This review is actually going to be a combination of shoes, New Balance shoes to be specific. A few years ago New Balance came out with there own barefoot/minimalist shoe line called Minimus. Most of the Minimus line uses the amazing Vibram rubber soles which as I stated in my Merrell Trail Glove review is extremely durable and has great grip. I first tried the MT20v2. This is a trail running shoe that has a mesh style fabric upper with a Vibram sole that has round knobs for traction on trails. I actually really liked this shoe overall. Again it did really well on all surfaces as far as grip goes. But it did feel a little unstable on hard surfaces especially in lateral movement. The other problem was that the shoes mesh upper cracked and split where the crease between your toes and the ball of your feet within a few weeks of use. I took these back to New Balance and they replaced them saying that it was a fabric flaw and it had been fixed. Well a few weeks later and the new pair did the exact same thing. So New Balance suggested I try the Minimus MT20 trail winter run. And I did. At first site it has a different upper than the MT20v2 which is water resistant and much thicker. This has proven to be a very durable shoe. It has a very similar Vibram sole with larger round knobs. The MT20 performed almost identical to the MT20v2. It has good grip on all surfaces but had the same unstable feeling that I attribute to the knob design sole.

So how do these perform in the Ninja Warrior arena? Well they are another great option. They have the grip needed for the course for sure which is probably attributed to the Vibram rubber. But my main gripe would be the lateral stability of the shoes. With obstacles such as the quad or 5 steps having that lateral stability is key. The slightest bobble or misstep and you're swimming. So my overall opinion is that these will get the job done but are not the perfect shoe.

So if you are reading my reviews from the beginning you will notice that I am starting to become a fan of anything with a Vibram sole. It is an amazingly grippy and durable rubber. So why not try the Vibram Five Fingers. Well I did try them on. I have wide feet and fat toes. This did not work for any of the models of five fingers in any size. So unfortunately I can not try these out. But I will have a veteran of ANW write up a review on his thoughts on them. He has run in them in multiple seasons and still uses them. Stay tuned for that review and my next review on the New Balance 20v3 cross trainer shoe.


Tarzan