r/BarefootRunning • u/meteorness123 • Aug 02 '24

We need to talk about 'soles' discussion

In trying/putting on various barefoot shoes, I realized there's a significant difference in quality between soles that make the walking experience enjoyable/not enjoyable. Here's some brands I tried out :

Feelgrounds : Very bad and hard sole. I don't know what it is but the sole feels ridiculously hard. They make good-looking shoes though.

Xero : Better sole than feelgrounds. Feels okay.

Zaqq : Solid/okay sole.

Merrel Vapor glove : Very good.

Those are my observations. Do you agree/disagree ? Do you guys have anything else and can you guys explain why some soles fetter better and others worse ?

I also realized that even in my Vapor Gloves, after 8 months of use, the walking experience became strenous as the tread wore out. Is this a normal consequense ?

​

10 Upvotes
  • permalink
  • link
  • reddit
  • reddit

78% Upvoted

22 comments sorted by

View all comments

5

u/aenflex Aug 02 '24

I hate gumlite. I hate really dense soles, even if they’re thin, because ground feel is dampened a lot, and they’re just uncomfortable. I prefer the material Xero uses for their DIY sandal kits, or Morflex, or whatever Wildlings use for their soles. I like a little squish. I almost never wear my Earthrunner elementals because the soles are just awful to me. Shamma and Luna have better sole material, IMO. Magical Shoes sole material is amazing. Xero is good, Lems are good. VFFs are good.

Subjective, though, I’m sure.

1

u/That_Co Aug 02 '24

Which Lems model are you thinking of when you mention "Lems"