Vibram Men's FiveFingers V-Alpha | Barefoot All-Terrain Outdoor Shoe for Hiking & Light Trail

Like being barefoot with abrasion protection. Love it or hate it, that’s the what you get. I love it. To size it correctly, I recommend using a carpenter’s square under your foot. Normally I’m a size 13, but with these shoes, I’m a 11.5–12. My feet are wider than they are long. Cons: - They’re hot. Like sweaty. Socks help with this a lot. Cotton is ok, polyester/coolmax is a NO, and viscose or merino wool are the best. - Hard, wet floor is initially EXTREMELY slick. It seems that if you pre-wet the shoe, it’ll grip, but if you come across something wet with a dry outsole, you can end up on the floor very quickly. - you’re essentially barefoot, you can stub your toes - quality control is poor. I had to order a few to get the fit right, and each one was different. Different packaging, different branding, different drawstring quality. All acceptable, but a bit strange. Pros: - Great ground feel. - 0 chaffing - Great control with your toes. - 0 support, just your feet So far I’ve done a 12 mile mountain hike with another 12 miles on concrete with no noticeable wear. No issues with delamination or anything like that in descent. I think fit is key.

Let me start out by saying, I have in no way been compensated to give this review. It may feel like it by the time you get to the end, but it is my own 100% candid opinion. I've been wearing my Vibram V-Alpha Hiking Shoes for a week now. I feel qualified to talk fit and function. First, let me give you a short back story: I have had an increasingly difficult time finding shoes that, at least, don't torture my feet. I've been angry at the sadists that design shoes for many decades. No matter how soft the shoes are to walk in, they all squeeze the big toe and the 2 smallest toes into a rounded point. The 2 longest toes were always standing on the 2 smallest which had turned sideways to try to accomodate the shoes. Turning sideways also meant they tried to contribute to my balance by pushing on the ground sideways, rather than down as they are designed to do. It eventually got to the point that my feet ached and burned even when I was barefoot. I broke my smallest toe on the left foot about 3 months ago. In trying to find a comfortable way to deal with it, I found that putting cotton between the broken toe and the one next to it when taped together gave me a measure of comfort. I looked for toe socks because the cotton balls kept moving away, causing the broken toe to rub on its neighbor. I've been wearing toe socks ever since. While searching for more pairs of toe socks, the Vibram V-Alphas turned up. I was intrigued, thinking if the socks were comfortable, the shoes should be at least as comfortable. I ordered a pair. I wear a size 10 in normal shoes so I ordered in size 10.5 to 11 because the page says they run a bit small. The pair was too small pressing my 5 of my toes against the inner end of the toe in the shoe. I could see the quality of the construction so I ordered another pair (from AreaTrends) the next size up (11-11.5). The fit of this pair was ideal. I sent the smaller pair back. The seller was very good about it. I realize now that I hadn't measured my feet in a long time. Following the size chart in the detailed section (the section written by Vibram), I find that had I measured the length of my left foot (heel to the longest toe), I'd have chosed the correct fit the first time. These shoes are incredible! For the first time in so long that I can't remember my feet don't hurt in shoes! My poor abused smaller toes have there own space to protect them from their mean older brothers. In fact, they are more comfortable inside these shoes than barefoot! The info section of the page suggests that some people could have a hard time adjusting. I was fortunate, since I was spending as much time as possible barefoot already, no adjustment period was necessary. Now that I've been wearing them for a week, I'm finding my smaller toes are getting stronger and turning back upright. They are starting to press down to set my balance, instead of sideways. I never thought my feet would be pain free again, yet they are now. I really wish I'd have found these a long time ago. It is a shame that they aren't available in shoe stores. It sure would make getting the correct sizing easier. ;) I will never again wear stylish shoes. I will be buying more of these shoes in different styles since they are the only shoe I'll ever put my feet in again. When winter gets here, Vibram also make an insulated shoe. Thank you AreaTrends and Vibram for making my feet very, very happy!

Loving these FiveFingers V-Alphas. Best running shoes I've ever worn feel so natural and feel like I'm running with correct form for the first time in my life due to the freedom my feet have in these. When I first put them on I was like "this is gonna be a gimmick", but as soon as I ran in them I changed to "these actually feel great", and now they are the only shoe I want to run in. Very glad I gave them a shot. The lightweight and comfy upper is like a second skin, and the mega grip sole provides all the protection you need for all-terrain runs and hikes. Also really like the strap system, super convenient. The seller also got me the shoes quick and in perfect condition, so top marks for them too! Highly recommend trying a FiveFingers shoe that fits your use case, mine makes being outside more even enjoyable which is the best review I can give for them.

These are good & I am glad I got them. The seams at the top of the toe pockets need a little getting used to (thin toe socks will help a lot here), but the shoes are made well & the flexibility in the sole allows for a lot of natural articulation of the foot. These are wonderful for my daily walks that are turning into runs because these are so light. There is no support, but that’s the point. I feel my feet get stronger every day!

I have had several pairs of five fingers they do not disappoint. My high arches feel supported and I trek around three miles of rocky trails with trips into the lake and river with my dogs. Always comfortable and great grip in these shoes

FiveFingers are a very unique shoe. I haven't worn them in several years. I walk and hike frequently and have noticed my strides getting longer, with my heel absorbing most of the impact of each step. I bought these FiveFingers to use while walking to retrain my stride to use my whole foot. After a couple of weeks, I've noticed my strides and gait changing, with more forefoot taking more of the impact. FiveFingers allow you to walk virtually barefoot while protecting your feet.

