I REALLY wanted to like these.

Beautiful color combo, super sticky Vibram sole, truly fits like a glove, room in the toe box. All pluses.

But though the sole is sticky (I think I could do a Spiderman rock to rock), that sole is also very thin. I suppose the barefoot enthusiasts out there will shake their collective heads at me and say "Well, duh," but I could feel EVERY rock and pebble. By the time I finished my short test hike, the bottom of my feet felt like I'd been in a lumpy log roll contest with NO shoes. Ouch. If these were billed as just road running shoes, it would make sense.

But these are TRAIL shoes, which means lumpy, sharp things underfoot. I guess I just have a soft sole. Back to the rock plate for me. And back these go.