Vibram 5-Fingers..you've been ripped off

[Mrs Baggins]

http://fittish.deadspin.com/vibram-f...ble-1572955736

I always thought those were THE most ridiculous clown-shoe stupid things going. I'd see them on people on the trail and all I could do was burst out laughing. A cousin of mine who believe they'd be wonderful had to admit that he wore them ONCE on a hike and it took his feet WEEKS to recover. No support, not enough sole to NOT feel every rock and root, completely ludicrous looking........

[handlebar]

Sorry to disagree. They were perfect for water shoes and I often walked quite a distance after fording a stream. In addition they make good town shoes, although now that I've switched from leather boots to trail runners, I don't need either water shoes or town shoes. I wear the trail runners right through fords and they dry quickly enough.

[Almost There]

I disagree as well...you have to break your feet into wearing them if you plan on hiking or running into them...does not surprise me in the least that he destroyed his feet if he hiked distance in them before getting his feet used to them. Our feet are weaker then they are meant to be due to modern shoes. That being said, I don't hike in mine, and use them for walks or working out.

[rafe]

I went for a job interview about a year ago at a medical device company. One of the people who interviewed me was was wearing these. It was hard to take the interview seriously. I didn't get the job.

[MuddyWaters]

After a lifetime of wearing shoes that keep the foot muscles from working, they are very undeveloped. It takes a long time to properly work up to running in minimal footwear for normal people.
Long in like a year or so. People that just put them on should expect disastrous results.

[FarmerChef]

Same here. Going minimalist from a full rise shoe takes weeks to adjust the foot. Our feet are used to being babied 100% of the time in thickly padded shoes with an elevated heel and "arch support." This reduces the natural flexion of the foot and the spring like action it was designed to employ. Further, the achilles tendon needs time to stretch due the heel going all the way to the floor. If I went straight from tennis shoes to barefoot walking my pads would be screaming too. I'd probably bruise the bones of my feet too while I was at it.

[Rocket Jones]

Yep, it's taken me most of a year to get to where I can walk in them comfortably for an entire day. At first, my feet would tire quickly. I don't hike in them, and when people ask, I tell them that they're the next best thing to barefoot.

[bigcranky]

I always thought those were THE most ridiculous clown-shoe stupid things going.

Judgemental much? My wife has a couple of pairs and uses them for kayaking and around town. Loves them. She has hiked in them, but prefers a full coverage minimalist zero-drop shoe like the New Balance WT10 on the trail.

[Tuckahoe]

Wait! I thought Fridays was mocking Paleo and Tuesdays was mocking Vibram Five Fingers... can we atleast get which day is which settled?

[Wise Old Owl]

Mrs Baggins.. wow you need to voice your opinion! Today you did not disappoint.. Thank you for your new thread...

and as a Kayaker - I still would not buy them

[Lone Wolf]

the price alone told me they were dumb footwear

[Wise Old Owl]

LW - there is something there we can agree on...

[Sarcasm the elf]

This is the advice about barefoot shoes I read on one of the major barefoot running sites:

...., many people are not able to learn to run with less stress on their bodies and feet while wearing any form of protection on their feet. This is because most of us need the emphatic and precise feedback from our bare soles as they interact with the terrain.
We are all designed to have this feedback while learning to walk and run, to ensure that we will be able to walk and run for what could be a very long life – the natural limit seems to be well over a century, for those with good genes, and healthy lifestyles....


...Bottom line, if you want to learn to run more gently, take off your shoes, and your socks, and your “Barefoot Shoes”, and let your soles feel how much force you’re putting on your feet. Then practice reducing those forces by adjusting the way you’re running.

http://barefootrunning.com/?page_id=109#begin-here

[DocMahns]

I got mine for $30... much less than I pay for most footwear minus flipflops...

[Mrs Baggins]

I kayak and I wear the Keen H2O sandals. I can also wear those all day long on land and I have flat feet. Thicker tread, easy on my feet.

Judgmental? No. I said that I thought that they're ridiculous looking. I did not say "They ARE ridiculous looking." Even though they are. I was coming down from Keys Gap one day, eyes on the ground looking ahead, and into my field of vision came a pair of those things, in rainbow colors. On a guy. I burst out laughing. Couldn't help it.

[Namtrag]

Not that I have a pair, but my little toe always wants to go in the wrong hole lol

[SouthMark]

From another site. Just about says it all.

If you love this kind of shoe, calm down. I'm sure they work great for you.

If you hate this kind of shoe, calm down. Nobody's forcing you to wear them.

This lawsuit says Vibram could not prove their claims about health benefits, and unjustly profited from those claims. That behavior is illegal.

That's NOT the same as saying there are no health benefits for anyone, anywhere.

[Pedaling Fool]

I've never wore the shoes, but I do run barefoot on the beach and I do believe it's helped me, but their claims were a little over the top and I guess they're paying for that now http://www.runnersworld.com/general-...action-lawsuit

Just another example of some people looking for a magical solution to what ails them.



http://www.thewire.com/business/2014...-shoes/362005/

Excerpt:

If you are one of the thousands of people who purchased Vibram USA's ridiculous FiveFingers shoes, you might be entitled to a refund. The company settled a class action lawsuit to the tune of $3.75 million this week and that money will go back to customers.

The case was brought by Valerie Bezdek in Massachusetts, who claimed Vibram was deceiving their customers by advertising FiveFinger shoes as beneficial to foot muscles and helpful in reducing foot injuries, even though they did not have any scientific research backing up these claims. Also, they make you look really silly, but that was not cited in the legal documents.

The settlement required two forms of relief: a refund, and for Vibram to stop making claims in their advertising and product marketing that FiveFingers could help build muscle or reduce injury.

[Offshore]

A trainer at my gym was sporting these shoes one day and my immediate reaction was "wow, those are weird looking" and "how do you even air those things out after a workout? - nasty". Vibram now joins Sketchers with their own "toning" shoes scam. Lots of hype but no evidence-based and peer-reviewed health benefit claims. These types of product claims are no different than the magic fat melting pills or skunk cabbage cancer cure. The amount of people who do not or cannot think critically and thereby fall for these baseless claims never ceases to amaze.

[SoCal Mike]

I never tried the shoes but I have some of the socks for hiking. I really like them in warm weather. Helps the toes stay cool. So, maybe the shoes are bunk, but I will continue to use the socks.

Michael (SoCal Mike)