The shoe quality itself felt AMAZING but they run SMALL please go up a size. Even if in men your shoe size is 7 (for example) and in women 9 go up a whole shoe size. Color black and definitely believe if I would’ve got the right size the first time the durability would had been right.

I really wanted to enjoy these shoes, and for the first few months I did. I've always had foot issues so I figured barefoot walking would be a great way to strengthen them. While this may be true, these shoes are straight up low quality for a premium price. I had another pair before that lasted about 3 months, but I'd figure these (made SPECIFICALLY for hiking) would be able to last years. My daily use ended up being about 1-2 hours max, as I use these primarily for my lunch time walk (I got these in early May, for reference). I maybe did 1 or 2 light hikes in these but nothing crazy (all on dirt paths with minimal rocks). This week I noticed a hole forming in one of the toes and ended up getting a nasty cut/blister, even while using socks with these. I ended up taking the shoes off and just walking barefoot the remaining 30 minutes. As these are my second pair of FFS, I'm noticing a trend that these are low quality and I expected WAY more for the price. I envy the people with good things to say, because I truly love the shoes and they have made walking more enjoyable... but if they really expect me to cough up $120 every 4 months then the folks at Vibram are crazy. Quite frankly, I don't know of a higher quality alternative, but I would definitely recommend trying to find a better brand... it's clear they focus more on marketing than product quality in my opinion which is understandable and disappointing.

Unfortunately I had to send them back as I required a bigger size 10.5 Uk but they didn't have, extremely gutted as they were beautifully made. I hope their customer service sees this and contacts me back with a bigger size as I would buy again.

Llegaron en perfectas condiciones y talla correcta.

Il était une fois, à presque 72 ans, j ' enfile des minimalistes 5 doigts, look sympa, d' un joli coloris bleu, à peine arrivées de suite enfilage qui change les habitudes.. il faut juste trouver l ' astuce car mes doigts de pieds ont l ' habitude de vivre ensemble et pas chacun dans un emplacement individuel cependant, déjà un peu entraînés grâce aux socquettes à doigts (4 jours) ! J ' enfile la minimaliste, plutôt comme une socquette car le tissu est souple. Je place chacun devant son emplacement en m ' aidant de mes doigts pour bien les séparer, petit à petit je fais glisser vers l ' arrière plusieurs fois, au fur et à mesure , ils prennent chacun leur place ! Je suis une femme, je chausse 40/41 pieds assez fins, j ' ai choisi V-Alpha homme 41 ! Elles me vont bien, plutôt ajustées comme une seconde peau. Je les porte avec des socquettes à 5 doigts en Coolmax, (achat Amazon) il y a de la place ! Mon gros orteil est le seul à toucher le bout, il touche, c ' est tout, ce n 'est pas la même chose qu ' avec les chaussures ordinaires qui peuvent faire mal, blesser là pas du tout, c 'est nickel ! J ' ai un peu de place derrière le talon. J 'avais lu sur le Net que pour la Five Fingers les 0,5 mm de marge recommandés ne sont pas utiles ! La semelle intérieure est une semelle de propreté, pas du tout d ' amorti ouf car elle est fixe, je ne peux pas l ' enlever comme dans mes autres minimalistes (7 semaines achetées - 7 semaines portées, de suite adoptées - achat Amazon))! 1h30 de marche herbe, cailloux, feuilles, béton, montée, descente marche super cool, impeccable! Je sens très bien les choses qui se trouvent sous mes pieds et la semelle vibram qualité/prix extra ! Par contre, très facile à ôter. Pour rire un peu : je peux enlever mon pantalon Lee (achat Amazon) sans ôter mes Five Fingers, c 'est très pratique ! Elles sont belles, confortables, souples et légères, les lacets ne sont pas élastiques mais il y a un arrêtoir et scratch très pratique ! Reçues en un temps éclair, génial, je les adooore, elles sont adoptées ! Merci P.S : une année après, totalement satisfaite, je mets que ces chaussures pied nus, rien d ' autre, sont encore en bon état ! Commande n° 2 : je viens de m ' en offrir une seconde paire (la même couleur, très joli bleu) mais cette fois, avant de m ' en servir, j ' ai imperméabilisé , comme cela par temps pluvieux, les pieds sont plus longtemps au sec donc plus agréable ! Merci

Ho comprato queste scarpe per avvicinarmi a questo nuovo concetto così in voga e sono rimasto colpito, una rivoluzione inaspettata. Le uso da un paio di mesi, prima in casa, poi anche all'esterno ed infine per allenamenti, sia camminata veloce che corsa. Le sensazioni che si provano sono difficilmente esprimibili, è un altra pianeta, si sente davvero il terreno e il piede cambia in un paio di mesi, le dita tornano ad essere parte attiva dei tuoi passi, l'arco plantare si riallinea e vi garantisco che cambia anche molto la muscolatura del piede. Si sente subito dal primo utilizzo più intenso: il giorno dopo sentirete dei dolori muscolari al piede e al tallone di Achille (bada bene, dolori muscolari dovuti all'esercizio di muscoli atrofizzati normalmente). Le consiglio? Sicuramente ma dovete correre su erba! La mancanza di ammortizzatori artificiali si sente se correte sull'asfalto, soprattutto sul tallone, quindi prestate attenzione ad una corretto appoggio del piede quando correte (senza atterraggi di scarico tutti sul tallone ma in modo equo sulla pianta del piede). Correre su erba con queste scarpe vi regalerà sensazioni uniche, garantisco. Ultima cosa la suola, immortale a mio parere! Ho già fatto 580 km con queste scarpe, non danno cenni di abrasione né di cedimento di struttura. Sconsigliate per il trail running, li ci sono five fingers dedicate.

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