reasonably "charged" palm or fist (meaning decently conditioned) and around 2 years to be performing the higher level hits and breaks, like hitting steel blocks and breaking multiple 2" concrete aggregate blocks with no spacers. You try doing that too early and you break your hand. You take your time, condition properly, and you break the blocks. The premise here is nearly the same, there is a wave-like motion that ends in a short duration, high force impact. If the same basic movement is happening, we should be able to extrapolate a reasonable progression from the well established regimens of Iron Palm/Fist and apply it to barefoot running. That's what I've done, more or less, and you know what? It's easy and I never have problems.

[Cole Dano]

Yeah sometimes i wonder if we've just lost all touch with reality, at least in terms of physical culture.

Its the same problem everywhere, folks just buying into a fantasy, going right to the finish line, and not being taught the fundamentals to get them there safely. It really seems to be an epidemic. Thank god for this little island of sanity where, slow patient progress is the by word along with lots of supportive work.

[tarzoon]

Quick question for those of you who have some KSO shoes : can you wear them in cold weather ?

thanks

[Aaron Griffin]

I have had my VFFs for over a year now. I have a pair of Classics and Sprints. I wear the classics casually, as they are easy to slip on and off. Actually, I got married in them The sprints I wear when doing physical things. They've been to Jamaica and the Rocky Mountains, among many other places.

I do wear them with socks, but the fit doesn't allow that with everyone.

As for wet/cold - there IS fabric between the toes that does make ground contact. Your toes will get wet when it rains. But remember that these are water shoes - they're fine. They warm up / dry off quickly.

The only thing I haven't figured out is what to do in the winter... I wonder if my feet will become conditioned to the cold or not.

[Nicholas Sortino]

KSO Trek's + Wool Injinii socks for winter

[Neal Winkler]

Here is a pretty good post on barefoot running.

http://www.mikereinold.com/2010/08/is-b ... r-you.html