NB Minimus Zero Trail - First Impressions

[acc]

Is it just me or does the toe box seem awfully narrow on these?

The normal width D ones are actually less wide than Merrell Trail/Road Gloves. Get the 4E width. (Road only comes in 2E though.)

The 4E width actually fit my foot rather well even in Injinjis.

[rookhoe]

I just got mine in the mail today! So far, i can tell theyre lighter than my Bikilas just by holding them. I tried them on and they fit great too. I ordered them in an 11.5 which is what i wear in normal shoes. Havent been able to take them out on a run yet as my back is a little sore from working out, so im taking a few days off.

[grimreeper]

I just  got mine recently.  I went with the the normal D width because that is all they had where I got them. That was a mistake, not just in the toebox but in the midfoot as well which is uncomfortable when your feet swell.

I didn't have any problem with burring or any pods protruding through the sole. Wearing socks I notice the same thing as benmcd9, this didn't annoy me since I always wear socks but hopefully on longer runs it wont be a issue.

[rookhoe]

I went with the normal D width. When i tried them on, i thought that there was a significant amount of room in the toe box.

Do feet actually swell during/after a run? If they do, ive never noticed when wearing my VFF's.

[Jeepman]

I went with the normal D width. When i tried them on, i thought that there was a significant amount of room in the toe box.

Do feet actually swell during/after a run? If they do, ive never noticed when wearing my VFF's.

It is normal for your feet to become engorged with blood while running. The muscles in your feet need blood too! If I pay attention, I do notice it in normal shoes, but never in VFFs. It is unlikely for you to notice it in VFFs because they are so flexible and forgiving they never get that tight feeling.

[acc]

VFFs are the only thing with enough toebox that it doesn't even touch my fifth metatarsal ray when running. Vivobarefoot's/Merrell/New Balance even with their widest offerings do (I get maybe about 3/16" in 4E wide). They have extra space in front of my toes but not that much on the sides.

It's partly the toe pockets stopping the foot from sliding sideways.

[rookhoe]

Well, I started running in the Minimus Trails. Its different from the VFF's at first but I got used to it after a few miles. Ive logged 9 miles in them so far and will be adding another 6 today. The only complaint that I have is that I went without socks on the first run. This resulted in some of the fabric rubbing a cut into the top of my foot. So for now im wearing socks. I will say that i dont feel any of the pods that are on the bottom of the shoe, no blisters either. Its too early to tell how the lightweight fabric is going to hold up after all of the mileage, but thats why im keeping track. Ill be sure to update every now and then.

[tak555]

hey everyone - sorry i've been MIA in this thread lately, but i haven't been running as much because certain other things (life and work ) have been getting in the way.

anyhow, i've logged a couple more runs in the shoes with mixed results... let me expand on that!

i knocked out a five miler on asphalt about a month ago, and the NB trails did fine (but i was running at a very slow clip)... i really didn't run much since then, but this past weekend i decided to get back on the horse. 

anyhow, i jumped on the treadmill, and after about a mile, i started getting knee pain.  knee pain that i haven't felt since i used to run in my Brooks GTS shoes!  so my next couple runs were in my old VFF bikilas, and no knee problems whatsoever ( i was actually able to PR my treadmill 5k in them)

i think that even though the minimus' are zero drop and dont' have much in the way of sole, it has enough sole where my foot strike is being slightly affected, thus throwing my leg alignment off.  THAT IS JUST A THEORY, and i'm going to continue to test the waters with the minimus'.

[tak555]

OKAY, so here's a quick update... I actually decided to sell my NB minimus zeros a while back.  I figured that if I clawed back some of the expense, I could put the money into some off-road VFFs.  Well I didn't really have any luck selling the shoes, and before I knew it, my trail race was upon me (for those in the Los Angeles area, I'm talking about the Mt. Wilson Trail Race).

I figured, since I still had the shoes, I might as well bust them out and see how it goes...

Results?  GREAT!  They are light (duh) and provided a ton of traction (which I was missing last year when I ran the same race in Bikilas).  I experienced pain, but not from the shoes, just from the pounding my legs and body took

As a trail running shoe, I'm very happy with them... on the streets, I think I'll stick to my VFF's though.

[acc]

How has longterm durability been: I stumbled on this http://www.runblogger.com/2012/06/sole-delamination-in-new-balance.html