Kevlar shoes encourage natural gait
Shoes, especially expensive "running" shoes, fuck up your feet. They ruin a walking gait honed by countless generations of adaptation, and make you look like a fashion victim to boot. Dylan Tweney at Wired Science reviews the research and finds Galahad Clark's Vivo Barefoot, a pricey design that's crafted to match as closely as possible the natural inclinations of the human foot.
"[It's] a $160 un-shoe that is as close to going barefoot as you can get while still providing some protection against the dog shit, hypodermic needles and broken glass that clog the streets of New York (and San Francisco, for that matter)."
My understanding is that the publicly-available excrement in San Francisco is often from another source, but to a jogger, a turd is a turd is a turd. The shoe looks a bit goofy, until you realize that it's basically just a superstrong kevlar sock dressed up to look as much like a sneaker as possible. From fan Josh Samuels:
"Their lack of "arch support" and elevated heel is actually a boon, as it allows you to walk/run normally and regain natural posture. They also have a wide toe-box, to accommodate your feet without crunching, even have a zippered sole so that you can just replace them when they wear out, instead of buying a new pair!"
At $160, it's pricey — so pricey that I think I'd rather wait until they have a less pedestrian design.
Update: Cory links to a New York Magazine article on the subject and offers some thoughts on an alternative brand that's helped him overcome woes anyone with flat feet will understand.
Product Page [kk.org]
Your Shoes Are Killing Your Feet [Wired Science]
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I've always wanted to try these: http://www.vibramfivefingers.com/
I've had a pair of Vivo Barefoot in brown leather upper for about three years and love, love, love 'em. Need to get new soles soon. I pretty much exclusively wore those clay-soled Chinese slippers from the ages of 11-21, and these are basically those with kevlar soles that don't wear out after two months. Highly recommend.
What is that blue suede shoe pictured? It's not anything I can find on the vivobarefoot.com website.
If you need running shoes I'd recommend anything from the Nike Free collection.
http://www.nike.com/nikefree/
I've run in them for years and it's amazing how comfortable they are. I'd be interested in seeing how these compare.
I wear Chuck Taylor's for just that reason. They have a little bit of padding but no arch support and no heel.
I just wanted to second the questioning of the assumption that most of the fecal matter available for stepping in on the streets of san francisco is of a canine origin.
Does it strike anyone else as odd that they go on at lengths about how conventional high end running shoes are not good for your feet so buy our running shoes instead BUT oh, by the way, we also sell high heeled pumps.
@#3 http://www.terraplana.com/aqua-p-701.html?colour=62
@UMGREGO2: Thanks for trying to help, but no that isn't the same shoe. It appears that Rob copied the image from the referenced kk.org review, but I have no idea where he got it. Maybe it's an old discontinued line or something? Watev.
How is this a gadget??
New kind of shoe = gadget. I dunno.
Shanefer, perhaps this is simply not the blog for you.
Sorry about posting an image from a discontinued line, BTW!
sadly, they only go up to size 12 (UK) :(
Warning about terra plana vivo barefoot. The shoes run small and they WILL NOT exchange shoes that have been worn. I wore the shoes for one day, hoping that the strange feeling in my foot was just a result of the kevlar sole, but by the end of day one i was limping and decided to return it for a larger size. They will not exchange it for a larger size or refund my money.
I cannot attest to the value of the kevlar sole, though i was intrigued enough to drop the $150 on the shoe. I do NOT recommend buying a shoe unless you can try it on in the store, given this policy.
Good luck to all of you.