![]() Thankfully, the Trail Gloves are designed with barefoot wear in mind. This bothered me maybe the first two times I wore the shoes but has since faded in feel - chalk it up to breaking the MBTGs in. Merrell designed the Trail Gloves without a removable insole and the only noticeable seam on the inside is where the tongue ends. Here’s my attempt at a photo of the inside of the Merrell Barefoot Trail Gloves. The Merrell Barefoot Trail Gloves can be worn barefoot (without socks) and I prefer wearing them this way. I actually prefer Merrell’s less restrictive approach on this front, though I’ve found that the overall “snug fit” around the midfoot makes it a little more difficult to get the shoes on when wearing them with socks. Merrell has tackled this problem by making the Trail Gloves snug around the widest part of the foot - not completely unlike the approach used with the NB Minimus Trails that employ a rubberized band to lock your foot onto the shoe, while still allowing your toes to play inside the large toe box. The flipside design consideration on a wide toe box is that if it’s too wide, your foot can feel like it’s “swimming” within the shoe. The mesh upper in the toe box area lacks structure, which allows the shoe to flex overall and toe wiggling feels unrestricted within the Trail Gloves.Īnd what about that toe box? As you’d expect, Merrell went with a wider toe box to allow your toes to splay naturally. The Merrell Trail Glove upper is mesh on the outside with a “fused rubber toe bumper” that wraps the end of each shoe. Ah the complex subtleties, nuances, and considerations in designing “barefoot shoes!” Merrell Barefoot Trail Glove Upper Comparatively, “platform” style shoes can be more rigid in the sole as the foot isn’t so locked onto to the sole. The Five Fingers KSO Treks (read my review here) still win hands down on overall flexibility, but that’s not altogether surprising - the more a shoe is molded to the foot, the more it must be designed for flexibility. It’s also worth noting that this twistability comes somewhat from the narrowing of the sole at the arch (pic). The Trail Gloves lack an overall rigidity to them from heel to toe meaning they are easy to fold in half at the arch and twist pretty well in hand - better than the NB Minimus Trails or Vivo Barefoot Evo IIs/Aquas/Oaks, which are overall more rigid in the sole than the MBTGs (though the Vivo Barefoots all afford slightly more ground feel sans insoles). My subjective observation is that the MBTGs are also more rigid at the forefoot than the NB Minimus Trail, but it’s a close call. When I grab the Trail Gloves and flex them at the forefoot, they are a good bit more rigid than my KSO Treks, meaning they resist flex a lot more than the KSO Treks and rebound with more force when you “let go” of the bend. The Trail Gloves also feature a 1mm forefoot shock absorption plate (I’m assuming the EVA midsole is only 3mm here and/or the rubber sole is thinner to keep the shoe neutral heel to toe). Since I’m comparing, I’d put the Merrell Barefoots’ ground feel somewhere between the KSO Trek and the NB Minimus Trail. Of course, the rubber sole and EVA midsole still results in less ground feel. Four millimeters really isn’t much and when I try to pinch the midsole, it’s difficult to do (lots of resistance). Compare the Merrell Barefoot Trail Gloves’ zero-drop to the NB Minimus Trail, which has a 4mm heel-to-toe drop and is overall a bit thicker-soled at 15mm or so at the heel (The New Balance NB Minimus Trail is slated for release in March 2011).Ībove the Vibram rubber of the Merrell Barefoots, there is a 4mm EVA midsole - similar to the FiveFingers KSO Trek. For reference, my KSO Treks are more around 8-9mm. My handy calipers measure the forefoot thickness at a smidge over 10mm - same at the heel. The Merrell Barefoots are zero-drop shoes meaning the heel is not elevated. I’ve worn my Trail Gloves a good bit for walking, some road running, and trail running over the past two months thus far, the soles show no appreciable wear. Since the sole is made by Vibram, and ssuming you’re running form is efficient, which is to say that it minimizes friction, you could probably expect these soles to last quite a long time. Elsewhere on the sole you’ve got some decent knobbing that lends to overall traction on the trail. These ridges provide some added traction - particularly when ascending steep uphill climbs on the trail. The sole, while not having five separated toes like the KSO Trek, is reminiscent of the Trek in that the end of the sole has four ridged, implied “toes” (see pic at right). Merrell Barefoot Trail Gloves are built upon a Vibram-designed sole.
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