New Balance Minimus 20

[tak555]

Maybe I'm late to the party, but has anyone tried the minimus 20 line yet?  And it looks like there are new colors in the 10 line as well...
http://www.shopnewbalance.com/search_results.asp?qry=minimus&category=MNFT&S1=NBAS

The ones that jumped out at me are the trainers:
http://www.shopnewbalance.com/newbalanceMX20WL.htm
I think they're targeting the CrossFit crowd...  wonder if they're good to run in too.  Might have to stop by the NB store to check these out....

[grimreeper]

Only the cross trainers are out in the Minimus 20 line. I wouldn't mind trying the trails from the 20 line because of the zero drop.

[ZBhockey]

Where did you see that they were zero-drop? I know they aren't out yet and I can't find a good description anywhere.

[grimreeper]

Where did you see that they were zero-drop? I know they aren't out yet and I can't find a good description anywhere.

http://www.frunning.eu/site/exclusive-new-balance-minimus-2012-line/
If anyone knows of a mirror of the video in the article please post it here, I'd love to see it.

[runner92037]

Ya, I spent a good part of an afternoon looking for the video a few days ago.  I couldn't find it anywhere.

[oxygene]

The zero drop ones and the MT20 and such are separate things. The zero drop line will be out in 2012. That's what the Frunning article is about.

[bigtruckguy3500]

I believe Oxygene is right, the 20 line and the zero drop line are different.

Does anyone know the difference between the 10 and 20 lines?  The 20's appear to look more like a traditional shoe, a little narrower toe box, and now upward tilt in the toe box.  Anyone know anything else?

Edit: it sounds like they made some modifications to complaints: http://jameseilers.com/ |  http://www.runnersworld.com/community/forums/runner-communities/trail-running/nb-minimus-trail-update-already

Not sure if I should try and pick up an old pair if they're on sale, or just go with the new one.

[ZBhockey]

I have a 10% coupon to the NB Store that expires at the end of the month. I might go pick up a pair of the trails if they're on sale. I wore nothing but NB shoes back from about '02-'06. They make great footwear that lasts forever. NB upper with a Vibram sole... what could be better? And I'm definitely going to have to get some of the zeros when they come out!

[Barefootin Family]

I have a 10% coupon to the NB Store that expires at the end of the month. I might go pick up a pair of the trails if they're on sale. I wore nothing but NB shoes back from about '02-'06. They make great footwear that lasts forever. NB upper with a Vibram sole... what could be better? And I'm definitely going to have to get some of the zeros when they come out!

Where did you get the coupon? I was thinking about a pair of minimus, and I wouldn't mind saving a little.

[ZBhockey]

It's a local thing. I live in Knoxville, TN. The kids sell these huge coupon books every year for school with savings for tons of local restaurants, stores and attractions. My girlfriend got it for me from the lady she works for. Also got a 'Buy 1 , Get 1 Free white water rafting' and 'Free rock climbing for 2' coupons for some place in the Smokeys near NC... still need to use those too!

[ovipov]

So has anyone tried the MT20's yet? I'm very interested in knowing how they feel compared to the MT10's.

[jlscnsdn]

For those whom have tried any of the Minimus lineup; could you post your normal shoe size, what you wear for normal New Balance sneakers, and then what size Minimus's you wear?

[bigtruckguy3500]

I am also really interested in a review or any info on the MT20?

[ovipov]

For those whom have tried any of the Minimus lineup; could you post your normal shoe size, what you wear for normal New Balance sneakers, and then what size Minimus's you wear?

I'm on my second pair of MT10's. In my case, they run true to size.

[VibramSoul]

People considering buying the MT20 Minimus Trails beware, these are not just a more colorful version of the far superior MT10's. Make sure to try them on before you consider buying them!

If you are into minimalist footwear DO NOT get the MT20's. I own two pairs of the New Balance MT10's and, while I would have liked them to be zero drop with less padding (inc 2012), I really enjoy wearing my MT10's. They are so comfortable that I bought the black pair as an everyday shoe, and I keep my orange ones as strictly a trail shoe. Anyways, I was recently out of town, and I had a chance to try on the new MT20's at a shoe store and compare them to my MT10's. Do not be fooled by the new pretty colors/looks of this shoe, and the $5 price reduction. I believe NB made these shoes specifically to suck in people who think they look cool, have heard about minimal running shoes, and won't notice the major quality differences between the MT10 and the MT20.

Here's why I don't like them: first of all, all of upper material of the shoe feels rough and cheap compared to the MT10 material. It's kind of hard to describe now that i'm trying to write about them, but every single part of the MT20 feels like they tried to make a shoe that has more color options, and maybe a little bit better looks than the MT10, but they swapped out all the nice materials that make up the MT10 for cheap crap in it's place.  The material on the top of the inside of the shoe (under the tongue) feels cheap, rough, and plastic-like, whereas my MT10's interior feels silky soft, and very pleasant. Secondly, they are extremely stiff. They ruined my favorite part of the MT10's, the soft, flexible mesh on the toebox that feels like some kind of meshy spandex combination that just feels perfect on my toes. They replaced it with stiff, thick mesh that won't even lift up if you try to push your toes up into it. The sole is also noticeably thicker than the MT10's sole. At first, I thought that I was just mistakenly  thinking they were too thick because my MT10's are so broken in now after 6 months of wear, but when i compared a brand new MT10 to the MT20 the sole of the MT20 felt stiff, thick, and inflexible compared to the new MT10 shoe. Thirdly, the toe box is noticeably narrower, and due to the change in upper materials, the MT20's do not allow for a full splaying of the toes. Lastly they just don't feel minimalist at all. They simply look and feel like a regular old shoe that happens to have some similarities in looks to the MT10's.

Overall, if you are just into buying a new cool looking pair of shoes, and you like the way the MT20's look, go for it. But if you want a shoe that is much more comfortable, and much more of a true minimalist shoe go for the MT10's and i'm sure you will be as happy with them as I am. I just really hope that the NB Minimus Zero's, the zero drop, light weight, less padded version of the MT10's, coming out spring 2012, are of the same quality as my MT10's. If they are made out of cheap crappy, sell out materials like the MT20's I definitely won't be buying a pair like I was so looking forward to doing. I hope this clears up the differences between MT20's and the MT10's clearly for all of you that were asking.