The first thing I did was give them a beating. I did a trail run in the pouring rain and ran through tons of mud and ran through water above knee level (and I am 6’4″). The trails I run are pretty crazy so the Skele-toes can take a good beating. I really liked them a lot and read more about minimalist shoes and watched videos and everyone was saying the Vibrams where pretty much the best.

I did more research and found a place really close to me that sells them and bought the KSO’s and I realized right away how much better they where and how much more of the ground I could feel and how much more movement I had. They did really well on some crazy rocks but every once in a while I would land on a not so nice rock on my forefoot and it would be really uncomfortable so I ended up getting another pair of FiveFingers—the Treksport, which allow me to still feel everything and give me the same movement as the standard KSO, but when I hit those not friendly rocks it doesn’t hurt at all even though I can still feel them (if that makes sense).

I use the KSO a lot now just for walking around and going to stores and whatnot and sometimes at home when I am not barefoot and also for running on concrete. But for the crazy trails I run the TrekSport&mdsah;can’t be beat in my opinion.

I’d say the Fila Skele-toes are great to start with and are not a bad shoe but they are just not as enjoyable to run in as FiveFingers. I think my next pair of minimalist shoes may be those new balance black and white casual shoes you reviewed on youtube.

he Altra Adam simultaneously reminds me of a non-five-toed pair of KSO FiveFingers, a pair of aqua shoes, and a pair of Chacos worn with socks. In short, it’s an odd looking shoe (and I’ll go into the aesthetic briefly later).

Before I dive into the design, take a look at what comes in the box — shoes, two different insoles to customize the cushioning/ground-feel/support, and a whole lot of instructions:

But lest you think the instructions are limited to the box itself, rest assured that there’s even more information in a booklet that comes with the Altra Adams. The short of it is that Altra really wants to get people off to the right start when it comes to moving naturally, and they realize that the temptation for most barefoot-style newbies (Into walking, running, or whatever) is to hit the ground running — when they should take it slowly. Shoes aren’t magic, after all, and if you’ve spent a few years or decades learning to move in shoes with elevated heels and a heap of cushioning, you’re assuredly going to have to rehabilitate your feet, your legs, and you nervous system (No joke). It takes time. Be patient.

Anyway, just check out all the literature you get in the box (some of it marketing material, of course):

I mentioend that the Adams reminded of wearing Chacos with socks because the straps, which are velcro and work to secure the fit, are in two places — one over the top of the foot and another that crisscrosses over the instep. Underneath these straps is a stretchy fabric and mesh that is incredibly reminiscent of the FiveFingers KSO: just contrast the KSOs pictured here with the picture at the right. See?

Meanwhile, Altra has placed bits of sturdier, structure-giving fabric at key locations on the shoe: as a sling around the heel (also note the upper that wraps the heel has some padding to it to make it comfortable against your Achilles tendon), to bolster the upper strap, and in two pieces as a toe guard at the front of the shoe.

Sole — The Altra Adam’s sole features a five-toed pattern at the end and is, once again, reminiscent of the original FiveFingers sole (that’s a pic of a pair of women’s KSOs). The sole of the Adam is basically smooth and comprised of a thin rubber. How thin, you ask? Just 3.4mm! (That’s .1 mm thinner than the most basic FiveFingers sole). The sole has no arch support and is neutral from heel to toe (It’s “Zero-drop”. As noted above, comes with various options for cushioning (essentially, zero, a little, and a little more).

I tested the Adams by walking around and doing “normal” stuff in them, including a few workouts (squats/dead lifts). You can learn a lot about a shoe by simply walking around in it — particularly if you’ve (re-)learned to walk more naturally. The Altra Adam’s are great in that they are lightweight, neutral, and very flexible. This means that I don’t ever feel like my heel is “catching” the ground too soon in my stride; it also means that I feel extremely grounded with 250 lbs. on my back.

