During what we intended to be a quick (and less expensive) visit to our local REI, I decided to try on a pair of Vibram FiveFingers Spyridons (in case you didn’t know they are finally available!) on a whim and, to my surprise, they were insanely comfortable. I wasn’t initially prepared to spend the $120 required for them, but after much debate, I decided to take the plunge. The decision was a great one, and although I’m not ready to give a thorough review, yet, I wanted to talk today about one particular feature of the Spyridons: the sole. The Spyridon rocks the first ever XSTrek Vibram Rubber Sole which has an “aggressive tread design [that] delivers sure-footed grip in all directions [and a] molded nylon mesh in midsole [which] adds a “rock block” effect, dispersing impact over a wider area”.
The Vibram FiveFingers Lontra which is slated for a August 1st 2012 release.
After going for my first 5k in the Spyridons, I arrived home and immediately needed to do some research on the up and coming Lontra (thanks go out to Dan over at MyFiveFingers.com for his coverage of the 2012 Outdoor Retailer trade show), which is slated to release on August 1, 2012 and will be the first FiveFinger to tout water-resistance (more details are provided in the video below). The feature in question for me with the Lontra was undoubtedly the sole. The idea of having essentially tire tread on the bottom of your shoe for increased traction with the Spyridon during trail running is a stroke of genius on Vibram’s part. That being said, I was surprised to see that Vibram decided to go with the Trek sole (i.e. 4mm EVA Midsole & TC-1rubber) rather than utilizing the Spyridon’s sole on the Lontra. Don’t get me wrong, the Trek sole is a great one and is fantastic for its own reasons, but the idea of using tire tread in order to help yourself in and out of the snow just seems essential for a Vibram snow shoe. I hope to see later iterations of the Lontra include the option of a XSTrek Vibram Rubber Sole or see Vibram release a water-resistant version of the Spyridon.
What do you think of the Lontra? Are you as excited as we are to see the Fall 2012 line-up?
(UPDATE: Our review on the Spyridon is now live!)
Steve is an Executive Recruiter at Robert Half Executive Search in Madison, WI with a business degree in Information Systems and E-Commerce from the University of Toledo. Steve loves spending his time away from work; running, gaming, watching movies, checking out new social networking tools/sites/start-ups and blogging.