VIVOBAREFOOT Neo Trail First Impressions Review

Shortly after running last fall’s Firetrails 50-miler, I had an extended e-mail conversation with the US Operations Director for VIVOBAREFOOT about the Evo shoes I wore in that race. In particular, she was gathering feedback about how the shoes performed, and how future models could be modified to specifically address the needs of long-distance trail runners.

What follows is an excerpt from our exchange – heavily edited, of course, because you know I can get carried away when talking about this stuff sometimes …

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VB rep: When you were discussing the section of the race with downhill, large rocks and loose footing you mentioned it was the trickiest part for you in your Evos. What features would you like to see us incorporate into our footwear to assist with this terrain?

Me: I'd love to see an outsole with a more aggressive tread pattern, perhaps with some shallow knobs like other minimalist trail shoes on the market. Another outsole feature that's really effective is angled lugs in the heel region, directed forward to help braking upon impact, which occurs when trying to control your speed on those steep downhills.

VB rep: Hmm … this is very interesting, and the requests you have made fit with our new styles launching Fall/Winter 2011. We have several exciting prototypes in the works.

**
Flash forward 10 months, to when a box from VIVOBAREFOOT arrived on my doorstep a couple of days ago. I knew what was inside, and I was excited to try it right away.

VIVOBAREFOOT Neo Trail

It was the VIVOBAREFOOT Neo Trail, the company’s new model specifically geared towards trail runners. They had told me it was on the way, and honestly, I couldn’t wait to get my feet on them.

I also couldn’t wait to report on them, so I’m going to review the shoes here in two parts: a first impressions post now, and a more in-depth review after I’ve logged some serious mileage on them. For the purposes of this post, everything I’m reporting is based on my initial “unboxing” observations and a single 12-mile trail run the day after they arrived.

The first thing I thought when looking over the Neo Trail was that it just looks like a trail running shoe. From 10 feet away, I imagine most people will have a hard time distinguishing it from something Vasque or Montrail would make. From an aesthetic standpoint, this is kind of cool – and I suspect it will dramatically reduce the number of “Hey, what are you wearing on your feet?” comments that I got at ultras last year in my Evos. Instead, these shoes will just blend right in with the crowd.

Whether that’s a good development or not is up to you, I suppose. I think this is generally a positive thing; my ideal “end point” of this whole minimalist revolution would be for minimalist shoes to be accepted as just another style preference, rather than being marginalized as the domain of freaks and idealists.  In that regard, the Neo Trail represents huge step in the right direction.

Aggressive outsole lugs

Obviously, I was eager to see the outsole, and I have to say that VIVOBAREFOOT went all-in as far as making it trail-ready. The entire surface is covered with 4mm lugs … and they’re angled! Forward in the heel, backward in the forefoot, just like I would have done if I were designing it myself. I’m curious to see how durable they are … but by appearances, the Neo Trail jumps right to the head of the pack when it comes to outsoles that can handle gravel, mud, snow, or any kind of technical terrain. Needless to say, I’m going to have fun testing these.

Insole in top shoe, removed on bottom

The lugs sit on top of a 2.5mm base outsole, which makes the total standing height of the outsole 6.5mm. There’s also 3mm of insole height which is removable – so your total standing height is either 6.5mm or 9.5mm. This is higher than either the Evo or Neo, which each have a 4mm outsole plus a removable insole, but that’s the tradeoff of having super knobby lugs.

Natural flexibility

The entire shoe is still super flexible, allowing your foot to move naturally in any direction it needs to. However, a more substantial outsole also leads to more substantial weight: the Neo Trail weighs in at nearly 13oz with the insole, or 12.5oz without. (Note: these specs are according to the website, but I’m almost certain that they’re wrong, because the shoe doesn’t feel nearly that heavy. I’ll get this spec confirmed and report back.) (**UPDATED:  the weight is 10.5oz with the insole, 10oz without.)  By comparison, the Evo is 8 oz, and the regular Neo is 9.5 oz. Unfortunately, this is an aspect where being comparable to Vasque and Montrail definitely isn’t a good thing, and if the weight spec is accurate, it would be my biggest disappointment with the Neo Trail.

Closed mesh uppers

One other drawback is that the closed mesh of the upper isn’t as breatheable as I’d like. It’s a hydrophobic material intended to repel water, but from my experience, it’s impossible to avoid water while trail running, and I much prefer something that gets wet easily but dries easily as well. I suspect the Neo Trail will be great for cold winter trails, but not as comfortable for drainage and drying after stream crossings on hot summer runs. Obviously, this is something else I’m anxious to test.