My most exacting testing of the Altra Adam came from a hike up Kennesaw Mountain outside of Atlanta, completed with a 25 lb. two-year-old strapped to my back via a Kelty 2.0 Child Carrier*. This is a somewhat rocky, fairly quick mile-long trail up the mountain — you ascend about 660 ft. over the mile up. Despite having a sometimes flailing two-year old on my back, the Altra Adams kept me sure-footed; it’s often heard, “Don’t you need ankle support for hiking? You could twist your ankle in those.” Well, not in my experience — it seems that being close to the ground allows you to sense when your footing is shifting and adjust fast enough to avoid rolling an ankle. I’d say most hiking shoes need ankle support because they are built to bomb over any obstacle without any thought.

Anyway, I was able to even do a few short bursts (say 25 yards at a time) of running down the mountain with the toddler/pack on my back and I had zero issues and never felt unsafe. Mind, the Adams don’t have a very aggressive tread, so that is certainly something to consider if you plan on running trails in them, but overall, I was very pleased with my hiking experience in the Adam.

with or without the most minimal insole that is included — is excellent. It’s odd**, I’d still peg it as slightly less than KSO or Classic FiveFingers, but the Adams unquestionably provide more ground feel than you get with the Bikila-, Trek-, or KomodoSport-soled Vibrams. If you’re after ground feel in a pair of shoes, I’d say the Altra Adam is about as good as you can get*** — certainly the best I’ve tested to date in a pair of non-toe shoes.

Now if I had to pick on the Adams, I’d cite three things. First, the shoe just feels a little prototypical — as if it’s not quite the final product. Mind, the ones I tested are the final product. It’s just sort of an overall impression of the shoe that feels unrefined — almost like you’re looking at a model built purely to test out function, with the intention of cleaning it up in the final production. Note, I’d basically make the same complaint about the KSO as compared to virtually any of the more recent FiveFingers models.

Second, the strap over the front of the foot is a bit stiff and uncomfortable. I found it irritated my feet a bit and just nags at my consciousness saying, “Hey I’m here!”

Thankfully, I think these two complaints were in no way unique to my experience and Altra is releasing a considerably more refined product with their Samson (men’s) and Delilah (women’s) (will be testing these soon!). I think if you take a quick peek at the Samson you’ll see what I mean almost instantly.

The third nit is both a complaint and a kudos. It has to do with the toe guard, which doubles as a toe catch. One issue I’ve had with non-toe shoes is that when you dorisflex (point toes skyward), the shoes don’t respond well. Awesomely, the Adam’s toe guard/catch does a pretty awesome job of catching a dorisflexed big toe on the way up, and in turn, lifting up the sole. The only problem is that sometimes it doesn’t work as well as others and my big toe doesn’t get caught by the guard, and just ends up pulling against the stretchier fabric of the upper (Compare these two photos here and here and notice how in the second, my big toe is pulling at the fabric at the front of the Adams, but it doesn’t in the first).

Ah one last thing about the insoles. My initial thought on the insoles was that I’d likely wear them with no insole at all. But what I found is that I actually find the Altra Adams to be considerably more comfortable with the most basic insole; for some reason, insoles removed entirely, the Adam feels incomplete and for some reason, the rubber sole curves up at the midfoot/metatarsels of my foot at an angle that annoys — but only when I don’t have the insole in place. Meanwhile, wearing one foot with and one foot without the insole, the ground feel really didn’t seem very different — so I just bypassed the sole angle issue entirely and kept the basic insole in.

All in all if you’re after a barefoot-style function and feel in a shoe, the Altra Adam practically/protyptically nails it (and I’m excited to see the reload with the Samson!). It provides fantastic ground feel (virtually the best of any minimalist shoe out there) that will leave you surefooted and moving naturally with healthy biomechanics. It’s got some design imperfections, but Altra seems to be listening and if the above-mentioned concerns bother you, maybe check out the Samson.

