vivobarefoot trail freak shoes?

I haven't tried them yet but I certainly have been considering them as my next shoe. They don't seem to be as popular as their previous trail offerings? Seem to be improved, though.

I have not tried them either. Waiting for my stock of Breathos to wear out first. I did email VivoBarefoot with some questions and ever received a response. Wanted to know if they fixed a couple of problems with the older models. One is that the sole have a very short life. The second is that they absorb water like a sponge. So they are fairly lightweight until they are wet. Then they double in weight.

I just broke down and ordered a pair. After the last ones wore down so quickly I didn't want to drop the money on another one. But merrel and new balance have ruined their minimalist shoes so I don't have many options. And it was on sale.

Well, apparently they didn't fix the durability problem. I have a pair now as well but am still burning thru the 4 pairs of Breathos I stocked up first. How do the Freaks retain water after being submerged?

I haven't gotten them yet. I'm going to take them on a creek bushwacking trip later this month, so I will see how they do when wet (and hold up to chapparal).

Got them today. I got them wet and in size 43 (size 10) they weigh 10.5 ounce without the insole and 12.8 ounces with the insole. This was after squeezing any excess water out.
I forgot to weigh them dry, I will get back to you after they are dry.

the specs say about 9.5oz dry, although I am not sure if that is with or without the insole. So your dry weights will be of great interest. Maybe it is not so bad. I'll have to comparet your numbers to some measurements on the Breathos to see if it has improved.

Dry weight with insoles is 9.6 ounces left foot, 9.8 ounces right foot.
Dry weight without insole is 8.7 left and 9.0 right.

That confirms it. The insoles on Vivos suck. Not durable and soak up water like a sponge. On my Inov-8s the insoles are just the opposite. The upshot seems to be is that Vivo has good designs, but has poor or cheap (or both) material choices.

And now Inov-8 has ceased making the Trailroc 150, as well as any shoes with a naturally wider toe box. We are all supposed to have given up and switch to Hokas now apparently. Very sad.

Yeah, I've actually ripped well used vivobarefoot insoles in half when trying to wring water out of them.
They stopped making the 150s? Dang. I mean, I didn't use them much because I have super wide feet but they seemed like great shoes.

Merrel ruined the trail glove, new balance got rid of the original minimus shoes, now I'm back to vivobarefoot with their lugs that rip off quickly.

I hear ya!

What's wrong with the trail glove 2? It doesn't look much different than my old trail glove.

Don't know what the men's Trail Gloves are like, but the women's Trail Gloves had an awful fit for me–really uncomfortable, lots of blisters, and I am not a blister prone person. A shame, because they seem significantly more durable than Vivos. Maybe I should try a men's pair, but I was pretty turned off by the women's model (of course, this was ~3 yrs ago, maybe they've improved).

Similar story for me. I've only tried on the Trail Glove, but the fit did not work for me at all. My feet love the fit of the Vivos. I probably have a dozen pairs now (including casual and dress shoes). But I agree that the durability of the trail shoes sort of sucks. The dress shoes, however, have done really well.

It seems like after a burst of interest a few years ago (mostly thanks to Five Fingers, I'd say), the excitement over minimalist shoes has died down, especially in the outdoor realm. Such a bummer to see so little innovation of late. I was really hoping to see inov8 come out with more zero-drop and wide-toebox options, but that seems not to be the direction they're moving in.

Why is it that the most comfortable shoes are also the least durable? (I'm thinking of both Vivos and Altras). Serious opening in the market for some brave sole (er, soul…).

I need to try the new Altras. I have the original model and despite all the praise, I find it quite uncomfortable. Love the wide toe box, but otherwise just don't like the feel or fit. And they seem to be moving more towards more cushion like a fad follower.

I did just note that the Clymb has what is probably the last of the Inov-8 150s on sale.

I'm going to buy at least one more pair to squirrel away.

I was lucky and the Trail Glove fit my foot nicely, which is one of the reasons I always try shoes and most clothing on first, people have such different shapes and preferences.

The problem I find with shoe manufacturers is that they are very driven by what's the next fashion/fad. Not that I blame them, they have to make shoes now that will sell next season. But for me as a person with healthy feet and a healthy back minimalist shoes work well. They're the closest thing to moccasins with traction that I've found.

Ok, I haven't had a ton of use with the trail freaks, but here are some initial thoughts:
The speed laces loosen up constantly. I replaced them with regular laces.
The insoles are really slick. I slide around in them a lot. I replaced them with the inov8 insoles and much better.
Traction on wet rocks sucks.
Traction on loose dirt is awesome like the old trail shoes.
I already have chunks of lugs falling off… bummer.