SoftScience “The Terrain Ultra Lyte” shoe update:
Introducing “The Terrain Ultra Lyte”. Fresh off the UPS truck today
and just unboxed ! Uber excited. Wearing them right now. Dang, zero drop
with good cush. I could run in these babies ! And I will just to try,
even thought that is likely not their intended purpose. Gorgeous roomy
toe box. True to fit. These feel like a favorite pair of worn in
favorite leather gloves … they are soft cotton canvass right out of
the box. I don’t think i even need to wait a few days, they
should have a label that says “pre-worn in”. I may have just found yet
another new favorite weekend casual shoes, I will save my Altra
Everyday’s for work. I can see where the thinking came when the partners
brought their wisdom over from Crocs (only the best parts were brought,
the materials, from what i can see).
Removable, washable Trileon™ insole, non-marking, slip-resistant outsole
Ultra lightweight, a pair in size 10 weighs just 1.6 lbs. (that is per pair !)
*Welcome to Soft Science. one of our Podcast sponsors. Because we believe in them.
Update one day later:
Some have been asking about this shoe. I
think they have done something unique here. This shoe is about 6 oz,
yes, that is seriously uber light. That means there is no room for
stabilizing rigidity factors in this shoe. It appears to be a well
thought out “outsole” and a soft cotton canvas upper. That is it. If you
need control, this shoe may not be for you. The outsole however offers a
nice wide foot print with some flare of the sole out from the foot
(look at their website, look at the shoe from behind), and that in
itself offers stabilizing over something compared to like a glove type
shoe.
Now, on to the insole:
I know what the website says, a
“minimal heal to toe elevation”. I emailed the guru over as Soft
Science. I have been told they are zero drop and after wearing i believe
they are, and if not, maybe a millimeter ? I have sensitive feet, I
wear zero drop all day long at work because I can. Not everyone can and
this is important to note.
I do not have any info outsole thickness
of this particular shoe, the foot does recede somewhat into the outsole
that you see, so there is not a tremendous amount of stack height as
portrayed in photos, some of that is the outsole lipping up to grab onto
the shoe’s upper.
TRileon Insole:There is a VERY mild arch
contour, not as much as in crocs (as one person asked) but it is present
and mild. If you have a flatter arch, you will feel it, but, Trileon is
uber cush so it is not offending at all. If you have a normal arch
posture, you may not even notice it, it is that subtle.
Insole:
there feels like a 1-2 degree or 1-2 mm varus forefoot post, i have
pretty sensitive feet and can tell these things readily, i may choose to
grind this down on the insole, it wouldn’t take much to do this. If you
take out the insole and put it on a hard floor and stand on it, you
will notice the subtle forefoot varus posting of the foam. And if you
put the insole in your hands and pinch finger tips together at the 1st
metatarsal head and 5th met. head you will notice the thickness
difference. * It is not much, but it is there. Some people can really
benefit from it since many feet are have a slight FF varus. Some may not
notice it at all. I did notice it because my forefoot is not varus’d at
all. I noted it less so when the insole was in the shoe so it may be
off setting a slight depression in the outsole shell. I am not sure, so
do not quote me on this. For most folks, this is “princess and the pea”
subtle jibber jab talk and is not worthy of noting. But we are shoe
geeks and some of you want to know about peas.
To be clear, I like
this shoe so far, very much actually. It will be on my feet all week and
all weekend……..many weekends. Soft, uber light, no break in, zero
drop, good looks, minimal, wide platform, ….. things i like and things
that are important to me. The question is, “is it for you ?” That is up
to you. Nice work Soft Science.
-Dr. Allen
