I was impressed by the other reviews, so I ordered these shoes.  They arrived quickly.  They are comfortable, and the soles allow for more twisting moves.  I like the colors -- I'm short, and I always think that black sneakers make my legs look even shorter.  So, the gray and blue still gives me some color!  Personally, I don't feel the velcro portion making much of a difference, but that area of the shoe feels good anyway.  One thing prevented me from giving five stars.  The opening of the shoe comes up a bit higher than my last pair of sneakers, so the mouth of the shoe caused some irritation on my anklebone.  However, my mom also bought the Synergy Cross Trainer, and she didn't have that problem at all.  It might just be my "issue!"