Topo Athletic’s Two-Toed Tabi Sneaker

This is Topo Athletic’s vision:

Better is not an accident. Stronger is not a gift. Faster is not a coincidence. It’s a choice. Tony Post’s (“Topo”) new footwear shoe company—Topo Athletic—wants to create footwear that does nothing for the athlete and everything with them. My own take: shoes that let feet be feet. Sounds good, right? Today, we get a more tangible glimpse of just what Post is bringing to market come Summer 2013. And namely, what you can expect are advanced versions of some of the original toe-minded shoes a.k.a. the Jika-tabi (often referred to as just “Tabi” or “tabi boots”). The split-toe Tabi design is probably why FiveFingers got the moniker of being “ninja shoes.” Meanwhile, they’ve been reviewed by at least one barefoot runner — RunBare’s Michael Sandler — as far back as November 2009 (video). Believe it or not, the 1951 Boston Marathon winner (shigeki Tanaka) crossed the finish line in Tabi shoes. A modern Tabi-inspired shoe, one with an anatomical last, a thin sole, and an empowered big toe, could have a lot to offer. Indeed, there have been a few Tabi-inspired shoes released over the last few years. Probably the first was Nike’s Air Rift and then you have the less-well-known offerings by Zem, many of which have been adopted by the minimalist/”barefoot shoes” community. Most recently, running coach Eric Orton founded Born 2 Run releasing their road performance shoe in 2012. You might argue that in light of these other offerings, Topo Athletic is late to the game. However, a closer look at the three designs being put out by Topo shows that Post has really taken the concept and adapted it to specific uses. In Topo’s first release, they’re bringing to market an everyday running/training model called the RT; a fitness training/crossfit model called the RX; and the fast running/racing model called the RR. More on these after the jump!

The pitch

I met with Tony Post to talk more about Topo’s upcoming offerings. The heart of that meeting centered around Topo’s vision, which is what led off this post above, and was delievered via a presentation that talked about the vision and how Topo Athletic hopes to meet that vision with their footwear. Rather than rehash it all to you, take a look through the slides below. TL;DR — Topo Athletics promise to be lightweight running, racing, and fitness shoes (one model geared to each function) that feature top of the line tech in both the outsoles and uppers, all built around a two-toed Tabi shoe structure. The specifics? Well here’s what jumps out to me: The two-toed design. This is the most obvious characteristic of these shoes and it goes hand-in-hand with an anatomical last. The combination of a wide toe box and a split-toe design does a lot to anchor the foot within the shoes. In my opinion, it’s the five-toed anchoring of FiveFingers that makes them so fantastically pseudo-barefoot. The more anchor points on a shoe, the more the shoe moves with the foot. Unlike five-toed footwear, a two-toed system is less complex, less unusual looking (marginally so!) and perhaps more accommodating to the variation in toe lengths of all the different feet out there at large. Zero-drop. Topo Athletic shoes feature somewhat thicker stack heights across the line — 12mm (RR), 13mm (RX), and 15mm (RT) (once accounting for the removable 3mm EVA perforated insole). However, they’re all neutral from heel to toe, which is arguably the most important aspect of any healthy footwear. I’m unclear at this time if they have any built in arch support. Seamless uppers. The shoes use a welding tech along with high-tech upper material making the uppers of the shoes practically seamless and lightweight. No doubt Post learned a thing or two about seamless uppers from his time working on FiveFingers. That said, I didn’t get the impression they were necessarily intended to be worn sockless. Lightweight. The shoes don’t weigh your feet down (some weights for the men’s and women’s models can be seen here) The soles. Take a look at the Topo soles: What’s somewhat hard to appreciate in these photos (but I know from discussing it with Tony) is that the soles all feature a combination of rubber outsole and EVA midsole whereby rubber is only used at points of high contact with the ground. This design should improve sole flexibility and cut down on excess weight (It’s a tactic we’ve seen in various other shoes reviewed on this site). Of course, without having held or worn any of the Topo shoes, how the above features will function is yet to be seen. One other highlight of the running/racing “RR” shoe is that features a Boa lacing system. This is a high-tech, set-it-and-forget-it lacing design that allows you to rotate a dial to tighten the laces. I’ve not used it but it looks intriguing. Here are a few more stock photos of the shoes:

Two-toed shoes the next thing?

Have you been wanting to try out a two-toed Tabi-inspired shoe? Between the already-released B2R, the Zems, and these upcoming shoes from Topo Athletic, you’re starting to have some serious options. And as we learn more about these, specifically when we get to try them out and review them, we’ll have more to share. What do you think? Is Post barking up the right tree in building out Topo Athletic? What do you think?

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Elsewhere on Topo Athletic’s new kicks:

• Original Announcement
• Wired
• Runner’s World
• Topo Athletic website