From a comfort standpoint, the Neo Trail felt great on my initial run. A bit of ground feel is sacrificed with the rugged outsole, but because the overall flexibility is maintained, I still felt like it was easy to keep proper form and run gently. The fit of the last seems slightly wider in the heel region than the Evo or Neo, and my VB rep confirmed that this is indeed a different last. Otherwise, the feel of the upper against your foot is the same as other VIVOBAREFOOT models, and would be equally comfortable with socks or bare skin.

Needless to say, I have to put a lot more miles on the Neo Trail before coming to any definitive conclusions about their overall merit compared to the ever-expanding category of minimalist trail runners. I have high expectations for this shoe, which clearly appear to be met in some ways – primarily the design of the outsole – and lacking in others such as weight and ventilation. I’ll report back here later in the fall once I’ve given them a proper, thorough testing.

In the meantime, the VIVOBAREFOOT Neo Trail is now available for $130 from the company website. If you decide to get a pair or if you’ve already tried them out yourself, feel free to share your opinion in the comments below.

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Related reviews:

VIVOBAREFOOT Evo running shoe

VIVOBAREFOOT Evo II running shoe

VIVOBAREFOOT Neo

*Product provided by VIVOBAREFOOT
**See other product reviews on sidebar at right. If you have a product you’d like reviewed, contact me at info@runningandrambling.com.


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Recharge Sports Drink Mix Giveaway Winners

I'm keeping this very quick so I can finalize my primary post later tonight ... but let's get to the results of the Recharge Sports Drink Mix giveaway contest.

I'm happy to report that my ploy to stack the odds in favor of XC teams worked!  So Eddie, Robert, and The Masseys: shoot me an e-mail with your contact info - you've won the contest!  For everybody else, thanks for playing, and keep your eyes peeled for another giveaway next week.

Regular programming to follow shortly.

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Civil Obedience

Quick reminder: only one more day to sign up for my Recharge Sports Drink mix giveaway. Get going!


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Our quaint, cozy little village of Carmel Valley is fortunate to have a quaint, cozy little marketplace specifically for the locals:

Along with just about everyone else in town, our family is dependent on this place; if we can’t shop here, the nearest big grocery store is about a 15-minute drive from home. The market is perfect for grabbing a loaf of bread to go with dinner on the way home from work, or for those times when you get halfway through the breakfast recipe before realizing that you’re out of buttermilk.

The owner and employees are about as nice as you’ll ever encounter, and they get along with everyone in our little community. Like any long-term relationship, the goodwill between store and community has been tested at times – especially during one rocky period several years ago when the store was sold to out-of-towners who tried to turn it into an upscale gourmet boutique. They did away with the coin-operated kiddie rides out front, and even got rid of the cigar store Indian that represented everything rustic and quirky about our little town.

They were aiming for sophistication – and predictably, our little village revolted. Locals took their business down the road to the big grocery store, and the Carmel Valley Market eventually ran into hard times. The new owners stopped paying their mortgage, and ultimately closed the store down entirely before hightailing it away from our village and leaving everyone else to pick up the pieces.

Thankfully, new local owners stepped in to re-remodel the store back to the small town fixture everybody loved. They returned the inventory to regular fare, and returned the Indian out front. The return to “old management” even included the original owner, well into his 80s by now, who came back to work in the produce department and serves as the de facto goodwill ambassador for the shop.

Today, the community and the shop are friends again, and that goes for me and my family as well. There’s only one thing I find depressing and objectionable about the market – one that hits me in the face every time I walk through the door.

To save you the trouble of enlarging, I’ve cropped the sign on the door here:

It’s your fairly classic No Shoes, No Shirt, No Service sign, complete with a reference to a health department standard which doesn’t exist. There’s also a mention of safety, on the off chance that I’d cut my foot on a stray tortilla chip and decide to sue them; I guess we can blame the lawyers for that one. But considering that our village and the neighboring communities have one of the highest per capita rates of tie-dyed California hippies anywhere outside of Berkeley or Haight-Ashbury, such a rule runs completely against the communal goodwill that the market worked so hard to re-establish.

To many barefoot advocates, such a sign is offensive, suggesting an underlying premise that having naked feet is somehow offensive. For others, a sign like this is a call to arms (or, um ... legs, or feet - something like that), triggering an immediate effort to reverse the policy through educating the ownership and dispelling commonly held misconceptions about public barefooted-ness. The most hardcore crusaders will argue that the sign is nothing short of discrimination, and campaign to overcome such injustice through public relations or boycott attempts.

