Merrell Barefoot Road Glove Review

Shoes. I wonder how many passionate runners out in this world that will have only 1 pair of shoes. I know one and even that person is starting to get bitten by the running bug lol.

The main pair of shoes I usually run in is my Skechers GoRun. I've put in over 200 km over the pass 3 months in that shoes and I am still loving it. I'm however curious as to how much of an impact 200 km has made to the feel of the shoes, so Skechers, if you're reading this how bout it? Send me a new pair and let us see how much difference 200 km does to the GoRun? I'm sure there's lots to learn from this exercise.

Anyway, this post is mainly a review about the Merrell Barefoot Road Glove. I'm not too sure as to the popularity of Merrell in Malaysia but Vibram Five Fingers seems to be the rave around here.

A little info on the Merrell Barefoot line: Sometime in 2010, Merrell and Vibram teamed up to release a new line of minimalist/barefoot style shoes. Their first release was not until February 2011, the Merrell Barefoot Trail Glove which turns out to be a great hit. They subsequently released the Road version of their shoes and you guessed it, it's called Road Glove.

I was looking for a barefoot-style shoes to incorporate into my run as a way to build up my muscle and work on my form and like all Kiasu Malaysians, first thought that came to my mind was of course the VFF (Vibram Five Fingers). I gave them a try at Running Lab but unfortunately, my feet is too small and I have to go for the Women's size which I find a bit narrow. So after searching high and low for an alternative, I found out that Merrell was being sold by Running Lab and Royal Sporting House. Needless to say, I went shopping :D

The Shopping
I had a bit of difficulty in this department I went to my favorite running store, Running Lab, in Tropicana City Mall, but unfortunately they do only had the Flux Glove in Blue. The Flux Glove is a CT (Cross Training) shoes which has the upper of the Trail Glove and the out sole of the Road Glove. I wasn't too keen on the Blue and Orange color mix so off I went.

I next went to Stadiume in KLCC. Found the Road Glove, but unfortunately don't have my size. So I hopped over to Stadium at Pavillion and lo and behold they had my size. They however only have one color and it's Lime Green.

Anyone Green with Envy? Guess not :P

I was a little put off at first due to the following:

1. Green has never been my favorite color. I happen to be wearing jeans on that day but somehow or another, the color seems to fit nicely with jeans. And the best part is, it seems to grow on you. - Strike One!
2. For a barefoot style shoes, it's actually heavier than my Skechers GoRun, by a few ounce. The shoes also fit very snug and tight across the midsection. (Pardon me but I was a noob then) I was a little uncomfortable in it at first but I liked the roominess of the toe area a lot. I reasoned that since you have a roomy toe box, you have to secure your foot somewhere. - Strike 2!
3. I've done some research and was aware that there is a very pronounced bump at the arch area of one's foot. This got me very worried as I have been having my Plantar Fasciitis problem during that time. The bump actually pushes in toward my arch and I could feel it while standing in it. I tried running in place a bit to see how it felt. I could still feel the bump a bit. I was pretty hesitant bout buying the shoes even though Pete Larson has reassured in his Road Glove review that it's not an arch support per se. I studied the bottom of the shoes and confirmed that it's actually the curve of the out sole inward that causes the bump.  - Strike 3!

What sealed the deal was that there was a 30% discount on the shoes, bringing the price of the shoes down to the RM 250 range, nearly half the price of VFF!!! Being a Gung-ho at that time, I bought it and off I went being the happy owner of a pair of Barefoot Style Shoes.

The Construction

The Merrell Barefoot Road Glove is a 0 mm drop shoes with a stack height of 11 mm at both the heel and forefoot area. I'm actually quite surprised about this as the Skechers GoRun has a listed stack height of 14 mm at heel and 10 mm at forefoot and a whopping 19 mm at mid foot area!!! At first glance, you would think that there isn't much difference between these 2 shoes, but you would be wrong.

You see, the Skechers do not have an out sole/mid sole as most shoes have as they're using Resalyte. From what I understand, they've actually combined both out sole and mid sole into one component, you actually have quite a lot of cushioning from the Skechers. The Merrell however only have 4 mm of EVA cushioning for their mid sole, the rest of the stack heights, 7 mm of it, goes to the out sole as well as the insole. This mean, you'll definitely feel that pebble on the road, albeit not as painfully as truly running barefoot.

Very thin sole actually.

The construction of the out sole for Merrell also gives the illusion that this shoes come with a lot more cushioning. However, the fact is that the out sole curves over and onto the upper to facilitate the bonding of the out sole to the upper of the shoes. The heel counter/overlay is nicely placed to provide maximum grip on the back of your foot.

