VIVOBAREFOOT Ultra and Ultra Pure Review
Although I've reviewed
a lot of VIVOBAREFOOT shoes in the past, one notable model flew under my radar
- perhaps because I never knew what to make of it.
 |
| VIVOBAREFOOT Ultra |
The company's Ultra is
the shoe equivalent of a Rorschach test: whatever you want to see in it, that's
what it can be. It was originally
released in 2011 as a beach or travel shoe, but it's equally suitable as a
casual shoe or a super-lightweight running shoe. Its modular construction allows you to
use the same pair for a variety of uses - and with a kids version released this
year, it can also be a very cool schoolyard shoe: bright and fashionable for wearing
in class, but athletic enough to sprint around the playground at recess.
In hindsight, I'm sort
of embarrassed that it took me so long to get around to reviewing them - so to
make up for it, this is a double review: I've been testing the modular men's
Ultra as a running shoe, and my daughter has been wearing the non-modular (I'll
explain shortly) Ultra Pure as an everyday kids shoe. There's also an Ultra Kids model which is
basically a scaled-down Ultra Pure with a Velcro strap. All
of the shoes are 100% vegan, and are constructed with the same injection
molding technique which creates the entire outer shell from EVA.
 |
| VIVOBAREFOOT Ultra Pure |
Or, as my daughter put it, "They're like fancy Crocs!" - which is the primary comparison people make when they see or feel the Ultra for the first time. However, in my opinion they're WAY better than crocs ...
... because they have all the features we love about VIVOBAREFOOT: completely flat,
completely flexible, and completely suitable for pretty much any activity you
can think of.
They're also very
impressively light: the standard Ultra weighs in at 5.5 oz, and the Ultra Pure
weighs a mere 3.7 oz. The difference
between the two models is the presence of a sock liner that snaps into place at
the heel and at the base of the lace area: the Ultra comes with the liner,
the Ultra Pure doesn't.
If you remove the sock
liner, there's a small pad that can snap into place underneath the laces on top
of the midfoot. All of this snapping
back and forth can be done in a matter of seconds.
One minor drawback I found
with the lacing system is that the clasp that holds the laces in place can be
very stiff when switching to the "unlock" position. Fortunately, you don't really need to adjust
the tension through the laces very much, and the shoe essentially functions
like a slip-on once you get the proper setting established the first time.
Since the primary
difference between the Ultra and the Ultra Pure is the presence of a sock liner,
if you happen to be mathematically gifted, you can deduce that the liner itself
weighs 1.8 oz. If you remove the liner
from the Ultra, it weighs the same as the Ultra Pure. Some users wear just the liner without the
shell as a protective second-skin sock, similar to a Sockwa or Moc3; the
advantage of VIVOBAREFOOT's sock over those others is that it has full puncture
protection underfoot.
This brings up another
distinction between the Ultra and the Ultra Pure: on the Ultra, the
puncture-resistant layer
resides on the bottom of the sock liner - so if you take the lining out and
wear just the shell, you don't have the same resistance that other VIVOBAREFOOT
shoes provide. However, on the Ultra
Pure, the inner lining on the footbed is fully puncture-resistant.
The
interior of the sock liner is very soft and comfortable against bare skin. I run in mine sockless for all road mileage,
but use a thin layer of socks for long trail outings.
With
the liner removed, the insole surface is lightly pebbled, which feels a bit odd
at first but quickly gets accommodated by a bare foot. This is the same insole pattern featured on
the Ultra Pure, which doesn't have the sock liner.
I
tend to keep the lining in my Ultra for road running for a couple of reasons:
1) I'm usually running in the early morning when my toes get cold, so I like
the insulation of the sock to keep my bare toes warmer, and 2) when your feet
start sweating, if you're not wearing the liner there can be a bit of movement
inside the upper as the EVA insole surface gets a little bit slick.
Back to the shell construction: all
Ultra shoes employ a modern EVA
injection molding technique which combines a softer density (and more flexible)
EVA in the uppers and a higher density (and more protective) EVA on the
outsole. The high-abrasion EVA upper is
highly durable but very soft, allowing the foot to flex and move naturally. The outsole portion is 7mm thick, but
according to the company specs can compress down to as much as 3mm with
long-term use.
The outsole EVA is also firmer than the
upper to enhance ground feedback.
Obviously, the primary drawback of an EVA outsole is the rate of
deterioration; my pair came with a disclaimer slip stating that with proper
running technique, they should last for up to 300 road miles. However, since I'm primarily running on
trails, I anticipate that they'll last significantly longer.
Traction isn't outstanding - in fact, it's
probably the worst of any VIVOBAREFOOT running shoe. On steep hills or gravel fire roads it's
definitely a limitation compared to something aggressive like the Breatho Trail
outsole. And interestingly, considering its original
marketing as a aqua shoe, I've found that traction on wet, rocky stream
crossings is pretty shaky. However, the
grip is perfectly adequate for road running in all but the slickest conditions,
as well as for groomed trails that aren't obnoxiously technical.
It also makes a great hybrid shoe for
high-mileage runs that shift from roads to trails, which is why they were on my
feet during my 20-mile Pebble Beach adventure a few weeks ago. You may recall that run had significant stretches
of running in deep sand, and since the Ultra's outer shell is completely
porous, I was curious to see how the sock liner protected my feet from sand
intrusion over the long haul.
I was pleasantly surprised, as this picture (click to enlarge for a better view) taken
after a long sandy stretch illustrates. Very
little sand made it through to my socks (Drymax hyper thin, if you're
interested), and most of the debris was either trapped by the sock liner or
fell to the bottom of the shell for easy removal.
Overall, the Ultra and
Ultra Pure turned out to be highly functional for both my daughter's and my needs. She loves the open look and summertime feel
of the Pure without a sock liner, and I'm impressed with the Ultra's performance as
a hybrid running shoe. (Of course, for
me or any other ultrarunners out there, the name of this shoe conjures
something that's better equipped for rugged trails than for tame roads, but that's just
semantics.) They're also very suitable for a
lot of cross-training activities, or simply as a funky-looking warm weather casual
shoe.
All of VIVOBAREFOOT's Ultra shoes
are quite affordably priced, and available from the company website at the links below:
*Products provided by
VIVOBAREFOOT
**See other product
reviews on sidebar at right. If you have
a product you'd like reviewed, contact me at info@runningandrambling.com.
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