Friday, June 13, 2014

SHOE WEIGHT COMPARISONS


Before we begin comparisons, a few disclaimers. This is by no means a scientific comparison. It's MY comparison of MY shoes in MY size weighed on MY scale (ok my wife's kitchen scale and she made me seal them in lightweight plastic bags before she consented to its' use.) I have run many miles in most of these, with the exception of the tire tread huaraches, which I just got a couple of weeks ago, and have run about 10--15 miles total in them. The NB MT10V2s are relatively new also. The tire tread huaraches are really what triggered this comparison, as they are pretty hefty. I plan to do a specific review of them, and their interesting (hopefully authentic, but not sure) origins. That's for another day. I used to run in those NB 992s in the photo. I ran my first half-marathon in them, in fact, so they're kind of a keepsake now, although I vow never to run in such things again. I even had heavy arch support insoles in them! They are the heaviest of the lot, coming in at a whopping 18.6 oz. sans insoles. That's a lot of weight to carry on each foot for 13.1 miles, if you think about it. Next came the tire tread huaraches, at 18.5 oz. These are authentic tire tread, with a leather foot bed and leather ribbon-ties. They came to me needing some customization, which I have nearly completed. They were kind of a funny, squarish shape and a bit big, so I cut, shaved, and ground off probably an ounce or so to get them to the size and shape that I wanted. After the first couple of runs I don't really notice the weight much. You can forget ground feel, though with a 15mm tire tread between you and Mother Earth. I will keep running in them, but they're also looking great for hiking at this point. I recently won (On Jeff Gallup's Barefoot Inclined site,) a pair of NB MT10V2 trail shoes. They are 13 EE, and have lots of toe box room. For a shoe, they are incredibly light, weighing in at 7.4 oz. My first commercially obtained minimal shoes are my old Xeros. These have plenty of miles on them, so I don't know if they are lighter than when I first got them. I have replaced the original lacing with paracord, as well. They come in at 6.3 oz. Last are my favorites, the Alphas from EarthRunners. These things fit my feet like gloves, hold secure during any conditions, and weigh in at 4.8 oz. They feel like nothing on your feet. I like to run in them after a day or two in the tire tread beasts. At that point, the Alphas make my feet feel like Mercury the wing-footed messenger.