Reviews by User: Rick D (1)

Allow me to preface that I am a plodder (wrestling background), not a runner. I run to stay in shape and, despite my better judgement, I run the rocky hill trails of north Phoenix. I have moderately wide, and quite flat feet with a healthy amount of pronation to the outside heel and require a spacious toe box. I run with orthotics. I am a sprinter by nature and I tend to run on the balls of my feet. My runs last about 75 minutes with two laps around the Thunderbird Park amphitheater side. My feet have been bruised from taking pointy rocks head-on (with Asics shoes which had lost their cush over time, mostly (Asics Cumulus before the Vasque). I decided to search for a shoe with a bit of protection up front for the balls of my feet. I decided on V-Velocity – this site had the lowest price on that shoe. The Vasque was just over 14oz on my kitchen scale compared to just over 13oz for the Asics. The Asics has a better than average amount of sole under the ball and toe and the V-Velocity has a bit more. The insert in the V-V makes the sole hard to the touch while the Asics gives more (thus, less protection from rocks). As well, the V-V is stiffer in the roll from heel to toe as well as in torsion. Running on asphalt with the V-V gave me a pronounced feeling of the shoe assisting me from moving from the well-padded heel to the ball and toe. I liked it, but pavement is not my bag. Moving to the trail, I had hoped that the aggressive tread on the V-V would help me move efficiently up the gravel and sand. It did marginally. The real improvement was in the downhill portions. I'm not one to baja downhill like some do, but the tread on the heel of the V-V really grabbed onto the terrain. The sensation of heels slipping while going downhill has been markedly reduced. Bonus. Now for the performance over the nasty stuff. The sole does, indeed, offer increased protection over my Asics. I can still get poked by some of the more sharp rocky protrusions, but I am now concentrating on running, rather than on each little foot step. Running downhill has always been a problem due to toe-banging against the front of my shoes. This has been reduced, albeit, not eliminated in this pair of V-V. I could get a half-size larger but wonder if that would alter the fit beyond just that dimension. Would I buy these again? Yes...in fact, I'm considering buying another pair right now, something I have never done before. They work for me. Rick