Customer Reviews inov-8 F-Lite™ 195

Amazing shoes! I've had them for about a month now, and I can already tell a huge difference. I have really flat feet, and I'm a big guy, 330lb, so running has always been painful, but I've noticed a huge difference with these shoes!

I have been using this shoe for approx one month doing Crossfit. Very functional for all Crossfit movements. First experience with inov-8 shoes, and would definitely recommend to others. Also, Zappos customer service/delivery was great.

I have large flat feet. Most shoes make me cramp in the soles of my feet. These shoes fit like socks (I can barely feel them on my feet) no more foot cramps and better workouts. I highly recommend them.

I think what helped me decide on sizing was comparing to other brands/shoes. I wear these with athletic socks, not the standard tube sock or compression sock (thinner). I wear a size 9M in the Nike Free Run 5.0's, I wear a size 9M in Reebok Nano 2.0 and 3.0, I wear a size 8M in Chuck Taylor's and in the Inov-8 195 F-Lite I wear a size 8M/9.5W. These feel even roomier than my Nike Free Run 5.0's (pretty narrow feel/I could wear without socks.) I have a pretty wide foot and the toe box is definitely roomy! These are so light...it feels like you are only wearing a sock. I actually measured my foot for the most accurate result and looked at the brand name size charts. I love these shoes and they are great for CrossFit WODs, I can feel that 'Fascia Band' feature. My next purchase would be the one with RopeTec.

Best sneakers ever! Love them for everything!

These shoes are light and comfortable. They're my second pair and will be the only type of running shoe I buy for the foreseeable future. It takes a little time to get used to the minimalist cushioning, but once you do, they are great.

I can't say enough good things about these shoes. The only downside to them is the bright red flame color, but after a while I got used to it. They have great traction on packed trail and wet rocks. They are very lightweight and keep your legs from getting fatigued on long trail runs. I've done a 20 mile trail rusn in them and my feet felt excellent afterward. Another great shoe from Inov-8

I love these shoes. I use them for endurance training and crossfit workouts. The only problem is rope climbs eat the soles of these shoes alive. I have to use a different pair of shoes for rope climbs - the bottom arch is just too soft. I usually have trouble with my right tendon on the outer edge of my foot. That feels great when I run in these. I have not run distances over two miles in these shoes. Otherwise, they are great for all the other work out things I do and every once in awhile they double as sneakers to work when I am running around hospital floors. Enjoy!

One line summary: This is an amazing shoe, even for trail running but only if you have a neutral stance and good form. Short summary: Crazy stylish and comfortable shoe. Very light and low to the ground (something that I personally really enjoy). Only buy if you have a neutral stance (i.e. don't under/over-pronate). No arch support whatsoever, but that's the point of this kind of shoe. Full description of my experience: I began running about six months ago, the first three months in Vibram Five Fingers, during which time I got my body accustomed to a forefoot strike and shorter strides. I love the feeling of having very little weight on my feet while running, and for me there's a primal pleasure in running with as few modern amenities as possible (e.g. supportive shoes, headphones, etc) so I can focus simply on the act itself. It was this sentiment -- as well as the great reviews -- that led me to buy the F-Lite 195's. I ran in them for the last three months, and loved every minute of it until around three weeks ago when I developed quite of bit of pain in my right ankle and right hip. The pain would come on about 2 miles into my run, and a few times was bad enough that I had to stop my run short and limp back to the car. Not fun. I went to a sports medicine doctor who did x-rays of my hips and legs, and luckily he did not find any bone injuries (e.g. stress fractures). He gave me some over-the-counter orthotics (something I absolutely despise), referred me to a physical therapist, and sent me to have a video analysis done of my running technique. I ran in the 195's with the orthotics, and while the pain was slightly alleviated, it was nowhere near enough of an improvement. The physical therapist determined that I have a neutral stance on my left foot, pronation on my right (the leg where the pain was), and that my right leg is slightly shorter than my left. He concluded that the pronation results from my leg length discrepancy, that the discrepancy is contributing to my hip pain, and that the design of the shoes is causing the pronation to hurt my ankle. The video analysis of my gait confirmed this theory. While the pedorthist (footwear specialist) administering the analysis said that I have a very healthy forefoot strike technique both barefoot as well as in the Vibrams, the Inov-8's lack of rigid structure are causing them to collapse inward as I pronate, and that this motion is contributing to the pain I have been experiencing. I was really bummed out about this, because up until this all happened, I was head over heels in love with these shoes. Unfortunately, I will not be wearing them for running any more. I will be using either Vibrams full-time (while being very aware of my technique, to try to compensate for my pronation), or buying something with *gulp* more support. The pedorthist gave me a lift to put under the heel beneath the insole of my old Brooks running shoes to compensate for my leg length discrepancy, and the pain is completely gone. Unfortunately it looks like the Inov-8's were contributing to my injury. In summary, if you have a neutral stance and good technique, by all means get these shoes. You will absolutely not be disappointed. If you, however, over-pronate or under-pronate, or have any other bio-mechanical issue that may be exacerbated by wearing a shoe that leaves you to do all the work, then please think twice or you may injure yourself.

