Anyone run in these yet and have some insightful reviews? If they were too tight for you, apparently there are two insoles in the shoe and you are supposed to take on of them out... Still looking for my shoe. I have been running in the Salming Speed 1 and like it, but I have a pair of the Salming Speed 5 and they hurt my upper shin...

I did buy the Altra Vanish but they are preposterously narrow... narrower than normal width and I have 2e forefoot and mid foot. Even with no insoles in my feet were just hanging off the sides of the sole.

What is currently working for me is the Skora Fit without the insoles. They have a proper sewn in footbed (unlike the Topo) and fit my foot perfectly. They aren’t as soft on the road as the Topo due to a bit more rubber in the sole (the Topo is almost all foam on the sole), but it’s a nice mix of rubber and dense EVA. They also fit my mid foot better than the Topo which always causes me blisters on the medial arch.

Currently they are the shoe I run in almost exclusively with occasional swaps to my Vibrams just for variety.

I have been running in VFF's for the last 7 years or so (had one pair with 1600+ miles), and my feet have definitely widened. Because they have widened, there are other minimalist shoes I can't wear - Merrill and NB Minimus. Lately, I have been wearing Zero Shoes - wide toe box and zero drop.

My primary footware is the Vibram v-run, no less than 80-90% of my mileage.

I have used Newtons since there have been Newtons. I recently acquired the Distance 7. Absolutely the best shoe they have made. I find the Vibrams better for conditioning, avoiding injury, and maintaining correct form than the Newtons; having continual feedback that allows subtle adaptation on all aspects of the stride. Good barefoot running form recruits the chain of muscle activity that we have evolved and achieves the efficiency that is intrinsic in our anatomy and physiology.

For racing I can cut loose in the Newtons putting all I have gained in the five fingers. The Newtons are purposely and singularly designed around "bare foot" mechanics (Years ago I spoke to Danny, one of founders of the company, and posed the question of: How and why did you do this?) I have learned that you can put good barefoot into the Newtons but will not obtain that level of proficiency in the Newtons.

Enjoy the ride.

I'm a minimalist runner.

A stack of 10+mm for me doesn't remotely come close to minimalist and feels much more along to a maxi shoe for me.

Blisters with vibrams may be if it's running small. But I still do get mild blisters at the ball of my foot if I push the pace or miles further than my adapted norm - that's likely a price you pay for minimalist.

I have found that my running is a lot more consistent with the minimalist shoes despite the fact I run less weekly miles. Recovery and volume is harder with minimalist but I get everything better results than when I was ising maxi shoes and running almost 2X the volume. Slow steady gains make a ton of difference and minimalist shoes set you up best for this.

I actually race in $15 no name water shoes at oly distance no problem and right now i trail run with Merrell vapor glove 3. It's honestly slightly easier to run in ''real" running shoes due to the stiffer sole, but I find I train better in the cheap water shoes which force you to take clean footstrikes and fully support yourself - like lifting weights for your run and stabilizer muscles.

I used Newton’s before the Vibran’s and really liked them. How do you find running long races (1/2 marathon and up) in you Newton’s when most of your training is done in other footwear, namely Vibrams. You ever have knee or foot pain?

Anything I can do in the vibrams I can do in the Newtons, but faster. It's kind of like turbocharging the system. The little bit of support and shock absorption speeds up the turnover. I do some transition training, with the first part of my training set in the vibrams and then change shoes. This has helped me learn to maintain form in the Newtons, even with fatigue. The key to this process is to grease form "barefoot" and then transfer and sustain it in the shoe. This fits in nicely with the 80/20 format of training that promotes training without the typical injuries. Since I have been using vibrams I have had less of any kind of discomfort or injury anywhere. When I feel something developing I can identify the form defect and easily fix it.

https://www.amazon.com/...-ebook/dp/B00IIVFAEY

Also, check this out, how we do what we do when running. I think this is one of the best explanations of the gait mechanism

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSIDRHUWlVo