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| Merrell Trail Glove |
STATS
Weight: 6.2 ozs
List Price: $110
Drop: 0 mm
SIZE & FIT
I will start this review with a brief note on sizing since that seems to be one of the biggest questions with these shoes. I searched the web and wasn't able to find a reliable sizing guide and opinions of if they ran true to size were mixed.
I have always run in Asics. My most recent pair of shoes, the GT-2150's are size 10 to provide enough room for my feet to expand when running long. The pair before that, Gel-Kahana 2's, were size 9 1/2 and my racing flats, Hyperspeed 2's, are also size 9 1/2, though they are pretty snug - the way I like my 5k racing flats. I have been hearing that the Trail Gloves run a bit big so I ended up ordering a 9 1/2.
The 9 1/2 seem to be the perfect size for my feet. My toes are close to the ends of the shoes, but not touching - a size smaller and they would be. The toe box is huge, and made it feel like the shoe was too big even though the length of the shoe was perfect. The shoe can be tightened perfectly with the lacing system and despite the sensation that they were too big, they didn't slide at all on my feet. The feeling that they were too big was just because I'm not used to having that much freedom and toe splay, and would probably feel right to true barefooters.
CONSTRUCTION
PERFORMANCE
First Run / Initial Impressions (Written in March)
For this I should mention that I'm not a barefoot runner and this is my first pair of minimalist shoes. I picked them up after making the decision to make the transition to minimalist / barefoot running after a streak of season ending injuries. I will note that I've been running for 20 plus years, a majority of which I've been a heavy heal striker. I've been making changes to my stride over the last couple of months, but Merrell and the barefoot world would cringe if they saw my first run...
This is a do as I say, not as I do situation. The conversion to barefoot running should be done slowly - the first runs in minimalist shoes should best done after you've made the switch to barefoot first, and in any case should be done slowly with short runs. So, my first run in the new shoes was an easy 8 miler.
The first run went fine, and I enjoyed the increased ground feel over any other shoe I’d ever worn. The zero drop forced me to run with better form, striking with the forefoot. I had no problems with the first 8 miler save for a small blister on the very end of my left middle toe – something that points to a flaw in my form more than to any flaw in the shoe.
After A Few Miles (~100)
I was planning on several hundred miles before writing this review, but rotating through shoes is slowing the millage on these. My longer runs in these have toped out around 8 miles and shoes are fantastic. I suffered the normal tightness in the calves and Achilles when transitioning to these shoes, but now run in them completely comfortably. The only issue I’ve had has been with my toe (soreness) – not sure if it’s shoe related, but I have transitioned to minimalist running way faster than recommended so I can’t blame it on anything…
Shoe fit is fantastic, I love the larger toe box and I have had no blisters aside from the very first run mentioned above. I have noticed that some of the inside material has torn up a bit, and the shoe doesn’t feel as smooth as some other minimalist shoes designed to wear sockless. It feels like you’re putting on a rough trail shoe, but nothing that affects the running.
Ground feel is good – I imagine about the same as the vibram five fingers since they use the same thickness of the same rubber. You can feel small stones underfoot but there’s enough padding to protect under normal circumstances. The only issue I had was on rough mountain biking trails. The several times I got the shoes out on rough mountain bike trails around Miami I managed to bruise my feet. Part of that may be my running, but the trails are quite rocky in places and there’s no way to avoid sharp rocks. The shoes don’t offer enough padding to completely protect your feet. That said, the grip and ground feel were great on the more manageable parts of the trails.
I will start this review with a brief note on sizing since that seems to be one of the biggest questions with these shoes. I searched the web and wasn't able to find a reliable sizing guide and opinions of if they ran true to size were mixed.
I have always run in Asics. My most recent pair of shoes, the GT-2150's are size 10 to provide enough room for my feet to expand when running long. The pair before that, Gel-Kahana 2's, were size 9 1/2 and my racing flats, Hyperspeed 2's, are also size 9 1/2, though they are pretty snug - the way I like my 5k racing flats. I have been hearing that the Trail Gloves run a bit big so I ended up ordering a 9 1/2.
The 9 1/2 seem to be the perfect size for my feet. My toes are close to the ends of the shoes, but not touching - a size smaller and they would be. The toe box is huge, and made it feel like the shoe was too big even though the length of the shoe was perfect. The shoe can be tightened perfectly with the lacing system and despite the sensation that they were too big, they didn't slide at all on my feet. The feeling that they were too big was just because I'm not used to having that much freedom and toe splay, and would probably feel right to true barefooters.
CONSTRUCTION
Drop - This has quickly become one of the main features I look at in a shoe – it is the difference between heal height and midfoot height. Once I made the transition to minimal drop my knees and legs have felt better running than ever before. When I go back to shoes with larger drops (more than say 10 mm) my knees quickly begin to hurt and my stride never feels right. The Merrell Trail Gloves boast a 0mm drop – perfect for natural form.
Soles - The Merrells use the same Vibram rubber soles as Vibram 5 fingers. The 4mm Vibram rubber offers some protection while still providing good ground feel. Again, this is SOME protection – if you hit any sharp rocks you will certainly feel them. The grip is fantastic; I haven’t hit any wet, muddy, or dusty terrain that caused me any trouble with footing. Durability looks good, at 100 miles there is very little noticeable wear on the soles.
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| Trail Glove Soles |
Uppers / Lacing – The uppers have held up well with no signs of wear thus far. The shoe is not as breathable as I thought they would be, but they are not unbearable. The lacing and uppers do a fantastic job of keeping the shoe in place on your foot with no slipping and no impeding your natural stride. The Merrell Omni-Fit™ lacing system is well designed to customize the tightness to your foot with an interesting looping system where the shoe lace loop is a band that connects to both sides (tough to describe.) Using the system insures the tightness is uniform from inside to out no matter how you tie the shoe and provides a true glove like fit.
