More Scuttlebutt on the Seamless, Podded, FiveFingers Bikila

By Justin Owings on Mar 18, 2010 | In general | 7 comments »

Ville shows off his pre-production FiveFingers Bikila. While not the final version, this photo makes clear the seamless upper design, which VFF fan Orlin recently confirmed via a third party source who met directly with Vibram.
Ville shows off his pre-production FiveFingers Bikila. While not the final version, this photo makes clear the seamless upper design, which VFF fan Orlin recently confirmed via a third party source who met directly with Vibram.

Orlin, BirthdayShoes forum member and blogger at the Disencumbered athlete, relayed information that both confirms and adds to our understanding regarding the upcoming Vibram FiveFingers Bikila design. Here is what Orlin was able to share:

 
  • The Bikilas as we know are made for running. The [Bikila] pods on the bottom [of the sole] are not, however, designed to give more cushion, but to disperse forces encountered when running up and down hills. This was in response to runners in other models who get hotspots, blisters, and sore toes in hilly terrain (I think all of us runners know what they're talking about).
  • The Bikilas will not have a single seam facing the foot. This will take care of long distance runners who get discomfort from one or more of the seams in the other [models] as their feet sweat and swell (like the seam over the toe in the Trek that always gets me)

The only decent photos of the FiveFingers Bikila we've seen thus far have been preproduction versions (like the one above on the feet of Ville) or stock photos (meaning, photos that are "photoshopped"). So this information serves as some confirmation regarding the seamless Vibram Bikila design and also provides a bit better understanding of how the new Bikila sole technology is intended to help runners, and set apart the Bikila as a running shoe.

For the most comprehensive source of information on the Bikila, see the FiveFingers Bikila information/resources page and stay tuned (and enter to win a pair of Bikilas by subscribing!).

About the Author — I founded BirthdayShoes.com in April 2009 on realizing just how much I enjoyed having "free feet" - I mostly wanted to use them for weights, sprints, and plyometrics (I'm not much of a runner!). I'm a Googler by day and minimalist footwear aficionado by night; you can find me 'round Atlanta. If you want to catch up with what I'm doing outside of the site here, follow me on twitter @bdayshoes or @justinno or check out my personal site JustinOwings.com.
has written 710 articles and 258 comments.
Tags: bikila, news

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Comment from: Josue [Visitor] Email
JosueNice. Those look (and appear to be) legit! Wow.
03/18/10 @ 15:02
Comment from: Tim [Visitor]
TimSo excited...
03/18/10 @ 15:34
Comment from: Josh S [Visitor]
Josh SWow, seamless Five Fingers sound like a major improvement! I just posted about the problems that some of us have had to experience because of seams splitting, or split toes. (http://barefootjosh.blogspot.com/2010/03/vibram-five-finger-quality-complaints.html)

This variation sounds like it could be awesome.
03/18/10 @ 23:19
Comment from: Richie [Visitor]
RichieCan international people win Bikilas?
03/19/10 @ 00:48
Comment from: Scott Logan [Visitor]
Scott LoganAny idea if the Bikila sizing will be like the KSO's or the Classics?
03/19/10 @ 23:41
Comment from: Justin Owings [Member] Email
I think like the KSO but we'll see!
03/20/10 @ 05:48
Comment from: aaron [Visitor]
aaronSo, I emailed Vibram the other day to ask whether the Bikilas will be as cool as they look. I just got this response back:

Thank you for your email. The Bikilas will be out mid-April and hopefully you will find them to be as awesome as they look. I personally think they are pretty cool!

Looks like this site was right about the Bikilas being released around the Boston Marathon.

I can't wait.
03/23/10 @ 11:16