Why I Switched Away From Minimalist Shoes

During the pandemic I would walk from one and a half hours per day every single day of the week for months. In that time I believe that my feet swelled, making normal shoes more and more uncomfortable to wear.

To be more specific. I found that the top of my foot, near the big toe and its neighbour, would rub the top of the shoe, causing the skin to rub raw and become painful. I tried several pairs of shoes in quick succession and each one had the same problem. I considered changing shoe size, and switched between three or four pairs of shoes before trying minimalist shoes. I experimented with the Vapor Glove 6 but it was too thin for my walking distances. The Trail Glove 7, in contrast felt excellent.

It’s because of how good the Trail Glove 7 felt that I switched from “normal” shoes to minimalist problems, and my problem vanished. For years I was happy walking with barefoot shoes until I recognised a serious downside.

Quick Wearing Out

In about three years I wore through six pairs of trail glove 7 shoes. They cost about one hundred francs per pair, and they last for about three to six months before the heels and front of the foot are worn. The problem with worn minimalist shoes is that your heel strikes the ground with increasing force, the further you walk. The result is that with worn shoes you’re risking a stress fracture.

Several times after an eight to ten kilometre walk I could feel that the heel bone was sore, and that’s an indicator that it’s time to change shoes. Usually, they’re around 97-110 CHF per pair but they can be 120-139 CHF per pair. If you’re patient you can set an alert to get them when they’re cheaper.

Normal Shoes

As I said earlier, normal shoes are much cheaper. I only shifted away from them because I suspect my feet swelled from a lot of walking. Once I took up cycling three to five times per week my feet had time to recover, to deflate, and to become “normal” again. By “normal” I mean that wearing normal shoes felt comfortable once again. This, in and of itself, is glorious. I went from having to buy “specialist” shoes online, to buying decathlon walking shoes once again, halving my shoe budget per pair, but also to some degree in wear. When shoes last several weeks or months longer, then you’re saving in two directions. Cost and longevity.

And Finally

My original reason for switching away from normal shoes is gone, so I can wear normal shoes again. I enjoy wearing minimal shoes, but I don’t like that they cost twice as much, for such a short lifespan.

And finally, aside from the shoes wearing down fast, my other reason to switch from barefoot shoes, to normal shoes for walking, and running shoes for running is that I ran a semi-marathon in barefoot shoes and I could feel that if I run at that intensity, too often, I will cause serious damage to my ankle bones. When you run 21.1 km you need cushioning, and barefoot shoes, within a short distance don’t provide any.

If barefoot shoes cost half as much, or lasted twice as long, then they would be worth their price.