New Balance WT110

I am excited to get this one out on the road and trails. I ordered the WT20 as well, and I prefer this one. The toe box is perfect, and the shoe is true to size. The WT20 has a super wide toe box and felt like I would walk out of it. In addition, this shoe gives me a more substantial feel while still being ultra light as a minimalist shoe.

I ordered these in 8W. When they arrived I was surprised by the cheap look of the shoes. The silver is a plastic material that looks very cheap, not the normal New Balance quality of shoes. The shoes are definitely wide at the front but the mid-section is uncomfortably narrow, as in squeezing my feet narrow, which my feet are borderline size 8/8W, so goodness help a person who has very wide feet. The tread of the shoe has perforations, so walking in even soft soil gets dirt and mud into the holes and that soaks into the bottom lining of the shoe (which is very minimal as it is) so that you have dirty socks. I love the New Balance brand but I was disappointed with what appeared to be cute shoes.

I purchased these shoes because I was looking for a light-weight trail running shoe that had a bit more protection/cushioning than the NB Minimus Trail shoes; I was not disappointed! I have run approximately 12 miles of trail so far in them (6 and a half of them during a night time trail run), and I am very happy with them. They allow you to "feel" the trail without being too minimal. During the nighttime trail run, I was able to really test them out, because it was moderately technical and my visibility was restricted; the toe guard was greatly appreciated, as well as the gripping provided by the lugs. While I have not been able to test this feature out yet, I also purchased these because they supposedly allow water to pass easily out of the shoe (which means water can also get in easily so beware on rainy days!), which will make them great for trails that have stream crossings. I have also used these shoes for Crossfit classes, for which they work very well. The only reason I did not give them 5 stars is that, already, there is noticeable wear on the mid-foot lugs (which is probably due to my mid-foot strike). However, I wouldn't expect an expensive shoe to wear down like that after so little mileage, and most of my shoes have had to have hundreds of miles on them before they showed noticeable wear on the bottoms. I guess only time will tell if this wearing will affect the grip of the shoe, and thus its lifespan.

This shoe was just a little too funky for me...the shape of the toe box is too exaggerated, making my second toe feel jammed up into the end of the shoe. The colors were just a little too bright for my taste as well.