Vivobarefoot FANBOY tries Xero Shoes for the first time 

Holy shit, was looking for a review of these on youtube then I saw your channel! Hope you and family are all doing well! Hopefully get to catch up soon. Josh & Alli x

Try wildsole for sandals, they’re UK based and only ship in UK. I got them now for three weeks and they’re really comfortable. Easy to adjust and good quality. They make custom sized sandals so also for your bigger feet they should have a great sandal. Owen Jackson made a RU-vid clip about them.

I wear mostly Vivos, but mix in a collection of various other brands. Nexus Knit is the only Xero I’ve kept and that one’s sizing is spot on (EU 44) for me. The shoe fits like a sock and is amazing! I hope they’ll add more similar shoes to their lineup. Considering to try their Neo Prio in white. I think an important discussion point for the shoe fit to raise here is the personal foot shape. Mine is more like a Greek foot shape (second toe longer than the big toe), which means that this kind of a round tip with mild tapering of Nexus does work for me. Looking at your feet it is obvious why Vivos are made for you as they make this extra stretched out part for the big toe. I truly enjoy my Vivos, looks and feel both, but sizing with each model is a quite a game of trial and error to get it right. For me their “tapering” is too sharp from the outer side and I’ll often end up with this huge empty space in front of my big toe, while the other toes are almost at the front edge. Thanks for the good video! I think it is great to see how and why various barefoot shoes work or don’t for different feet. The whole journey of getting to go barefoot, or in minimalist shoes, is about learning how your own feet and gait work and how to keep them healthy.

Hey there, I just got into the barefoot world and bought the Merrell Wrapt and Merrell Trail Glove 7. I really like the Trail Glove 7, the feel and the grip for the ground is excellent, although it's not as wide as I expected to be, but it's very stretchy so yeah, it kind of fits my foot really well and I can wear no socks in them. They have also a small cushioning technology there so they feel very plush at the same time. The Merrell Wrapt is wider though and I can wear thicker socks in them. They are definitely more durable thanks to the pig leather and can work as light hiking shoes or city movers without a problem. They have no cushioning but the quantum grip outsole is pretty massive so it works like a cushioning little bit. I suggest you try these. I'm not sure why but Merrell seems to be kind of forgotten among the barefoot community. Keep up the good work!

You aren't the only one that has commented on the toebox from people with bigger feet. I think Xero are trying to look more like regular shoes. It doesn't bother my foot size, since they do stretch out a bit, so I wear both. For me the Vivo primus is much too long in the front, even when I go down a size. The first Scrambler low has that slightly wider toebox that I really like and the Denver leather do stretch a lot with wear. From my experience Merrels are narrower than Xero and suit people with a smaller foot. Maybe try Wildling, if you are ok with their look, they are a bit wider than Xero and the pair I got fit true to size.

Yeah, I guess it's just a problem with having feet at the highest end of the usual production scale. I haven't had issues with my Xero shoes, but I've only been in barefoot shoes for about 10 months, so my feet could still get wider. I also only wear a size 10 so I have some movement. One of the wildest sizing issues I had was with Lems. The website said to go up half a size for the Chillum shoes, so I got a 10.5, and they felt like a size 9. So I had to send them back to the store and get an 11.5 for them to fit properly. Very strange. But just looking at the shoes I have, the most obvious looking ones are the Splay Freestyle. They come to a pretty hard point on the big toe. Also the Be Lenka Winter Boot 3.0 is very clown-like, so I would imagine other Be Lenka shoes are just as wide.

I tried Xero and thought the same. That big toe touching the side wall of the shoe feeling makes me so upset it’s almost unbelievable. Should be illegal

Dial for me, the Aqua cloud is my favorite roadrunning shoe for no 1015 miles and under probably over by wanted to, but I’m mostly a trail Runner but I do my road runs during the week and mostly all my easy pace runs and modern runs are in that shoe but I love that sand that little bit of cushioning just makes it a little bit nicehow to get spring

Shama and Luna sandals are great as well

You need to tighten the sandals really tight so that they kinda contort to your foot when you lift your feet. Those also look like a size bigger. Try the smaller size. When properly sized and tightented they don't flop around at all and that super thin sole is the closest you'll get to barefoot and feels amazing. The Genesis is even better for ground feel.

The outsoles may look thinker but Xero intentionally recesses the insole, giving the appearance from the outside (rim) that there’s more sole then there really is, if that makes sense. Love my Xeros, but then again I have narrower feet, so no issues with the toe box. Love the warranty they give to their outsoles btw. Their tread material is more durable and comfortable than any other barefoot I’ve tried while still ensuring a real ground feel.

An interesting thing I found with the Xero: I compared it to the ON running shoes I have: the Xero were approximately the same on the sole! In fact, I still explain what's different, because I feel more space in the Xero (fortunately): the Xero have a maximum of half a centimeter more toe box, but not even sure there's that much.. On the other hand, what differentiates the two: the Xero HFS that I have have a stretchy fabric above and which widens. As a result, my toes can easily move to the side. It's so flexible and thin that I don't feel stuck. (My feet are between normal and thin, I think. I don't have wide feet or big toes. In terms of fashion, I think I have "beautiful feet": thin, athletic. Without wanting to denigrate anyone either, but more to give a visualization.) (You also have to take into account the overall shape of the foot. My toes have a decreasing length but... especially from the second toe onwards. I don't have a really longer or even bigger big toe. This is why the Vivo seemed excessive to me (I explain this in my other message.))

Have you tried Flux Footwear adapt trainer? Have mine for 2 years heavy use and still good condition.