I love these shoes, but I will not purchase again. I use them strictly for my CrossFit workouts and nothing else. I purchased them 9 months ago and they have a hole in the side already. I was not expecting that form a pricey pair of shoes.

Simple. Great shoe! I wear them to do my workout routines and run on the treadmill. Very minimalistic feel for running. If you're not used to that feel, I don't recommend them. I will definitely buy another pair.

This is the first time I've bought a low-profile shoe for working out, and I'm really pleased with them. They are incredibly lightweight (I will take them with me when I travel instead of heavier running shoes) and comfortable. I had no problem transitioning into them after wearing Brooks running shoes for years.

This shoe looks great. very comfortable and very very light. it hugs your foot if you get the right size probably half a size shorter than your regular sneaker size. I recommend you get a good pair of socks to go with it.

I am a distance runner on my fourth pair of 195s in past year. These things have gotten me through four Ultramarathons (50k to 100 miles) including a 50k PR. They are great shoes that are comfortable. They are very fast on trails. I have yet to find a trail surface these failed on with the exception of snow/ice (just add microspikes and you are good to go!). I pronate a lot and strike in my mid- to forefoot. No problems. They are a bit narrow but quickly start to conform to the shape of my feet within 50-100 miles of using them. I have run a pair of these over 1,000 miles before needing to replace them. The ippers start to wear after about 500 miles (mostly road) and eventually holes form just outside my pinky toe though I continue to use them past this point as I saw little or no degradation in performance. I mean, they died eventually, but I got several hundred additional miles after holes first formed in the uppers. These are great shoes if you are a distance runner and looking for something that transitions well between trail and road. Probably not great shoes for you if you heel strike as the drop from heel to toe is pretty small with not a lot of additional cushioning at the heel to speak of. inov8 has done an amazing job building a great image for their product as one of the premier shoes for trail and ultrarunning. And it is because their product is as good as they claim.

I absolutely love my inov8 shoes! They really help in lifting weights by keeping the weight on my heels. Very comfortable, very light, very legit.

I would say these lie between New Balance Minimus and Merrell Barefoot in road feel. Ultra light, great foot hold, it really locks in place for such a light shoe. Would only recommend to an experienced natural/mid-foot strike runner as you could easily bruise your feet if you're not running efficiently in these.

I love these shoes, I used to wear Asics that used to eat my toe nails, after running eight or so miles on hard surface I would wake up the next day with blood clots in my nails and them loose them. They would grow again and the same thing would happen. Now I am happy. I have not lost a nail or seen any turn purple and fall off. These are the best shoes!

I switched over to minimalist shoes back in 2010 and will never go back. I regularly do CrossFit, so I wear these shoes for that, but I also love wearing them for style. I am usually a 10.5, but for some reason I wear a 10. I had actually read that these shoes run small so I tried an 11 and it was way too big. I ended up buying a 10.5 and it was even too big! The 10 fits me great, though.

I purchased this shoe for insanity asylum. First, I tried Asics (my go-to running shoe), Reebok RealFlex and Mizuno. None of these did the trick, I was looking for something I dont believe existed. I did some research and found these, they are truly wonderful. I have never worn any of the natural style shoes so at first it just seemed unimpressive. First day, unexplainable difference. Great for high-intensity workouts

As others have stated, the shoe runs a bit big. I am typically a 6/6.5 US and ordered the smallest size offered. There is quite a bit of room in the toes, enough to probably go down a full size, but it's a narrow shoe, so I'd probably only go down one 1/2 size if the option was offered. Even with the extra space, I love the shoes. I primarily do cross training workouts and I no longer have muscle aches in my arches and any minor knee pain is gone. I love them.

I decided to buy these shoes for my CrossFit class. I'd been using the Brooks Cadence, and had gotten used to the minimalist feel. These are even more minimalist-feeling, which actually works well for lifting and squats. The only time I felt discomfort was after doing a bunch of double unders (less cushioning means your ankles feel the whole impact). But otherwise these have been wonderful. Super light and flexible, and didn't slip when I had to do sprints in the rain. I found out I needed to go a half-size down (usually an 8; the 7.5 fits perfectly), but Zappos sent the correct size overnight and I had the right pair ready to go for the next WOD. These are narrow width, which is fine for me but may be uncomfortable for those who need more room. (At that point, maybe try the Reebok Nanos?) I love the styling and colors (I got the blue and green!), and have gotten tons of compliments on them.

I think the shoe fit good and the style was ok however, after two months of active use from a 15 year old these shoes fell aparte. There are holes all in the top of the shoes and it really makes me mad. These shoes are very expensive and should at least last 6 months to a year.

Bought these for Crossfit, so I don't do a lot of outright running in them. Thus far, they have performed very well in that capacity. Really no complaints at all. Lightweight, comfortable, and minimal.