VIVOBAREFOOT Neo review

I've been meaning to getting around and doing a review of my Vivobarefoot Neos. We got them on Nov 21st and I have been running in them where I can as well as wearing them just for walking around. I found my pair of Neos on the website TheClymb.com . I was able to find it for about $60, which is a fantastic deal.

So very nice.

So first about the styling and materials. I love, love, love the look of these. They have been described as a more retro look and I certainly agree. I dig the look of these they have now become my go to casual shoe just because I love how they look so much.

The upper is super flexible. Suede around the edges with the white parts of the shoes being a breathable mesh. The insides of the shoe are nice and soft. Very luxurious. I can go barefoot in these and it feels great. I do have one complaint about it though. Due to the stitching by the heel of the grey suede and the, umm green fabric there is a small portion of stitching right at the heel that sticks out just a little bit more. At the end of the first day of wearing my Neos I had a new blister formed on my heel.

My blister. Actually just kidding. This was more recent due to running over my own heel with a shopping cart.

This is the blister that I got. Still hurt though.

The first blister I've gotten from minimalist shoes. Like I said, this was due to doubling back on the stiching so it stuck out just a little bit more. Not sure if this is a common problem, but it was present in my shoes. I'm mostly wearing them with socks right now so it's not much of a problem at the moment. Hopefully in the summer it will have sorted itself out but we shall see.

You may be able to make out the stitches just to the left and right of the heel.

The Neos have a removeable footbed in them. You can either wear them with or without the footbed depending on if you want to feel the ground a little bit more or not. I found the ground feel was really good. I could feel individual rocks while wearing it, but those rocks no longer hurt. The sole is nice and flexible with the honeycomb tread giving pretty good traction.

Nice and flexible

Honeycomb tread, good traction.

The Neos were great during the fall with it being a little cold, however once we got more than just a dusting of snow I had to abandon using them in favor of my water shoes. At least until I get my Neo Trails. Sheesh, I'm incorrigible. Laff  I might try these again with it being colder using the two layers of socks and see just how good they are with the cold.

I had never tried these on before so I had to guess about the right size when ordering them. I ended up with a size 41. I found the fit to be pretty good except I could stand to have a little more room in the toes. I don't feel like I have lots of room and find that when putting my feet in, my big toe and little toe are already touching the sides which doesn't leave much room for splaying. I ran on the treadmill today and stopped halfway through because I felt my first little toe and second little toe (the little piggy that stayed home and the little piggy that has roast beef) were squished and trying to bend under each other. Didn't feel very good so I switched into my Vibram Bikilas. Had I been able to try them on first I might have gone with a bigger size to make up for the smaller toe box, but a super great deal on them meant I couldn't do so.

I have worn these shoes running outside, running on the treadmill, walking around as well as playing floor hockey in them. Other than the stitching on the back and the slightly narrow toe box I love these shoes. They have now become my go to casual shoe and they work so well in so many situations. I highly recommend them.

Running in my EVOs

I have run twice now in my EVOs. So far I am in love. They are light and flexible and have great ground feel. I ran 4 miles on Tuesday early in the morning and my toes were nice and warm. My favourite part of the run was running in the snow and felling how soft it was under my feet. It is such a cool feeling to actually be able to tell what you are running on. I ended my run by running through the alley. It was cool to feel the gravel under my feet.

 I ran another 5 miles on Wednesday. I was super warm out. I love Calgary where we can go from -20°C to 10°C in a day. The run was great and the shoes were perfect. I really feel like I am flying in these shoes. It is almost as free as I felt while running barefoot. Almost. I didn't take any pictures on either run. I would love to know how others take picture while running. My iPhone is always tucked into my spibelt behind me so it is hard to get to it for pictures. My other camera is small but I don't really want to carry something while I run. I figure I'll have to get used to it if I want pictures of my runs. 

Tomorrow Kyle and I are meeting with Tina from Toe Girl Tina for our barefoot running coaching session. I am really looking forward to it. I am also kind of nervous. I don't like to do things the wrong way and I am sure that she is going to correct my form and tell me I have been doing things wrong. That is the point. I want to get better so I need to admit that I'm not perfect at this yet. Oh man that is hard for me. Maybe I'll make sure Kyle goes first. Anyways I am expecting it to be great and I am looking forward to improving even if it hurts my ego. 

Lastly Barefoot Neil posted on his blog about an upcoming race in Cochrane to celebrate the 1 year anniversary of Martin Parnell's 250th run. Kyle and I will be there doing the half marathon. It looks like a lot of fun. 

Mail Time!!!

 Here's the mail, it never fails. It makes me want to wag my tail. And when it come I wanna wail MAAAAIIIILLLL!!!!

They're here!!!!!

Today our VIVOBAREFOOT shoes finally came in the mail. We have been going crazy waiting for these shoes to arrive and we are both so glad they are here. Of course they arrived while I was at work so Robbie was the first to try hers on.

Black pair of EVOs.

Robbie loves the look of them.

I got home from work and tried on my new shoes.

My pair of Green/White NEOs

Styling. I love them so far

We will try and do a full review of these after we put in some miles but for now we are loving them. We have both been wearing them since we got them. I took mine on a trip to Walmart (without socks) and they are super comfortable so far. Very happy.

More rest time for Kyle... but hey, new shoes!

So I'm still resting up my foot which is starting to feel better so Woot for that! But I'm still going to take it easy for a little while longer. Since unlike my wife, I don't have any new fun running to tell you about, I'll mention the awesome deal that we just got for some VIVOBAREFOOT shoes (yes, it's supposed to be capitalized like that....weird).

Anyways I follow the Birthday Shoes blog and they had mentioned an awesome sale on some minimalist shoes. These shoes are from VIVOBAREFOOT and they were on sale for up to 60% off. Crazy great deal. So my wife and I each got a pair and we will let you know how they work out once we finally receive them.

These are the Neo shoes that I bought

And these are the Evo shoes that Robbie bought.

I'm totally digging the look of the Neo's. I think that they will probably be my casual shoe of choice assuming they are comfortable. I could totally wear these to work on casual friday and no one would look at me sideways for it. My Vibrams on the other hand I would still feel a little self conscious wearing to work. I'm feeling more comfortable wearing my Vibrams at home or out and about sometimes (My eldest daughter still calls them my Dork Shoes. She has softened her hatred for the look of Vibrams a little bit once Robbie also got a pair), but I could totally rock these out all the time.

Anyone else in Canada who might be looking to purchase from TheClymb please note that they currently do not ship to Canada. My wife's parents are Snowbirds so we got these shipped to their american address (they'll get there in time to get them). I guess TheClymb is working on shipping to Canada, but they don't have it yet.

We probably won't get these until mid November but definitely expect a review from us then. I'm looking forward to it.