If you wear Vibram Five Fingers, how are they working out?
 

I've been wearing VFF's KSO as my primary running shoe for awhile now and it's been a very interesting experience. I have a big bone spur on the bottom of my left foot, so I thought these shoes would be a really poor choice. Instead, my feet no longer hurt during or after running. I also notice that I bend my knees a lot more and I seem to be able to run longer becuase my feet don't hurt like they once did. I honestly thought that becuase of my weight, this kind of shoe would be a problem. I'd like to think I'm wrong, but I'm going to give it a few more weeks before I decide.

Does anyone else wear Vibrams? How do you like them? Any problems? What brand are you using? I'm thinking about getting a different style and would like to see what everyone else has.

Thanks!

You might check MDA to see if there are any posts over there, since I think Mark recommends them.

I have your same shoes. I love them. i use them for indoor exercise and running on the TM, but i can't run outdoors in them yet. Are you able to run outdoors? Heel/mid/or forefoot strike? I'm working on changing my gait.

my husband wears vibram five fingers and LOVES them - i wanted some for myself, but the shoes won't fit on my weird toes. anyway, they've totally changed my husband's life - he has congenitally deformed feet that have given him all kinds of leg pain (which in turn gives him other pain for compensating for the leg pain while walking) and has worn prescription inserts and seen physical therapists since childhood, but the vibrams literally re-taught him how to walk naturally in a week, and he's had no pain since. i'd give them a hundred stars if i could after seeing how happy my husband is in them!!

I've had the Bikilas for about a month and they're pretty awesome. I just posted in the running thread yesterday that despite the wintry weather and the fact that I have not been running that much (1-2 times/week:o) I actually ran a personal best 5k time yesterday. My stride feels very natural and I feel like I am running faster in general. I'm not having any pain except that I had calf pain in the beginning, but that was to be expected --> everyone told me to start slow with short runs when I got them, but even that first mile killed me, lol! No pain after the first week though.

I've only been using them outside and I'm kind of sad for what's going to happen when it starts to snow. I know that there are socks you can get to go with the vibrams, but the bikilas are designed to be a little more snug than the other versions so I don't know if socks would work:(

I have had problems with my feet my whole life and when I started walking/running on the treadmill I was doing it in my sock feet. But even with thick socks the roughness of the treadmill was scraping my feet up. So I bought the Vibrams this fall and LOVE them. It really does feel very close to walking in bare feet.

Because we now have a ton of snow on the ground, I haven't worn them outside other then a couple of times, so I'm looking forward to next spring to try them in my outdoor hiking and walking areas.

i bought my husband a pair of the 'flow' style five fingers (the waterproof ones) that he wears with the injinji socks in the snow - so far, they're working great!

I want those for exercising at home... do they have any arch support though?

No. None of the barefoot type shoes do. The concept is that your arch will support itself if you are walking 'barefoot'.

Edit: Oops! Posted at the same time as nelie. Sorry about that!

tytbody - No, they don't. That's the point. Arch supports actually weaken the muscles and tendons in the foot. You wouldn't put a pillar under an architectural arch to support it would you? It would weaken the arch. Wearing VFFs allows those muscles and tendons to strengthen back up and support the arch like they are naturally designed to.

That being said, I'm dying to get my hands on a pair of these but money keeps getting in the way.

Thanks for your responses, everyone!

Yes, I can run outdoors, but it's so wet that I've been staying inside. It seems like my strike has gone from landing on the ball of my foot to more on my heel then to my toe, if that makes sense. The most noticeable difference is that my knees seems to naturally bend- maybe to absorb impact?

I had some calf pain, but not nearly as much as I thought I'd have! My speed is so much better, especially on the treadmill. I'm usually so afraid that I'm going to trip on there and smash my face to smithereens. I'm MUCH more steady with the Vibrams. Socks are a no-go for me. They just feel too sung against my toes and actually hurt after awhile.

As a few other folks said, no they don't. But I need arch support in normal shoes and found that I absolutely don't need anything like that in my vibrams. It's so weird.

--

Anyway, I'm feeling so good right now- having comfortable shoes is such a good incentive to run!

I went to three stores to get these today. I did get to try some on but they were the black ones. I want the red ones. I was told to wear red so I'm going for the red.

I went to REI, Eastern Mountain Sports and City Sports. Not one had them in red.

Good thing is, I found my size now I"ll just have to find an authentic dealer on line.

They do feel terrific. The bottoms are really like a tread on a tire. Much more then I could have imagined. They darn well should be though for the price of them puppies.

Got some. yea, Got my Chili/pepper ones at Kayak store. Yea. Me. Score!!!!!!! $80

I am very interested in those shoes since I hate shoes, and normally try to wear flip-flops or go barefooted year around, but my feet are shaped weird. I am an 8 1/2 with very wide feet. I found an ebay seller selling them for around 35-40 dollars, and would love to get a pair, but I don't know what size I would go for. Any idea?

Vibram has a video showing you how to measure for the proper fit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tuuzp...layer_embedded