Wednesday, July 16, 2014

Trail Ninja! B2R Trail Performance Review & Giveaway



So excited to finally write this review! Ever since I trained for and ran my first marathon in the B2R Road Performance (click for review), I've been waiting for the release of the Trail version!  I finally got my hands on a pair in mid March, and immediately put them to work as my primary shoe while training for my first  50K trail ultra in May. Stick around for the review, as I am also stoked to be able to give away two pairs of these great shoes to two winners (open worldwide)!



As you know, I really loved the B2R Road Performance shoe, and in particular the tabi toe style. I love being able to flex my toe, and also I like the extra support on downhills to keep from sliding too forward in the shoe.   But, before I get into more performance info, let me give you the specs.

Weight: 8.5 oz or so
Drop: 0mm
Stack Height: 17mm
Tread: Moderately aggressive

So, compared to the B2R Road, these are a little heavier, about 4mm more stack height, and of course a more trail friendly tread.  At 17mm, these are certainly thicker than most of the shoes I've reviewed, but I found them to be a great balance of protection and ground feel on the trail, especially for long distances.  Also, I loved that they came with extra laces, extra insoles, and two pairs of tabi toe running socks!


As you can see, there was still snow falling when I got these, and they handled the snow quite well.  In my first long run (16 mi), I discovered that they were a bit too snug, and I bruised my foot right in the notch created by the tabi style. I realized that having on heavy cold weather socks, combined with the insoles was just too much. I removed the insoles during the run, but I had to lay off the shoes for a week until the tenderness faded.  After that lesson was learned, I pretty much ran in these without the insole, and with thinner socks which worked out perfectly.

Overall, I found these to be a really well constructed trail shoe that was comfortable and easy to run in (what else would you expect from Eric Orton?). I have just over 200 miles in these, and I have yet to see any significant wear or tear. The B2R Road version showed signs of wear and stress at about this mileage level, so I was glad to see these were holding up so well.


Just realized that I didn't take any photos of the sole of the shoe, but I do have this imprint!  Fairly rugged tread pattern, however these shoes still ran smoothly over the road, and the lugs held up well to the asphalt miles I did put on them.


All that is great and all, but the ULTIMATE test of these shoes was their performance in May during my first 50K Ultra.  As you can tell, I was still upright and smiling coming in to the finish.  Not that my feet weren't beat up, but I know most of that was just from a conditioning perspective.  That run was the longest I've ever ran from a time (and distance ) perspective, with just over 7.5 hours on my feet.  These shoes handled the long miles and loose terrain amazingly well.



After cleaning them up, they still looked new :-)   Anyway, to summarize, the B2R Trail exceeded my high expectations and played a critical role in helping me become an ultra runner!  I look forward to seeing more of what B2R has to offer.  If you want to learn more, check out B2R at https://www.born2run.com/ 



And, even better, take a few minutes to enter below to win a pair of Trail Performance for yourself! B2R was kind enough to provide two (2) pair for me to giveaway to anyone on the planet!  I'll run this contest through Thursday, July 24th 2014, 10PM MST, so be sure to enter early and often!


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good luck, and happy trails!

Jeff
barefootinclined@gmail.com
http://barefootinclined.com




28 comments:

  1. Looks cool! My first thought when I saw that you were giving away a couple pairs was, "is he also giving away socks to work with those?" Nice to hear that B2R includes a couple pairs! Did you ever try them with normal socks, just bunched up between the toes? I'm curious if that'd work or if you really do need special socks.

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    1. I've been running in the B2R trail shoes since Feb. Great shoe. Once the weather warmed up I've been running sockless. Its an awesome feeling. The shoes show very little wear even after 500 miles of mixed trail and road.

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  2. Those split toes are something else! I agree with the commenter above, how would the socks work?

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    1. I don't think I'd try regular socks as they would bunch up and create too much pressure. I live in Injinji toe socks, so its not a problem for me, and I would highly recommend them for these shoes. That being said, B2R also ships these shoes with two pair of tabi toe socks... basic socks, but they work well :-)

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  3. Nice review. I've wanted to try these out and if I win I will be able to. thanks for the contest.

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  4. Sweet review :) These shoes and their ruggedness sound awesome!

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  5. I was not aware these shoes even existed, so thank you for the review. I am now very curious. There are not too many minimalist trail running shoes out there (and may be fewer in the future).

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  6. I would LOVE to try these!! Always wanted some-they sound great!!

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  7. I love the split toe, and the meaty tread. It's rad they give you extra socks and laces too!

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  8. Love the tabi style design. This would be great to train for my 2 Ultras this fall.

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  9. I've been wanting to try these for a long time......I think the split toe would keep my feet from creeping forward in my shoe on my long runs.

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  10. Wow, didn't know there was a trail version! Would love to give them a go!

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  11. These are very cool! I'd love to see how they fit!

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  12. I'd love to give these a try.

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  13. Any shoe that can hold up to a 50K that well sounds good!

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  14. Bailey Dexter I really like that they handled the snow quite well! I live in the north so we have snow for many months and always finding it difficult to tackle the snow some days running!

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  15. These shoes look and sound amazing! i would love to give them a try!

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  16. Those split toes are incredible!!!

    Lori R Jackson

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  17. The split toes. I love that look

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  18. Look like great trail running shoes and the split toes is unique!

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  19. The split toe is very interesting for a shoe..would love to try these out!
    (Karla Sceviour)

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  20. The split toe is intriguing and I love the heavy tread (Lisa Neutel)

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  21. I've been looking for minimal trail shoes that are still rugged enough to handle the terrain... these look like they might do it!

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  22. the split toe definitely interests me

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  23. I've been interested in these shoes since I read The Cool Impossible.
    I even bought the level 1 training package to get started.
    Kind of hard to get my hands on a pair of these in Canada without paying double the price so it would be awesome to win on these pairs.

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  24. i really like the look and it would I would love to notice an improvement with my training while wearing these.
    (stacey h)

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I live for comments.. so leave one! Thanks!