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| Trail Glove Lacing |
Liner – The Merrell lining, while not as smooth & sock like as something like the NB Minimus Roads, was fine for running sockless. They felt slightly rough – like you’re putting on tough trail shoes, but nothing that caused any issues during running. They felt like minimalist shoes, like they should. A 100 miles, varying terrain, varying distances and never any blisters – even when I got dirt and dust IN the shoes. I occasionally switched to these shoes when I was getting blisters from other shoes to give me feet a bit of a break. 3 out of 5 for feel, 5 out of 5 for performance. The insides have seemed to tear up just a little bit, but nothing that has caused me any concern.
Padding - Experienced barefooters who have reviewed these shoes complain about the thin EVA padding that provides a minimal amount of padding, at least for the first 200 miles or so. (See barefoot Jason's review at Barefoot University - http://barefootrunninguniversity.com/2011/01/04/merrell-trail-glove-review/ Jason is also working with Merrell on their barefoot resources.) However, since I am making the switch from heavily cushioned clunkers, I didn't notice this padding at all.
Arch - There is a bit of an arch that touches up against the inside of the foot. It worried me at first when I put them on, but it didn't bother me at all while running and didn't seem to offer much if any support. True barefooters may have problems with it, though Jason didn't mention it at all in his review.
PERFORMANCE
First Run / Initial Impressions (Written in March)
For this I should mention that I'm not a barefoot runner and this is my first pair of minimalist shoes. I picked them up after making the decision to make the transition to minimalist / barefoot running after a streak of season ending injuries. I will note that I've been running for 20 plus years, a majority of which I've been a heavy heal striker. I've been making changes to my stride over the last couple of months, but Merrell and the barefoot world would cringe if they saw my first run...
This is a do as I say, not as I do situation. The conversion to barefoot running should be done slowly - the first runs in minimalist shoes should best done after you've made the switch to barefoot first, and in any case should be done slowly with short runs. So, my first run in the new shoes was an easy 8 miler.
The first run went fine, and I enjoyed the increased ground feel over any other shoe I’d ever worn. The zero drop forced me to run with better form, striking with the forefoot. I had no problems with the first 8 miler save for a small blister on the very end of my left middle toe – something that points to a flaw in my form more than to any flaw in the shoe.
After A Few Miles (~100)
I was planning on several hundred miles before writing this review, but rotating through shoes is slowing the millage on these. My longer runs in these have toped out around 8 miles and shoes are fantastic. I suffered the normal tightness in the calves and Achilles when transitioning to these shoes, but now run in them completely comfortably. The only issue I’ve had has been with my toe (soreness) – not sure if it’s shoe related, but I have transitioned to minimalist running way faster than recommended so I can’t blame it on anything…
Shoe fit is fantastic, I love the larger toe box and I have had no blisters aside from the very first run mentioned above. I have noticed that some of the inside material has torn up a bit, and the shoe doesn’t feel as smooth as some other minimalist shoes designed to wear sockless. It feels like you’re putting on a rough trail shoe, but nothing that affects the running.
Ground feel is good – I imagine about the same as the vibram five fingers since they use the same thickness of the same rubber. You can feel small stones underfoot but there’s enough padding to protect under normal circumstances. The only issue I had was on rough mountain biking trails. The several times I got the shoes out on rough mountain bike trails around Miami I managed to bruise my feet. Part of that may be my running, but the trails are quite rocky in places and there’s no way to avoid sharp rocks. The shoes don’t offer enough padding to completely protect your feet. That said, the grip and ground feel were great on the more manageable parts of the trails.
CONCLUSION
I love these shoes. They’ve performed well in every condition I’ve tested them save protecting my feet against the sharpest of rocks. They’re lightweight, have great ground feel, pack small (important for travelers) and look pretty cool too.
I am not a true minimalist / barefoot runner, so I don’t consider these to be potential marathon or race shoes for me, but on any short or mid-distance run where I can concentrate on my form more than speed, these are awesome. Great shoes for barefooters and a great choice of shoe for anyone who likes, or has wanted to try the 5 fingers, but either doesn’t fit the 5 finger mold or wants a shoe that looks more like an ordinary shoe.
Pros: Good ground feel, large toe box, good fit, light weight, good grip.
Cons: Vibram stink, not enough protection for extremely rocky / rough terrain, lining not as comfortable as some competitors.
I love these shoes. They’ve performed well in every condition I’ve tested them save protecting my feet against the sharpest of rocks. They’re lightweight, have great ground feel, pack small (important for travelers) and look pretty cool too.
I am not a true minimalist / barefoot runner, so I don’t consider these to be potential marathon or race shoes for me, but on any short or mid-distance run where I can concentrate on my form more than speed, these are awesome. Great shoes for barefooters and a great choice of shoe for anyone who likes, or has wanted to try the 5 fingers, but either doesn’t fit the 5 finger mold or wants a shoe that looks more like an ordinary shoe.
Pros: Good ground feel, large toe box, good fit, light weight, good grip.
Cons: Vibram stink, not enough protection for extremely rocky / rough terrain, lining not as comfortable as some competitors.
Ditto on all fronts - walking about 40 miles in mine before running in them also helped with the transition to minimalist footwear. The vibram seems to be thinner than typical vibram soles, and I'm not thrilled with the traction on rocks...any thoughts on a minimalist TRAIL shoe?
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