While in Columbus, OH, over the weekend for a friend’s wedding, we ran into a few things that I wanted to share.
Other Toes
Meagan and I had a moment to check out the Finish Line shoe store before grabbing my tuxedo. As we walked in, we were greeted by two surprises. First, was the Adidas Adipure Trainer. The Adipure is in its first cycle and shows promise, but needs a great deal of work. Unfortunately, we didn’t have time to try them on, but we did have a moment to look at them and get a feel for their aesthetics. That being said, we found that this new entrant to the zero-drop, individual toe-pocket, minimalist shoe market had some very strange attributes. First is the lack of straps, ties, laces, or draw strings. Instead, they sport a sock-like elastic band that is meant to hold on to your ankle. I’m not certain this is enough and by the look of the heel I doubt these would stay very snug during a run or workout. The next attribute I really disliked was the aesthetics of the shoe. The toes have a shiny rubber coating reminiscent of a rubber glove rather than a comfortable cross-trainer. However, in general, Adidas’ first attempt seems like a decent first try at a Vibram-dominated marketplace.
Second, was the Fila Skele-Toes. The Skele-Toes are on their first year of production, as well, but they have recently released a second model. Again, this is based off of a quick 3-minute visual and tactile analysis, so please take my opinion lightly. I should first mention that the Skele-Toes are technically a four-toe, and not a five-toe shoe. Fila recognizes that some people find it difficult to get their toes into the pinky and fourth-toe slots so they combine the two into a single toe pocket. The upper half of the first iteration of the Skele-Toes reminds me of the Vibram FFs Flow, but then quickly takes a turn for the worse when you lift the shoe off the rack. The first thing you’ll notice is that the Skele-Toes are much heavier than their Vibram cousins. The second attribute to take note of is the relatively thick, stiff sole, which completely defeats the purpose of minimalist-toe-shoes. The second model of Skele-Toes is their new high-top model, which I will introduce by stealing a line from Fila: “What The Heck Is That?”. They aren’t zero-drop, they have too much padding, only 4 toe slots, a very thick sole, and are extremely ugly. Truthfully, they go against every single purpose that minimalist shoes stand for and I find myself asking how they can even be paired in the same genre.
Getting Fit
Before I sign off for the night I wanted to finish by saying how much I am currently loving my FitBit. We have a review for the device (UPDATE: review here) on the way but I wanted to leave my opinion before Meagan offers hers. It’s easy to use, accurate, and already proving to be a much better experience than the Jawbone UP.
Steve is an Executive Recruiter at Robert Half Executive Search in Madison, WI with a business degree in Information Systems and E-Commerce from the University of Toledo. Steve loves spending his time away from work; running, gaming, watching movies, checking out new social networking tools/sites/start-ups and blogging.