As for me, here’s what I do: absolutely nothing.

I don’t feel offended by the sign, I’ve never asked the owner to justify it, and I don’t deliberately take my business elsewhere. Rather, I keep a thin foot cover – typically a pair of Sockwas – under my car seat for anytime I have to throw something on my feet to comply with the rules of the house. And when I return to my car, I slip them off and continue driving barefoot (which also isn’t illegal, despite what you might hear).

In the grand scheme of things, the footwear policy of a small village market isn’t something that will keep me awake at night. I’m not opposed to picking some battles here and there – for example, if my daughter gets kicked out of P.E. class for wearing VivoBarefoots – but this particular cause isn’t a war I feel compelled to fight. It’s not a major inconvenience to slip something on my feet, and I like the market too much to go stirring up any sort of controversy. If that makes me a sellout to my fellow barefoot brethren, so be it.

If this was your neighborhood, what would you do? How about if this was your market – would you let people walk around barefoot? If so, is there a difference between barefoot and bare-chested? I think I’d be a lot more repulsed by some big fat pasty hairy dude walking around shirtless than by a granola-looking dude with grungy feet. Do you consider this a cause worth getting worked up about? I may not be stirring up controversy (at least, not intentionally), but I’m curious to hear what you think in the comments below.




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REI Clearance Sale; Vibram FiveFingers Closeout Sale; Marathon Bar Winners; Random Shots of Beauty*

*Boy, these post titles are getting long ...

Lots of odds and ends for this weekend's post, so let's get right to it. In keeping with recent tradition, here's a rundown of cool sale opportunities for some of my favorite gear:

First up is REI. It should tell you something that even with the amount of complimentary gear I get for product testing, I still shop at REI on a regular basis. They're probably the most dependable source for almost all basic outdoor gear; if I need it, they probably have it. And this week, they have it at a discount. Check out REI's Labor Day Clearance Sale taking place from now until September 5.

Next is Vibram, or more specifically, Vibrams from TravelCountry.com. I mentioned this week that they have stock of the FiveFingers Bormio and FiveFingers Trek LS from the Fall 2011 line - but they also have a decent selection of 2010 Vibram FiveFinngers models available at closeout prices. They don't have every model available, but there are a couple of great deals to be grabbed, such as the men's Bikila for $65 and the women's KSO for $65. It's pretty unusual for Vibrams (real Vibrams, that is) to be available at significant discounts, so check out the links above to see if something catches your eye.

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Thanks very much to everyone who entered the Marathon Bar giveaway contest, and as a side note, never underestimate the power of free chocolate to drive traffic to your blog. Anyway, we've got some winners to announce, so ... Andy, Chris (New Mexico Trail Runner), and Diana - e-mail me your contact info. You've won the Marathon Bar prize packs!

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Finally, two more reminders to pass along: you've got a few more days to enter the Recharge Sports Drink mix giveaway contest, and a little more time to submit proposals for a Running and Rambling guest blogger post coming up in September.  Go on, take your chance!

OK, I think we're caught up for now. I'm not sure what it says when my introductory stuff is longer than the actual post. On to the Random Shot of Beauty:

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My son and I ride our mountain bikes in the Fort Ord Open Space, which is adjacent to the famed Laguna Seca Raceway. Every now and then we make our way beyond the Fort Ord boundary, and if we pass through the right fences and cross the right bridges, we actually end up on the inside of the racetrack.

Since there are all manner of race cars and motorcycles doing test laps there on any given day during the summer, our inside access gives us scenes like this:

(Click to enlarge)

Tranquil MTB fire roads on one side of the fence, and world-class auto racers on the other. Just another one of those uniquely Monterey County sights.




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Recharge Sports Drink Mix Review and Giveaway (XC Runners: Pay Attention!)

Admin note: Thanks very much to everyone who has written me regarding the potential guest blogging spots I have up for grabs. If I haven't replied to your e-mail yet, give me another day or two - I'm gradually making my way through them. And there's still plenty of time to run your suggestion by me, so feel free to drop me an e-mail soon.

Also, you have one more day to enter the Marathon Bar giveaway contest. Tick tock!

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For as much knowledge I have about sports nutrition and the benefits of proper hydration, I have one peculiarly bad habit: I’m not big on drinking plain water.