Pricewise, the Adam is going to set you back $80 but that’s with free shipping and free exchanges from Altra, which should allay sizing concerns. Altra says to size down if you plan to wear them without insoles, but my 10.5s (my normal shoe size) seem fine either way (actually I’d be worried about the insole-less spurred sole/metatarsel rubbing being worse if I sized down a half size).

Who else has the Altra Adam? What about the women’s Altra Eve? What do you think? Let’s hear it in the comments!

The Edge Glove is one of Merrell’s “Barefoot Life” shoes that is geared towards everyday wear. It’s most distinguishing feature is probably the simple use of a suede upper in lieu of something a bit more sneaker-ish — mesh — that and being monochromatic (most colorways, anyway) and available in brown, tan, and black. The idea, I think, is to provide an option that may be passable in the office, depending on your office’s culture around “business casual.”

Under the hood what you’ve got is a shoe that fits similarly to the recently released Road Glove in that the Edge Glove has the same sole as the Road Glove. The Edge Glove is heavier due to thicker, heavier materials (leather over mesh) and feels a little sturdier on top.

You’ll notice that the Edge Glove has a sort-of rubberized toe guard — a “fused rubber toe bumper” — that is reminiscent (though not quite as beefy) as the Trail Glove’s toe protection (review).

The two best things going for the Edge Glove’s design as far as fit is concerned are that they are neutral heel to toe having no heel lift (they are “zero-drop”), and they have an anatomically-minded toe box, meaning my toes feel comfortable and not squished or rammed up against the sidewalls of the shoe. My feet are average widths — not wide or narrow.

The arch of the Edge Glove tapers in (as seen with this photo), and while this is noticeable, doesn’t annoy and I’d be hard pressed to call it “arch support.” Inevitably, if you don’t like having something with structure up against your arch, you’re likely going to take issue with these (as well as the Road Gloves or Trail Gloves, for that matter).

The Edge Glove fit feels true to size (I wear 10.5 and these were 10.5) and the overall last of the shoe made my foot feel well seated — not sloshing about inside the shoe.

I tested the Edge Gloves by wearing them both barefoot and with socks. The Edge Glove’s insole is stitched-in and there aren’t a many seams to irritate your barefoot should you choose to wear them that way (Case in point, see this picture of the toe box from inside the Edge Gloves). So you can totally rock these barefoot should you choose to forgo socks. This was actually my default way to wear them. If you’re familiar with VIVO BAREFOOTS, I’d actually say the Edge Glove feels more comfortable on my bare foot than a pair of VBs. Incidentally, I’ll say that my favorite wear’em-barefoot-shoes are still the silky smooth-lined NB Minimus Life/Wellness (review) (with the original Minimus Trails and new Minimus Road Zeroes being right up there).

However, you’re more likely going to be wearing the Edge Gloves with pants or jeans since you’re likely going for a dressier look than sneakers can provide if you’re picking these up. And by extension, you very well may be necessarily wearing socks with the Edge Gloves. If that’s the case, you’ll be happy to know that even though the Merrell Edge Gloves can be worn barefoot, they are actually marginally more comfortable with socks on.

As far as ground feel is concerned, the sturdy Vibram rubber sole matched with the 4mm EVA midsole go a long way toward muting ground feedback. It’s hard to measure the total sole thickness of the Edge Glove, but my trusty (?) skinfold calipers put it at around 13-14mm (if anyone has a better number here, please chime in!).

If ground feel is most important to you, I’d just pick some Soft Stars up. Of course you’re going to get a slew of ground feel in the Edge Gloves over any number of traditional shoes out there, it’s just that relative to other minimalist shoes, I’d not put these at the front of the ground-feel pack!

Meanwhile, the entire platform of the Edge Glove feels a little stiff and heavier than I’d like it to be. These are still pretty light shoes, but they just feel a little more built up than I feel like they should be. Reduce the sole thickness a smidge and maybe eliminate the molded arch and I think they’d feel a lot better.