Charles Oppermann › Likes

Robby has some like that. - Paul Buchheit

Paul do you know if he likes it? I have to return the pair of shoes I bought yesterday if I buy these instead - Bindu Reddy

I am thinking of getting a pair, too, as soon as I make time to hit zombie runner in palo alto. I read Tim Ferris' http://bit.ly/e3tDI, check out the Cautions and Cons - it looks like it takes a while to get used to them. - David Vasileff

Looks good for running on the beach - Rodfather

I love mine. I wear them all over town. Wish I could wear them at work. Sooooo comfortable. - Brian Newman

they are decent shoes but i dont end up wearing them too often because they take too long to put on (i recommend getting some toe socks too) so i still mostly wear flip flops - its just hard to beat the flip flop :P - end result, i mostly only wear them for applications where flip flops arent ideal, like they were nice for climbing over rocks along the shore in hawaii - bob

look into the KSO verison (keep stuff out) ...try them on in a store...you need to wear for a few weeks walking about first before you try to run...all depends on usaage ...for better advice contact my good pal http://www.barefootted.com - Gordon Montgomery

I want one of these! - Sinan Ata

bob, I am a huge flip-flop fan as well.. However you can't wear flip-flops and use gym equipment in this gym I just joined. I wish you could ... So I am trying out figure out what is the next best thing - Bindu Reddy

Ooooh it's got toes! To scale walls! - sofarsoShawn

I would love a pair of these, but I hear they don't fit people like me whose second toe (the one next to the big toe) is longer than the big toe. Is that (still) true? Anyone? - Grey Drane

I've known a couple people who've gotten them, the Sprint model specifically. One has run in them and is working up the mileage and the other wears them all the time instead of regular shoes. I'm probably going to buy some as soon as I get myself over to Coral Gables to try them on in person. - CAJ, somewhere else

Here's my review: http://piaw.blogspot.com/2008... (and guy Kawasaki thought they were cool http://piaw.blogspot.com/2008...) - Piaw Na

I bought a pair last week and love them. I'll need another pair though, so I can wear one while I'm washing the other. - Graham English

Piaw you make these sound like the ultimate Chick magnet :) - Private Sanjeev

Sanjeev, with my ugly face, they *have* to be, to attract any kind of attention from women! - Piaw Na

Certainly an interesting concept, but, given no padding and hardly any wear surface that I can see, on reflection much too expensive for presumed fairly short utility, couple of months running at most. Would be nice to try, but then what... I can not conceive of disposable running shoes. - ianf ⌘

from what i understand running shoes, to be protective, in any case, need to be replaced every several months. Need to protect those joints! Shoes which help you develop muscles in your feet will help do that too, i believe. But I'd assume you'd have to start off slow. - Marg Uerite

There are two competing theories. One is that you need to "protect" your tender feet from damage. The other is that, as long as you aren't bleeding because you stepped on something, all's good with the world. These only make sense if you believe in the second theory. If I were to start running, I'd probably get a set. But right now, I'm having altogether too much fun biking. - Wirehead

Wirehead, you mean biking wearing those? Is the sole hard enough to withstand wear and tear of average pedals. It's unfortunate that the makers haven't posted a closeup/ slowed-down video of feet walking and running in Five Fingers whatever [addendum: and so we have to make do with a Vimeo "review" <http://bit.ly/e3tDI> by a third party, which is made up of 5% shoe opinion and 95% am-i-beautiful-or-not third party ego.] - ianf ⌘

I don't think I like the idea of biking in one of those. No, I have a pair of bike shoes with clipless pedals. But if I were to be running instead of biking, I'd want to at least try Five Fingers. IIRC, there's kevlar in the soles, so just because it's thin and flexy doesn't mean that it's not sturdy. - Wirehead

Yeah, well that thin kevlar "insole" isn't the wear-and-tear part of it, a thin rubber layer is. - ianf ⌘

A friend began running barefoot several years ago. He can do 5k now. Of course, Kenyans can run marathons barefoot. - John Lam

That reminds me of this article, stating that the most expensive shoes bring the highest risk of injury: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home... - Brome

'Liked' but doesn't stop it being any less rank. R A N K! - Toby Graham

I ran 5 minutes barefoot on a treadmill yesterday, for the first time ever. My feet really hurt by the end. The muscles, tendons, and ligaments needed to keep your heel from smacking into the ground are severely underdeveloped due to modern footwear. - Darren

I spoke to a physical therapist about this, and he said that basically, if you have any kind of over pronation, or other foot-type disability, going bare foot is a good way to give yourself knee, hip or neck problems. Remember, the stories of athletes going for miles barefoot are examples of top physical specimen, and you may or may not be one. - Piaw Na

darren, you hit the nail on the head. Barefoot running or even FiveFinger running should be approached slowly. Our bodies adapted to the tools we thought we needed for running/walking/etc. Your body has to "unadapt" so to speak. - CAJ, somewhere else

alan, exactly. i'm going to try to work up slowly. i hope i can keep it up and report results in a month or two. - Darren

our ceo has them. he wears them every single day at work and loves them. - Charles Hudson