The Upper of the Road Glove is of excellent quality and well ventilated. I've never felt the inside of the shoes getting hot even when wearing them on hot days walking around for the whole day (while working in Sandakan). The toe box has plenty of room for your toes to splay out and my toe has never felt constricted once. The one complain I have is that the tongue has a tendency to slip out of place. I'm not sure whether it's my lacing or a problem with the shoe construction (maybe I'm too used to the Skechers sewn tongue) but the lace lock makes sure it doesn't stray too far. 

I MUST mention the liner of the Road Glove is unique. It's kinda furry to the feel (as can be seen in the first pic). It feels marvelous when you go sock less but when wearing socks, it tends to grip your socks, to the extend sometimes you can curl your toe up inside your socks without the socks moving in the shoes. It however doesn't interfere with the running and is something that you'll get used to. The integrated insole has no visible seam is of the same furry material. I've tried wearing the Road Glove sock less once and did not notice any hot spot at all so the Road Glove is definitely good news for those who loves to run sock less.

Check out the light green arch area

The out sole of the Road Glove is provided by Vibram. As you can see, it's a pretty unique design. The medial and later part of the sole is actually curved upward and inward toward your feet (see pic below to get a clearer picture of it). This is the cause of the bump that I felt while I was trying it out. Coupled with the lacing, it provides a solid grip of your feet from the mid area toward the back, ensuring that your feet don't go stumbling about in the shoes.

Inward curve of the arch area

In regards to the sole's traction, I'm a little disappointed in it at current time. On certain surfaces, it gets slippery when it's wet. Example, fungal grown rocks/ concrete area, synthetic running path. I'm not too sure if the traction will improve as I break in the shoes (it's only been like 30 km) but here's hoping it will. This situation has however proven to be a good thing as well. It doesn't allow me to over stride  and it forces me to push off properly so as not to waste any energy. See, there's always a positive side to things if you look for it.

Performance wise
As a casual wear shoes, the Road Glove is extremely comfortable IF, and this is a big if, you're comfortable with 0 drop or minimalist shoes. Reason being, even when walking, it activates different sets of muscles than traditional shoes. If you're used to walking barefoot for 2-3 hrs a day, then I'm sure you'll be fine. If you're not, don't be surprised if you do have some slight muscle ache the next day. Your feet WILL get tired in this shoes.

The Road Glove is a very good training shoes for running form. In runs, the first thing you will notice is the lack of cushioning in the Road Glove. If you don't land properly, you're gonna feel it in your ankle, your knees, your hip, and your back. You'll learn to get off your heels and land on your forefoot to mid foot  keeping your knees bent to absorb the shock of landing as well as to land close to your center line.

The next thing you'll realize is that you'll forget you're wearing a pair of shoes. Your body and your feet will automatically adjust to the surface you're running on. If the surface is slick, your stride shortens, you land lower with your toes more splayed. If it's harder and firmer, you get into a cycle fast. If it's grassy with roots, you get onto your toes and hop along, and when you step onto a pebble, you'll quickly notice and your foot will automatically lessen the pressure placed on that foot to continue on to the next step.

Remember the tight mid foot and the bump under the arch? In my run, it completely disappeared. I had no Plantar Fasciitis episode with the Road Glove at all. In fact, I hope that Royal Sporting House will continue to bring in Merrell shoes so I will always be able to get a pair to run in.

In fact, Royal Sporting House is currently having a 40% discount on the Merrell Barefoot line. This discount has brought the pricing of the Road Glove down to approximately RM 212. So, for those of  you who would like to improve  your running form, but does not care to run barefoot or find the VFF too expensive or unsuitable, go give the Road Glove a try.

A word of caution though. If you've never ran in a barefoot style shoes, please take your time making the transition to the Road Glove. You need to give your body some time to adapt and build up the musculature required for these shoes. I've had a lot of muscle soreness from just using this shoes for walk when I first got them. Running in them when you're not ready can lead to some pretty severe muscle pain if you're not careful. Below are some links to resources on how to transition to a barefoot style shoes so feel free to look through them.

http://www.vibramfivefingers.it/education_why_barefoot.aspx
http://www.merrell.com/US/en/BarefootConnection
Principles of Natural Running with Dr. Mark Cucuzzella - YouTube
Are you ready to go Minimal?



Happy running folks. I hope the review would be of some use to some people.

May your run be swifts and graceful.

Summary
Pros:

1. Lightweight barefoot style shoes. Excellent for form and gait training.
2. Disappear from your feet once you start running.
3. Excellent upper and lining.
4. Don't receive weird look like VFF.

Cons:

1. Out sole does not have a good grip. Not too sure if it's coz it's not broken in yet or what. I'll update if there's a change to it.
2. Shoe Lace is a little on the short side. I can't tie it the way I showed in my Tying the Knots post.