It’s not that I don’t hydrate well; it’s just that usually I need something with some taste to it. I choose low-calorie options like green tea or Diet Pepsi or different flavors of sparkling water or even more Diet Pepsi … anything to make the situation in my mouth a little interesting. (Yes, really.) That’s why I’m always interested to try new options for low-calorie hydration, and I appreciate them even more if they lend themselves to convenient use.

One new option my wife and I have been testing this summer is Recharge Natural Sports Drink mix from the R.W. Knudsen Family company, which is the subject of today’s giveaway. And if you win this one, you’d better be thirsty – because you’ll be getting a whole lot of this product.

First, the rundown: for several years R.W. Knudsen has sold a bottled all-natural recovery drink called Recharge, which is essentially flavored with fruit juices and a tiny amount of salt. This summer the company introduced a recovery drink in powdered form under the same name, although the formulation is slightly different in mix form than it is in the bottles.

Recharge drink mix comes in four flavors, all of which are sweetened with Truvia, an herbal extract of the stevia plant. I’ve tasted a few other stevia-sweetened drinks over the past couple of years, and I find that the sweetener does have a noticeable aftertaste; not particularly bad, just ... noticeable.  With the Recharge mix, the aftertaste seems (to me, at least) more prominent in the grape and tropical flavors than the lemon and orange flavors. The formulation still includes fruit juice, and is still 100% natural, but there’s definitely a different taste than the same brand in bottled form.

Certainly the most attractive aspect of the mix is that it comes in pre-packaged “sticks” that are perfect for stashing in your car or workout bag. The instructions say to dissolve one packet in 17oz of water, but for convenience sake I typically diluted them in a 20-oz water bottle, which makes for a nice, mildly sweet taste.

Dissolution of the powder proved to be a small annoyance for my wife, who likes to mix it into a tall glass of water at home after a run. Even with prolonged stirring, a small portion of the powder remains undissolved. The instructions say to pour the mix into a bottle and then shake with the cap on, which is a much more vigorous way of mixing the powder and appears necessary to ensure that it all dissolves properly.

The nutritional benefits you gain from Recharge are electrolytes – primarily sodium and potassium – as well as small doses of Vitamins C, B6, B12, and Niacin. Each stick contains only 10 calories and provides you with additional incentive to take care of your hydration needs either immediately after a workout or at any time during the day.

Perhaps the coolest part of this whole promotional launch is that the R.W. Knudsen Family is being extremely generous in distribution of its Recharge mix to those who can benefit from it the most. To mark Military Appreciation Month last May, the company donated 200,000 Recharge sticks in care packages to American troops via Operation Gratitude, a nonprofit military support organization. Those guys and gals probably don’t have any of the little quibbles with the product that I do – which is one of many reasons the troops have my utmost respect.

And then there’s the bloggers – or more accurately, blog readers. Here are the contest details: Recharge drink mix is normally sold in boxes of eight single-serving sticks which retail for $3.99. For this giveaway, three winners will each receive a CASE of all four flavors – as in, twelve 8-stick boxes, or 96 sticks of each flavor. I’m no mathematician, but 4 x 96 seems to equal a heck of a lot of Recharge powder. Like enough for your entire running club or cross-country team.

In fact, since cross-country season is right around the corner, and because this is my contest and I get to make up my own rules, I'm going to stack the deck in favor of cross-country athletes.  If you're an XC coach or runner this fall, tell me the name and location of your team, and you'll get four entries in the contest.  Everyone else gets just one entry per comment.  (Take that, smug football jocks!)

Leave your entry comment below this post before close of business on Tuesday, August 30, and I’ll pick winners at random and announce the results in a separate post on Wednesday the 31st. Very big thanks to R.W. Knudsen Family for sponsoring this contest, and good luck to everybody!

*Product provided by R.W. Knudsen Family Company
**See other product reviews on sidebar at right. If you have a product you’d like reviewed, contact me at info@runningandrambling.com.




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New Vibram FiveFingers Bormio and Vibram FiveFingers Trek LS Now Available at TravelCountry.com

This isn't the "official" post for tonight, but I wanted to pass along an announcement I received from my rep at TravelCountry.com. If you're one of those people who loves getting products right off the initial production line, you'll be interested to know that TravelCountry.com currently has the new Vibram FiveFingers Bormio and Vibram FiveFingers Trek LS available for purchase. As far as I know, they're one of the first vendors to have full stock of these Fall 2011 models.

