Well they aren't a bad shoe, they are comfortable, and as previously stated they do keep your feet dry, and they are extremely light. I did love how i could feel EVERYTHING!! Proprioception ftw, though i digress.
Unfortunately, the cons kind of outweigh the pros in my opinion.
-Duribility: No, none what so ever; They hardly lasted me a week. I basically had the same problem everyone else seems to be having. The rim connecting the bottom and top of the shoe just started coming apart. Also,(this one is due to getting up walls)the bottom of the shoe just shreds. It falls apart extremely fast in my opinion, i got a gaping hole right where my big toe is and there are more holes forming around it. (which wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't for the fact that it only took a few days to a week of training for the holes to start appearing).
-Traction: At first the traction was great, but as time went on they would only connect to certain types of metalic surfaces. So you would have to be EXTREMELY careful when planning a precision. Now before you go and say "Psh no traction creates a better challenge" or "this guy just doesn't know what he is doing", no, it is BAD. You are better off literally going barefoot.
-Price: The price of this shoe is absolutely ridiculous and not worth what you are paying for it. I could crap a better shoe and i wouldn't sell it for this much. I know something about this shoe just calls to you. Ya, well don't don't do it! Save your money for a shoe that will actually last and be wearable even if it is falling apart. Once this shoe dies.. it's gone and you will want to buy another pair, because that first week of having them is absolutely great.
Keep in mind that this is just my experience with the shoe, and yours might be better. I am just trying to give a traceur's perspective because those within parkour/freerunning community are curious as to if it is worth it, i know i was. In conclusion, this shoe just could not keep up with me and expired before i could really enjoy them.
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Have you ever had a boyfriend/girlfriend who was always there for you, but could snap at any second; leaving you in emotional distress and purging on Ben & Jerry's ice cream?
Yeah, that's these shoes.
The fit is amazing. I have a wider foot, but never had problems with normal width shoes. These shoes seem like they're tailored to people with my problem, or maybe it could be that these shoe companies are on to something by finally designing shoes that are foot shaped. I wonder why it took so long, as you wouldn't buy pants that aren't leg shaped or gloves that aren't hand shaped. Anyways, the toe box on this shoe is the most innovative thing I've seen since reusable coffee filters. The quality is another story. The shoe itself does seem flimsy, and I'm not sure how long it will hold up. I bought these as a more socially-acceptable day-to-day barefoot shoe, and I couldn't be happier with them. Hopefully the volume of my daily use won't quickly lead to degradation. The best part about these shoes is taking the sole out, and feeling the ground with each step. These actually feel like you're barefoot without the feeling of having something between your toes. The price tag is steep for the appearance of quality, but only time will tell. I just hope they provide me with a few solid months of protection. I love them for the feel, fit, and look. Though I can't help but feel like the quality is a low blow from Vivo based on that price tag.
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I used these on two ~5 mile runs in winter 2012. I wanted these to be more water resistant and more socially acceptably looking running shoes than my KSO Vibram Five Fingers.
I like:
low to the ground
light
my feet stayed dry despite snow, my KSO Vibram Five Fingers soak instantly
look good
I don't like:
durability: the red line around the shoe joining sole with the upper detached in both shoes (where toes bend, inside side). Maybe because it was -5 Celsius, still, I'll need to replace or return them. I hope it's some faulty series or something that will be fixed in future products.
fit: while the toebox is spacious it's shape is too rounded for me and the big toe is touching the end of the shoe despite I got one size larger. At the same time the shoe extends forward beyond my foot very far beyond smaller toes which subtracts from barefoot feeling as it rubs the ground when running.
barefoot feel front: the sole is very flexible but because of it's curved shape (toebox lift) it's hard to press with your toes against the ground which I consider important when stabilizing your foot in middle stance when running
barefoot feel heel: the heel is more spacious than I would like as a result, when I balance on one leg and move my knee sideways, the shoes does not move with my foot, it is immobile on it's wide heel and so the top of the shoe rubs uncomfortably against bottom of my ankle.
In summary, I'm disappointed with these shoes. Not only they aren't durable, I also don't consider them good barefoot shoes as they don't facilitate (heel) or even prevent (toebox) stability of my foot.
Honest reviews on Vivobarefoot Men's Aqua Lite Running Shoe
I waited a while to write the review on these shoes to determine just how much I really like them. And while they are not perfect (I prefer Vibram FiveFingers, but I bought these for work since they don't look so funky) I really really like them. They fit a little loose, which is kind of the point in this case, so that your foot can splay out and move properly. I generally like the feel of a tighter fitting glove like shoe, like the vibrams, but that just wouldn't work in a standard shoe shape like this.
The felt material they are made out of made me worry that they would fall apart, but I haven not had any issues whatsoever yet with the material or the seams, and I wear them every day. The laces do tend to come untied after a while, but it doesn't really bother me. I just tie them again. It might be an issue if you were running long distances in these. I generally just walk in them, but I have ran in them some as well, usually under a mile.
I took the the insole out and it gives me a great ground feel. The sole does wrap around up the sides a little bit, but you really can't go through much of a puddle before water comes in the sides.
They breath nicely for what they are made from. I usually have very warm feet and I haven't had too much of a problem with these shoes.
Not sure what else to say, but I love them. I would probably buy them again, despite them being a little bit high price. I definitely recommend for someone that wants the absolutely barefoot shoes that don't LOOK like barefoot shoes.
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I bought a pair of this shoe recently and was very disappointed in the quality. This shoe did not last
very long and has already, after a month, started coming apart. The cost of the shoe is too high for the
quality. I hope Vivobarefoot reads this review and realizes they are losing customers due to this issue.
Tim, Ohio
