Biom Shoe Report
On Tuesday I went to the track for the interval workout. I don’t know if it was heat stroke or dehydration but I must have blacked-out and when I awoke I was … gasp! … WEARING SHOES!
I was joking about the blacking out, but I did put a pair of shoes on my feet. They weren’t just any shoes I put on. They were the new BIOM B 1.2 Male Mesh Natural Motion Shoes by ECCO. They did feel lighter than most shoes I have worn. After a few laps around the track, I could really notice what felt like a wedge of spongy material under my heels. The effect seemed to cause my heels to strike the ground first instead of my usual mid-foot strike. I tried to adjust my landing to move more forward and ended up getting sore shins. The sole was still too rigid for me. My feet weren’t able to flex and adjust to the ground as much as I am used to. Also my feet got hot causing me to feel hotter than usual. It amazes me how much heat my feet dissipate when I’m barefoot. So you might have guessed, I will not be buying these shoes for myself. This is not to say that I wouldn’t recommend them however.
The Bioms would make a good transition shoe from shod running to barefoot running. A person who is already running with typical running shoes and wanting to become a barefoot runner, would be wise to accomplish the change-over in two phases. The first would be to use the Biom shoes at ever increasing distances or time if they are running in circles (at the track). When they are not running, they should try walking barefoot as much as possible. The next phase would be once they are comfortable enough to use the Biom shoes for most of their running, to run barefoot at ever increasing distances and different surfaces (concrete, grass, packed soil, sand etc.).
The bottom line on the Biom shoes is these would make a good transition shoe, but for me, actually being barefoot is better than anything that tries to simulate it. Don’t mess with perfection!
Biom Review from Barefootrunner.com
Even Popular Mechanics
June 15th, 2009 at 8:29 am
Hi Lou,
First, thanks for your opened mind, the testing of BIOM and your feedback as a barefoot runnner. We built BIOM on a natural motion or minimialist platform, so we wouldn’t argue with you that barefoot is better. ECCO is a small European company battling against the industry GIANTS. You know who they are. The prevailing paradigm in the running industry is maximum cushioning, stabilty and motion control. BIOM is experiencing success battling the giants, the current paradigm and the challenging economy. We are agree these shoes are good transition shoes for runners thinking about going truly natural and a great alternative to all those who run in footwear.
Keep on running and when you need to wear footwear, please wear BIOM. They are available in 40-50 (and growing) premiere running specialty stores across the US. We will be launching BIOM C and BIOM Walking in Spring of 2010.
Best Regards,
David Helter
General Manager
ECCO Performance
July 22nd, 2009 at 8:18 pm
tks for the effort you put in here I appreciate it!
October 7th, 2009 at 3:02 pm
Hi Bare My Sole Readers,
I would like to hear about any BIOM experiences you have had with BIOM retailers, wearing BIOM, seeing them at a race expo, etc.
For any readers in the Chicago area, we will be BIOMizing people at the Chicago Marathon Expo this week. Look forward to seeing you there.
Happy Running,
David