Vibram FiveFingers Trek LS

The Bormio is something completely out of the ordinary for Vibram: a casual boot molded with the unique toe-glove platform. Boots aren't really my style, and I don't plan to review this one, but it's very interesting, to say the least. The Trek LS is one I've had my eye on for a while, and one I'll review in depth as fall approaches. You can read full descriptions on either of these from the TravelCountry pages linked above.

That's all for now ... regular programming to resume shortly.



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Giving It Away: (Possible) Guest Writing Opportunity at Running and Rambling

Administrative note before today's post: You've got two more days to take advantage of Patagonia's cool summer clearance sale. Go get yourself a bargain, people. Also, if you haven't done so already, leave a comment on yesterday's Marathon Bar contest post for your chance to win a sample pack.

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“Give it away, give it away, give it away now –
I can’t tell if I’m a kingpin or a pauper.”
- Red Hot Chili Peppers, “Give it Away” (video after post)

I know that I promised each post this week would give something away, but in this particular case I’m not sure I’m actually going to go through with it. It’s something that’s in the “just thinking about it” phase, and furthermore, the thing I have to offer isn’t really anything tangible.

The short version is this: I’m thinking about giving away space on my blog. For the longer version, read on – and stick around at the end for the audience participation segment.

Over the past year or so, I’ve probably been approached dozens of times with inquiries about whether I allow guest posts on my website. Every single time, my response has been the same: I haven’t really thought about it. So I’ve progressed from not thinking to thinking - which is never a bad thing, I suppose – but suffice it to say the question is far from settled.

What’s driving this whole issue is that fact that I’ll be out of the office – WAY out, as in no online access – for a full week in the middle of September. Yes, I’m terrified. However, I thought it might help to slightly diminish my withdrawal seizures if I knew someone was taking care of this space in my absence. Because my blog might get lonely without me around. Or you might get lonely without my blog around. As sad as it is to admit, these are things I tell myself sometimes.

Guest posting is definitely a loaded subject around the blogosphere, for reasons I don’t have the time or energy to go into right now. There is some very reasonable upside to it, however, and I figure that a couple of posts would be enough for me to get a sense of whether this is something that feels right. So that’s the deal I’m offering: one blog post to two different writers during one week in September - free of charge to the right person. If you’re interested, contact me and I’ll throw your name in the hat.

I’m open to proposals from all comers: if you’re thinking about starting a blog and want to get a taste for it; if you have a small blog and are looking to grow your audience; or if you already have a huge blog and want to pull some new traffic your way, make me an offer. If you’re chosen (and if I actually go through with this), I’ll include your name and a link to your webpage, and invite comments from readers just as I do with any other post. That’s not exactly good news, by the way.

But before anyone starts blasting me with e-mail, here are some ground rules …

*  Your subject has to be a good fit with my typical website content, and something that would be of interest to my regular readers.  However, don’t write to ask me what kind of topics my readers would like; if you’re familiar with this website, you know the answer already.  Also ...

*  You're not me - so don't try to write like me.  I'm not looking for another me (God forbid.)  You be you.  Let me be me.  That sounds like an after school special, but you get the idea.

*  Your post has to be an original submission for my website; it can’t be your favorite post from your own site that nobody commented on, or a great article your friend wrote for the running club newsletter last year. But if I end up deciding not to go through with this whole idea, you’re free to publish wherever you like.

*  By submitting an article, you give me full editorial freedom to revise, cut or otherwise modify the content as I see fit. However, don’t rely on me to be your spell check or grammar consultant; if your submission is full of errors, it’s automatically bounced.  My hope is that I won’t have to exercise this particular stipulation – remember, I’m trying to do less work here, not more.

*  Your article must be submitted in its entirety by September 15, 2011.

So those are the guidelines, and I also reserve the right to add more ground rules as I think of them.  (Can you tell that I haven't entirely thought this through yet?)  If you want an opportunity to post here, send me an e-mail with your proposal, and let me know why I should pick you. If the response is strong, I’ll whittle the entrants down to a final handful before notifying the winners. If I don’t get anything I like, I’m scrapping the whole project. But I have high hopes for you all, so go ahead and dazzle me.

Now for the audience participation part: Is this a terrible idea? Do you have strong feelings one way or the other about guest posts on this website? Any words of wisdom or caution for me? Like I said, this whole post is something of an exploratory effort, so I’d love to gather as much feedback as you’re willing to share in the comments below. Be honest - I can take it.

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If nothing else, the subject at hand gives me the perfect rationale to play one of the most memorable tracks – not to mention one of the craziest videos - from one of the absolute best albums of the 1990s.

Red Hot Chili Peppers, “Give it Away” (click to play):





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