Take a look at the images of the soles.  The spaces between the little discs are extremely thin, and provide no protection from pebbles on the path.  These shoes are incredibly lightweight, comfortable, and breathable - I'm ordering my second pair.  I can't give them five stars only because they're advertised as trail runners.  If they would simply add a few grams of weight and make the entire sole that thickness they'd work for trails.  They are great on the road, especially for a toe-to-toe runner like myself, for whom a thick padded heel just gets in the way.