In xero always I have to go like 2,5 sizes bigger than vivo (except sandals from what I have seen online)

Freet shoes, a small UK company, that make fantastic fitting shoes. Crucially, the shoes do not begin to curve inwards, untill they are past the big toe. i.e. on the inside of the foot, its almost a straight line, from the heal until past the big toe. I have three pairs, and they were actually how I discovered barefoot shoes in the first place. I encountered their stall at a food trade fare, was just curious, and chatted with the company owned. In hind sight, a life changing moment. The older designs are, if I am honest, not that pretty, but the newer models look good. The main thing however is the fit. It's just really great. Also the prices are good, and its a UK company! I have run Ultras in their Feldom (I tried the Xero Messa Trail first, got toe blisters, too narrow!) and my every day show is the Pace, lasted 3 seasons so far, apart from summer, where I wear almost exclusively Bedrock Cairn Sandals. For fit and comfort, I really rate Freet.

With the canvas slip-on as you were talking about the toe shape and wishing they could just continue straight with it, I wished I could recommend Splay shoes because that's exactly what they do. Sadly their top size is EU 47. My dad's feet are US 14 and he spent most of his life only being able to find shoes a size too small. His feet are badly contracted and hammer-toed.

I have a couple pairs of Xeros, Wildlings, & several pairs of Vivos. I like the HFS (not HFS2) for road running and I use the suede Prio as a daily beater for work. As a Canadian I don't think they are worth the price. USD to CAD exchange is often brutal, especially after duties & shipping. I'd rather buy another pair of Vivos off of Revivo or splurge for a fresh pair from Vivo. That said, the soles on the Xeros last WAY WAY longer than my Vivos do which is why I continue to wear them. I've worn through the soles of a few pairs of my "daily" Vivos over the years, but I've yet to wear down the Xeros. Unfortunately road running in Primus Lites (3 or Knit) totally obliterates the soles under the toes and balls of my feet.

For my part, I bought my first barefoot shoes last month. Took Xero, returned (not the right size), tried Vivo, returned (I'll explain), ordered Xero (not the right size), ordered Xero (right size). In fact, unlike you, when I put on the Vivo, I immediately felt that they were horrible for me: I didn't understand anything: the shoe had a lot of room for the big toe, it was much too big for me and conversely, I had no room for my little toe. In fact, my little toe was AGAINST the edge of the shoe, tight. Then my fourth toe had 5mm of space, ok. Then my third was 10mm, ok. Then my second was 15 mm, it's still too big... And my big toe was 20 mm!!! And on the side, on the big one, I had a lot of space, and on the side of my little toe, I was tight, completely against it! For the Xero I was hesitant to return them: their problem is that they are not clear about the size of their shoes. I was made fun of on their site. I gave the HFS 2/5 for several reasons while at the same time I say that they are worth 9/10 :-p (sizing problem, no response from customer service, saying take half size more while it's not even 0.5 cm larger, but seems to be between 0 and 0.5 cm smaller, not 0.5...) For the Vivo, I had never been so uncomfortable in a pair of shoes in my life. :-p Feeling too weird. (hope my english not too bad, not my first language)

Xero are my favorite!

i recommend xero hfs (not hfs 2) and mesa trail (1 or 2) for road and trail running

I am lucky and unlucky at the same time. I have wide, high-volume feet. 9.5 4E with high instep and arches. The lucky thing about that is that my forefoot is so wide that if I find a shoe that fits it WILL have a wide enough toe box because my toes splay isn't as wide as the ball of my foot. The problem, barefoot shoes don't often come in double extra wide sizes. Yes, they have a wide toe box but that is only true for people with a D/E width foot here in the US (an F width for you guys, I think). Widening the toe box does nothing for the midfoot or forefoot. I need more volume in my shoes most of the time. Heel, midfoot, instep and forefoot need to match the toe box. To give an example: As a 9.5 4E on a Brannock I actually typically wear a 9.5 4E but a 10 3E, 10.5 EE, 11E or 11.5D. See how that works. I end up with an inch of extra space at the end to get width and that is if I am lucky. This works with barefoot shoes but not conventional shoes due to arch support or drop placement (ouch). All of that to say, Xero are narrow, lol. Like, on par with a conventional trainer in a 3/4E width. (Again, with a regular trainer the toe box may be narrower to start but is proportional to the last and with a wide foot that automatically gives me more room.) It stinks having feet that are on the fringe of normal society, lol. I really wish they companies would offer a wide. Already being barefoot they are wider to start with so I think offering a EE would be enough for many of us hobbit foot folk. Anyway, I just found your channel and will take some time to check out your videos. Thank you for sharing.

Splays have the angular shape at the big toe that you describe, maybe give them a try

Try merrell vapor glove/ trail glove...

had the same problem

Thank you for the review. The toe does look narrow, and being the same size as you, I guess I’ll stick with Vivo.

He got 3 pairs of Xero’s cuz it’s the same price as 1 pair of Vivo’s 😂😅 the main issue I have with Xero and Vivo is that they are too narrow. I’m a US 14EEE typically and I measure 12” length and 5.9” wide so it’s hard to find literally anything that fits right.

Xero shoes soles are way too thick for me to walk naturally. Sandals are ok but in general I prefer Vivo. The Xero floppy sandal has to be way more tight then they are really nice.

Xero say to go half a size up from your normal shoe size. I'm not sure why they don't just downsize their shoes, but if you bought the wrong size the review is meaningless.

Tadeevo barefoot shoes do an extra big sizes 14 plus my fiend, check them out, I have 3 pair of there shoes

Lems all the way!

Ultra thin soles