Merrell Men's Barefoot Radius Glove

For the last few months I have been converting from a traditional heal-strike runner to a minimalist/barefoot running forefoot-strike technique. I came to the conclusion that I no longer needed any footwear which extended the heal and interfered with my natural stride. Needless to say, I could not wear minimalist running shoes everywhere - especially to work.So I purchased these Merrell Radius Glove zero-drop shoes for when I am not running. They are fantastic and very comfortable. The sole is made by Vibram and very rugged. The upper is made of a full-grain leather and the area between the sole and the top of the shoe is cow suede. I purchased the black color, which also has a grayish two-tone accent color.PROS: The shoes are very comfortable and can be worn with dress/casual styles of clothing. The zero-drop allows you to keep a neutral stride all day. That is primary reason I bought these shoes - to go zero-drop at work. I am college instructor and these fit with my business casual dress style. These shoes also have really nice ground-feel - not as good as Vibram Five Fingers or New Balance Minimus Trail - but for a dress/casual shoe it's great! I could feel almost everything under my feet while still be protected.CONS: The sizing was a little off. I wear a size 10.5 in the Merrell Trail Glove running shoe and I am almost always a size 10.5 in minimalist running shoes. However, the 10.5 felt a little loose with the Radius Glove. Nevertheless, although they do feel slightly big, they do not slip in any way. One thing I am very worried about is the salt in the Winter. I live in a snowy winter climate and I know that the suede will be destroyed if I wear these in the Winter - so they are probably relegated to Spring, Summer, and Fall for me. Finally, the picture does not actually represent the style - they are far more two-toned than the picture leads on, as the lower part of the shoe is really a gun-metal gray.I definitely recommend these shoes for people who want to maintain zero-drop all day but need a more dress/casual shoe. And of course Merrell makes a great product with great craftsmanship.

This summer my wife and I went on a trip through Europe. We expected to be walking a lot and I was looking for a "Airport Friendly" shoe. We found a similar pair of Merrell shoes at a discount shop. I had never wore Merrell shoes before and have years of aching feet to contend with. I bought the shoes because they were very light and thought that they would be perfect for travel days. To my total surprise these are the very best shoes that I have ever worn. We walked for mile after mile and my feet NEVER bothered me. The best that I felt in years. Since then I have been building my own Merrell shoe collection ranging from a running shoe to a dress shoe. These are something in between. Out of need, I have been wearing heavy supportive shoes over the past many years because that has been the only shoe to provide me with the arch support that I require. Merrell's minimal shoes had me doubting until I tried them for myself.If you have feet that usually hurt. If you just hate to break in a new pair of shoes, give these a try.. I cannot recommend them enough.

First off, let me say that we're basically a Merrell family: I have a pair of waterproof Chameleons and minimalist running shoes plus the wife has her own running shoes and a pair of their boots. They're great shoes overall with customer service to match. That said, the Barefoot Radius Glove works out to be a pretty nice shoe that I think I'll eventually like, hence the four stars. I think my issue with them is that I'm still getting used to the barefoot feel so I can't really wear them for long stretches of time. They also run a half size smaller than what I normally get for Merrells so if you're planning on buying a pair without trying them on first, you might want to go a half-size down. I happened to find them at a Merrell outlet store so I was able to compare the different sizes before going online to get them for a better price.Another thing I found out is that the zero drop heel doesn't provide that extra bit of height that keeps the cuffs of my pants off the ground or catching on the heel due to my odd inseam size (29 length). Fortunately, I have some pants that are 29 length or hemmed to it but I have to keep that in mind if I happen to be wearing my 30 length pants.

I haven't yet worn these a lot, but so far they fit a bit more snugly than my Merrell Jungle Mocs in the same size. I believe if you are going to wear these with socks you should maybe go a half size larger than you do with other Merrell shoes. They will get worn more in the coming months. Hopefully some breaking in will be all they need. The support is typical great Merrell - my biggest complaint is they seem a bit snug across the arch and the tongue seems to cut into the top of my feet a bit. I have worn them for up to 5 hours and they aren't really noticeable, but when I kick them off I notice how snug they were. Overall construction of the shoe is great - high quality as always with Merrell.

This is my second pair of Merrell Radius Glove shoes. Very comfortable and light weight. Surprising support. I wear these all the time. I normally wear an 8.5 -9 US: I tend to be in the middle and depending upon the shoe, I get one or the other. I'm glad I tried my first pair on in a store, and went with the 9. They run just a tad small. I used these shoes on a recent global trip to the UK for 3 weeks, and to Kenya/Tanzania for 2 weeks, and I wore these shoes every day! I admit that on rougher gravel surfaces, you can feel the sharper, larger rocks, so watch your step, but overall, walking historical sights and everywhere else on hard or soft ground, these shoes were fantastic. And they are so light weight / small, they take very little room to pack.....except that I never packed them because I was always wearing them! Easy slip on and off at the airport security too. I will be buying a 3rd pair: don't need them yet, but I want to have them in future years.