"I just ran a mountain trail half marathon with the Syridons, and they've exceeded my expecations far from any trail shoe (so far!).
Fit: Try it on. Seriously, no review can predict how you'll like the fit unless you give it some time before deciding whether or not this works for you (horray for REI's exchange policy!). And by time I also mean that at this point you've built up those foot muscles to handle minimalist shoes (or understand that you need to SLOWLY do so), and also realize that everyone's feet are shaped differently. I'm between sizes, and ended up going with the smaller size which still had ample room for (original weight) Injinji toe socks. I will get blisters with different VFF models if I don't wear the socks, so it's a personal preference for my feet. There's just too much sweat going on in there to not have a sock as a liner for me. No blisters so far, and the most comfortable for trail running, hands down! I've also built up calluses over a few weeks on some formerly problem spots that has the potential to get blisters, so I wouldn't necesarily rule these shoes out just because you got a blister after a short run.
Feel: You still get a lot of feedback from the ground, but those sharp rocks stabbing your toes don't hurt as much compared to, say, running with the Vibram five fingers KSOs or Komodos. I've compared running the same course with the Spyridons and cushioned trail shoes, and the latter suddenly felt so sluggish so that I cut the distance short because the joint pain came back (despite making a conscious effort to avoid landing on my heels!). I converted to minimalist shoes after an ankle injury. This is the first time I've ran ANY race without feeling like my joints were killing me afterwards, even after all the climbing and descending. With the Spyridons, you feel super light and stable.
Traction: Nice and grippy! The course was mostly dry gravel, and while the thread isn't as aggressive as something like a Salomon trail shoe, you do have to sacrifice that to get the weight and sole thickness of the VFFs. However, they certainly were grippy enough, even for long steep stretches when powering downhill, assuming you're keeping that forefoot strike form with smaller steps.
Construction: Impressively sturdy! These shoes can take a beating where I'd feel like the mesh on the KSOs would be rippeded by now. I do love the lacing system, though I was initially skeptical of them at first. They've never losened on me. The material of the shoe is great for keeping dirt and pebbles out. So far the first things wearing out are the texture on the rubber sole (expected), and the grey stripe design on top of each toe having little cracks after less than 10 hours total on the trail just because they're over the constantly bending parts of the shoe. I do love the bits of reflective touches. Lastly, the honeycomb design on the sides are actually a parts of the shoe that's more porous (yet still block debris), so I imagine it's deliberately for the purpose of allowing for water drainage. There weren't any river crossings in this half for me to test that part, but I wouldn't hesistate to test that theory!
Design: Awesome. I get stopped by mountain bikers because the soles of my feet look like the thread on their tires. Yes, you'll always get the weird looks but you might convert a runner or two after you pass them :).
Fit: Try it on. Seriously, no review can predict how you'll like the fit unless you give it some time before deciding whether or not this works for you (horray for REI's exchange policy!). And by time I also mean that at this point you've built up those foot muscles to handle minimalist shoes (or understand that you need to SLOWLY do so), and also realize that everyone's feet are shaped differently. I'm between sizes, and ended up going with the smaller size which still had ample room for (original weight) Injinji toe socks. I will get blisters with different VFF models if I don't wear the socks, so it's a personal preference for my feet. There's just too much sweat going on in there to not have a sock as a liner for me. No blisters so far, and the most comfortable for trail running, hands down! I've also built up calluses over a few weeks on some formerly problem spots that has the potential to get blisters, so I wouldn't necesarily rule these shoes out just because you got a blister after a short run.
Feel: You still get a lot of feedback from the ground, but those sharp rocks stabbing your toes don't hurt as much compared to, say, running with the Vibram five fingers KSOs or Komodos. I've compared running the same course with the Spyridons and cushioned trail shoes, and the latter suddenly felt so sluggish so that I cut the distance short because the joint pain came back (despite making a conscious effort to avoid landing on my heels!). I converted to minimalist shoes after an ankle injury. This is the first time I've ran ANY race without feeling like my joints were killing me afterwards, even after all the climbing and descending. With the Spyridons, you feel super light and stable.
Traction: Nice and grippy! The course was mostly dry gravel, and while the thread isn't as aggressive as something like a Salomon trail shoe, you do have to sacrifice that to get the weight and sole thickness of the VFFs. However, they certainly were grippy enough, even for long steep stretches when powering downhill, assuming you're keeping that forefoot strike form with smaller steps.
Construction: Impressively sturdy! These shoes can take a beating where I'd feel like the mesh on the KSOs would be rippeded by now. I do love the lacing system, though I was initially skeptical of them at first. They've never losened on me. The material of the shoe is great for keeping dirt and pebbles out. So far the first things wearing out are the texture on the rubber sole (expected), and the grey stripe design on top of each toe having little cracks after less than 10 hours total on the trail just because they're over the constantly bending parts of the shoe. I do love the bits of reflective touches. Lastly, the honeycomb design on the sides are actually a parts of the shoe that's more porous (yet still block debris), so I imagine it's deliberately for the purpose of allowing for water drainage. There weren't any river crossings in this half for me to test that part, but I wouldn't hesistate to test that theory!
Design: Awesome. I get stopped by mountain bikers because the soles of my feet look like the thread on their tires. Yes, you'll always get the weird looks but you might convert a runner or two after you pass them :).
