Whaddaya doin to me Woot? I owned 35 pair of VFF’s and swore I wouldn’t buy anymore. But I really love the CVT-LS’s and of the only 3 colors I knew about, the grey/white, the olive/orange and the beige/white, I hadn’t bought the beige because I didn’t like the color enough to spend the money, but then in July you had them avail. at $29.99 and I couldn’t hold out. So now I see they have a black/grey pair and, again, at $29.99! What’s a guy to do? I have quite a few black VFF’s and they are my favorite color. The greys are nice too but I love black, especially with a grey sole. The white sole of the greys show dirt easily. So now I’ll have 37 pair. Note: for those of you who want to call me crazy, go right ahead, that’s alright.
Anyway, for those who haven’t worn the CVT-LS, they are extremely comfortable. Some of the VFFs have “pods” as part of their sole for grip but you can feel them, these are even and they are thicker than most of the styles so they give some ‘cush’ and you feel less underfoot. The uppers are a thin material that is very pliable and very comfortable. And they look good as casual shoes with jeans, etc. They are also ‘convertibles’ which means you can fold the back of the shoe forward and stand on them or use them upright as a normal shoe which is my choice. IMO, they are one of the most comfortable, if not the most, VFFs there are.
Hey Woot! Here’s another prime example of why these comments should be for the entire category. If people looking at the Speed XCs read how comfortable the CVT-LS’s are they may consider them, but if they don’t specifically look at them, and the associated comments, they may miss out on a great deal and you would miss out on sales. I’ll bet there are people who may look at the CVT-LS’s and maybe even buy them, who otherwise wouldn’t, if they saw someone (whose worn almost every style of VFF) say they’re maybe the most comfortable VFF made. So again, this new method of placing comments by item instead of category SUCKS! The old way was much better!
So what do you make of the sizing on the CVT LS? I’ve had hit or miss luck with getting VFF online as far as size. I’m usually a 43, but with the LS I wonder if they’ll be a little tight. Are these roomy, or do you recommend sizing up?
If they’re anything like the women’s, they’re roomy. Hubby is usually a 40 men’s VFF and he accidentally bought the women’s version in 40. I was going to claim them but he liked the fit better than the 40 mens (and just to check, he tried a couple of my W40’s… those were all too tight)
I wish woot would carry something greater than a 46 with consistency. I’m a 48 or 49 and therefore am never able to take part in these deals. Why don’t you want my money woot?
Sorry! We buy whatever is available! We know a bunch of users have largish feet and buy up all the larger sizes and widths when they’re available for us to buy…
First, let me start out by saying the only “dimension of importance” with VFFs is “length.” Not that people don’t have legitimate issues with how VFFs fit other than length, but my experience and my talks with the good people at Vibram, show the only dimension that can be “relied” on and used to “determine fit” is length. The various styles are made using molds of varying types, but they are all based on length. And, even though the shoes can and will stretch (if necessary) with use, they won’t stretch or change in the critical dimension of length, which is why their sizing chart only shows length. Having said that though, the way the rest of the foot (other than length) fits and feels has to do with whether you’re wearing an
LS (Lacing System) style vs. a “hook-n-loop” style. In the hook-n-loop you have to fit your foot “through” an opening that is not overly adjustable, where in the LS styles you can open the lacing and provide a larger opening to get your foot into the shoe. The CVT-LS being the latter means you have more latitude to get your foot in and adjust the tightness to your liking. The LS system is best suited to shoes being used for casual use, though many do use the LS styles for exercising by tightening the laces enough across the top of the instep. The hook-n-loop system though is “much better” if the shoe will be used under high stress situations like running and working out because not only can you “cinch” the shoe across the the top of the instep but you have a strap that you can “cinch” behind the heel to better hold the entire foot in place under stress.
I’ve bought all my VFFs online from the beginning. I started out by accurately measuring my bare feet and using the measurement of the longest foot to buy my shoes. The chart said I was “dead-on” a 41 and they were right, except “dead-on” meant the end of my big toe on my longest foot was the “exact” length of a 41’s interior “pocket” dimension. The interior pocket is the “open” space inside the shoe from the back of the heel to the end of the big toe. This is the pocket you need to best match your foot’s geometry to. One other tidbit about this pocket, according to Vibram, their is a slight depression in the bottom of the pocket in the heel designed to “locate” the heel for proper fit and to help keep the heel in that positon. Well anyway, in a 41 the end of my big toe was jammed hard up against the end of the shoe’s pocket. And again, since they won’t stretch in length, I moved up to a 42 and every pair I own, regardless of the style, fits me “exactly the same” and they are all comfortable.
Now a note to the true Vibram afficianado based on other long time users I’ve talked with. The ultimate experience is when the shoe becomes part of you. Nothing kinky here, it’s just the main purpose of the shoes was to let the user feel like they’re going barefoot but without the worry of what’s underfoot. Since I moved up to a 42 I have enough room to wear Injinji socks but I don’t. I much prefer being bare footed because when I adjust the shoe properly they feel like they’re part of me, like I don’t even know I have them on because my foot doesn’t move around an iota to remind me I have something on my feet which, to me, is the ideal situation. With socks, I can feel my foot move around inside the shoe because of the thickness and the give of the material, albeit small amounts, but the shoe doesn’t feel like it’s part of me because then I feel it. This is a small “sounding” difference that makes all the difference in the world “to me”. If I don’t feel the shoe at all I feel I’m actually barefoot all day but without worrying about what’s underfoot. Sorry for the wordiness but this is what you get when you ask a real VFF fan to talk about them. Hope something of what I said helps.
NOTE: All of the barefoot talk becomes tainted if the shoes stink so bad you can’t stand to have them around. I can only talk for myself here but apparently many other users agree based on the reviews of the product I’m about to mention. When I first started wearing VFFs I already knew about user issues with odor, go look at Vibram’s website and see the articles on avoiding the odor issue if you don’t believe me. So before I bought my first pair I went looking and found numerous alleged remedies for the odor issue and tried many, but the only thing that worked for me is ROCKET PURE. I have so many pair that I can rotate at will but even when I wear a pair barefoot 7 days straight in the heat of Florida I don’t have the slightest issue with odor. I spray my feet before putting my shoes on and that’s it. I’ve actually taken one of my shoes off a number of times for a brave non-believer to smell to prove my point. They were each amazed because all they get is a slight mint smell/aroma that is not at all unpleasant. Again, I swear by this product (and no I’m not associated with the makers) because it makes my enjoyment of FiveFingers possible. Lastly, I should mention that before finding Rocket Pure, I had sneakers I couldn’t keep in the room because they smelled so bad. So my feet probably smell as bad as anyones without help.
Oh and again Woot, this info might be useful to everyone looking at anything in this category, but because of this idiotic new policy of yours, only the people looking at the CVT-LS will see it. And you think that’s a good thing?