calling all Vibram Fivefingers owners

[topaz]

This question is particularly directed at users of Vibram FiveFingers who have had them for at least a year: Do you still like them? Are you still wearing them? If not, why not? Have you encountered any drawbacks you didn't expect?

Comments

[moominmolly.livejournal.com]

I still love them. When I get out of the habit of wearing them, I have to ease back into it slowly so that my feet don't ache too much. Also, they can get a little stinky. But really: love love love. I can't wear mine right now because of an injury (they would be super bad for me), but I keep wanting to try just because of how good they feel.

[dbang.livejournal.com]

What about them makes your feet ache?

[moominmolly.livejournal.com]

I don't know. It's as if walking barefoot uses some muscles on the insides of my feet that don't get good use when I'm wearing shoes. It feels similar to the process of getting back into any physical activity after taking a hiatus - I just have to retrain myself to do it.

My completely unsubstantiated theory is that there is some more balancing that has to happen when I'm barefoot/wearing barefoot shoes, but I just made that up. There are lots of anecdotal reports about this out there, too, including some folks who say that the added musculature from wearing VFF's made their feet wider.

[aroraborealis.livejournal.com]

I have had mine for 3 years or so, and I still love them. I don't wear them often, so they're still in very good shape. I especially love them for outdoor activities -- they're what I wore almost the whole time I was in Zion last fall, and I have really liked them for running, too. I wish I'd chosen an all black pair (mine are purple and gray), because I think I would wear them more often, which I would like!

[moominmolly.livejournal.com]

Yes - I love having the all-black ones (and all-black toe socks), because I get fewer weird comments on them than I think I otherwise might.

[inahandbasket]

I need a new pair soon, i think my next ones will be all black for that exact reason.

[sine.livejournal.com]

how hard is it to make them work with toe socks? my husband doesn't wear his much anymore because he doesn't like the way the inside of the sole feels. since he prefers toe socks, he's been tpying with the idea of wearing them with the five fingers, but i think he decided it would be annoying and difficult.

[cruiser.livejournal.com]

I haven't tried them yet (but expect to soon), but the folks I know, and have heard from through the grapevine haven't had problems using them with toe socks, but YMMV (literally).

[moominmolly.livejournal.com]

Injinji makes some very nice ones that many Fivefingers wearers love, but personally I've even had success with acrylic rainbow dime-store toe socks. I prefer wearing them with socks, now that I've tried it both ways.

[inseriatim.livejournal.com]

Nine months, still a fan, still run in them several times a week, took walks in them often when it was cooler out. Alice and I did a 12-mile event back in November in Vibrams and they held up well. Switching back and forth between them and cycling shoes is the most annoying part (though I know a guy who manages to bike in his KSOs).

Adjusting to them for running took weeks, and I had occasional weird foot pain for a while, though it seems to have gone away.

Unexpected drawbacks: I <3 my Bikilas, but I got some Sprints recently and they were just weird. Fit was weird, seams on the inside were weird. So I'd advise trying many models and different sizes. (Make those guys at City Sports work!)

[jagheterlelle.livejournal.com]

I still like mine and still wear them, less in the summer because it is easier to put on sandals.

[cobrawoman.livejournal.com]

I've had mine only a couple of months and don't wear them often (they're KSOs and I wanted them for walking on the beach), but I really do like them. (This style doesn't have enough cushion for me for walking on pavement, and that's most of the walking I do.)