VIVOBAREFOOT - Primus Trail Swimrun Ötillö - Review
Intro
Firstly, I must apologies, this review is ooooooooo late, that you can’t even buy these anymore, although, vivo do sell a similar shoe, The Primus Trail SG
At the time of this review, I’ve covered 633km in the swim run, including a couple of swims.
Blurb from VIVOBAREFOTT
Swimrun began in 2011 after a drunken bet between four friends in Sweden to swim and run 75km unaided across the Stockholm Archipelago! Fast forward to 2019 and Swimrun is now a well recognised activity and sport with over 500 events taking place across the world.
The objective of Swimrun is to swim and run a pre-marked course that consists of both land and water with a team mate, wearing a wetsuit and shoes throughout.
As an official sponsor VIVOBAREFOOT have designed the ultimate off road amphibious running shoes for Swimrun!
Features
These shoes were a version of the Primus Trail FG, that were modified for Swim Run events, if you are unaware of swim run, check out the ÖTILLÖ site.
To make the FG suitable for swimming, the shoe is a sock type fit, rater than having a separate tongue, the ankle padding was also removed. There is improved drainage and pull tabs on the heel.
Quality and Style
Think these look great, some may not like the orange sole, but I think it gives them a nautical feel, it reminds me of my old SCUBA diving days where most things were a nice visible orange. The ÖTILLÖ and VIVOBAREFOOT branding in white is a great contrast to the black body of the shoe.
Fit and Feel
Initially, they were great. As usual for me with VIVO’s they were super comfortable and fit like a glove, or should that be sock? but….. after a few runs, I stared to have real issues with the upper part of the heel rubbing my achilles tendon. Otherwise, perfect.
Final thoughts
I think I’ve ran further in these shoes than any other shoe I’ve owned, so I suppose my final thoughts are that they are blood brilliant! I’m still using them now, and when they eventually fall apart, I’ll be ordering a pair of Primus Trail SG.
I have had issues though, Eventually I cut the heel upper off to stop skinning my heels and I see that the SG has the same design, so I’d have to chop them up too. And, the mesh side’s ripped, so I simply cut the mesh out and carried on running in them.
This is the thing with VIVOBAREFOOT shoes, because there is no foam heel supports and all that nonsense, I guess you can run in them until they fall off your feet. Unlike conventional running shoes, where the sole gets squishy and unsupportive and you need to bin them.
You can see from the images below, the sole is wearing, but nothing like, say, my Newton shoes, which seem to wear a lot quicker. Lets not mention ON, which didn’t last five minutes!
I also changed the laces to elastic, because I’m lazy, even too lazy to use the original lacing system.
Swimming, hmm, I did do a couple of swims wearing these shoes and I wasn’t really that impressed, they felt heavy and cumbersome in the water. But, let me add to that. I have also swam in Vibram fivefingers, so that’s what I’m comparing them to. However, the VIVO’s are far nicer to run in than the fivefingers, and if I was competing in a Swim Run, I would opt for the VIVOBAREFOOT.
Where to buy?
Unfortunately these shoes are no longer available from VIVOBAREFOOT, but, there are loads of alternatives.
VIVOBAREFOOT are available from most of the usual online retailers, but personally, I think you are better off cutting out the middle man and going straight to VIVOBAREFOOT With purchases from the site you can earn Tribe Points, which go towards future discounts.
