Runners - tell me about zero drop shoes

Most of the major brands have gone from the previous standard 12mm drop to the 4-8mm range, which took a lot of the wind out of the sails of the zero drop craze. It didn't help when people also realised they weren't some kind of magic panacea, that were going to lead us all into an Injury-Free Garden of Eden - despite the promises made at the time.

By all means try them, but obviously take it easy while adapting to them, and don't expect some kind of magical change to your running. I've used them in the past, but these days I'm perfectly happy with one of the aforementioned 4-8mm drop shoes.

Apart from cycling all my footwear is zero drop. It seems logical to walk and run as we evolved, I believe that it was sometime around the 15th century that we decided to tilt our feet forward by introducing heels to deal with stirrups when horse riding?

If you want to try zero drop footwear without spending too much on your first pair I would suggest buying a pair of old fashion black plimsolls, they are zero drop. You should be able to buy a very cheap pair from Primark.

They won't have the width that zero drop barefoot shoes have though, nor the ground connection. But you will get an idea how zero drop feels if you go out for a jog in them

I think mogrim has it pretty well covered - but it's a good question, I wondered the same before buying my last pair of running shoes.

My big concern is that you can't just go from 12mm drop to zero drop just like that; you'll definitely have to adapt because it's a fairly significant change, and your legs will hurt!

ETA: I ended up buying a pair of Brooks Caldera, for about 50/50 trail/ pavement running. The soles are absolutely ridiculous, as seems to be the way now (foam taller than the shoe upper), but they fit and are comfortable!

I think you just need to try a few things to see what works for you. After some recommendations a couple of years ago I tried Hokas, liked them and now that's all I run in. Even my day-to-day footwear are Hokas. As a result, I now find that anything with a drop exceeding 5mm or so can leave me with painful calves and ended up buying some Hoka walking boots too.

I went straight into some altras for a long distance walk -2 or 3 weeks. Didn't notice anything at all, but I wasn't running if that makes a difference

To be fair I don't have any footwear with what I would describe as a proper heel. Mostly approach type shoes

Ernie +1

I don't run because it's shit, but have been barefoot / wearing barefoot shoes for over two years now. My feet have definitely changed as when I put on an old (but relatively new) pair of Nike trainers  my foot overhangs the sole and it feels tight/restrictive.

I used minimal shoes for a long time and I found running with mid/forefoot strike to be miles better than heel striking, but I found that being a heavy bastard I needed more padding. I found that zero or low drop but cushioned shoes were perfect for this, as any heel tends to get in the way a bit for me.

Basically you're potentially going to be stretching your calves a bit more than they are now.

There's a more complex process if you go from a stiff , well cushioned show with a bit of drop (Hoka Speedgoat for example) to something that's zero drop, plus less cushioned and a lot more flexible.

What are you wearing now, thinking of going to?

Don't just power straight into it if you are used to shoes with drops. That way injury lies, especially if you are using supportive insoles to prop up weak arches.

Zero drop shoes are also zero support shoes so you are likely to massively change your gait without the strength to support it.

I've settled on the middle ground of low drop Topo shoes. They have a wide toebox, relatively minimal arch support and a small drop. Worth looking at.

If you want to think about your proclivity for zero drop, think about how you run uphill and downhill in your existing shoes.

On a downhill, any heel to toe drop is added to by the slope.  Opposite on uphills, that will tend to place you more on your toes.

Disclosure... I tend to prefer low drop these days, mostly for trail.  If I switch to a bigger heel to toe drop and run downhill, it feels like my footfall pivots off the heel strike and tries to accelerate my lower leg rotating forward (bad description).  It feels like running in high heels.  On uphills, I don't have any challenges; I'll come up on my toes and it all feels good.

Great replies, plenty to think about. I've never really looked at the drop on my current shoes before so I think I'll go have a look at what I've currently got.

@meikle_partans as far as I'm aware I don't have weak arches, though I may do, I just find after market insoles all round better from the heel cup to arch support, and do find that they maintain better comfort after 20k plus.

If it turns out I have a fairly high drop on my current shoes then I'll perhaps aim for a lower drop before going to zero.

Another question, is there a particular theory behind the drop on running shoes? Or is it just that most people are accustomed to that because of their normal everyday foot wear?

As stated, calf/achilles length takes time to adapt, as does foot strength. Quite variable depending on background but can be 3 months. Most runners CBA with that so the popularity of zero drop and barefoot isn't what it was. Have a read of Born to Run (novel) and Older Yet Faster (technique book by multiple age-group world record holder and his podiatrist wife, barefoot/zero drop).

UK winter isn't the best time to try, but barefoot on smooth grass is the best way to start. Tiny amounts at first, forget about racing for x months.  As soon as you put any shoe on proprioception is reduced, but once you get some basic technique the practicalities are that you need a (minimal) shoe in most circumstances.

For context I ran up to ultra distance for a decade in 3mm drop (inov8 road-x 155), now transitioning to zero (bare-x 150 and others), even that takes a while. Both inov8 shoes are obsolete now as they've backed away from zero drop - as I say, it's more than most runners can be bothered with. However, you could argue that most of those runners end up broken, eventually...

I think probably the latter. Also I guess it provides the opportunity for massive shock absorption to allow heel strike, which obviously isn't natural when running - we evolved to run barefoot which makes heel strikes whilst running a no-no.

Edit : Oh I know why shoes tend to curl up at the toes - it makes them more comfortable because you use less foot muscles when walking

I think probably the latter. Also I guess it provides the opportunity for massive shock absorption to allow heel strike, which obviously isn’t natural when running – we evolved to run barefoot which makes heel strikes whilst running a no-no.

+1 I haven't been a runner for a long time, but when I was I liked Asics Gel Racers which were pretty flat and Walsh PBs on the hills, also pretty flat. I tried more modern Saucony and Adidas with cushioned heels but they felt unsupportive and unstable. ernielynch is right though when he says you won't want to be heel striking in flats.

Well I've just roamed around the internet looking at the claimed drops for the shoes I own and they vary from 10mm for the Nike's down to 4mm for the Inov8's, I actually like the Nike's the least of all of them but between 8 and 4mm is barely discernable to me out on the trails.

The Inov8's are fairly new and I've only had a couple of runs in them but they did feel good, maybe I've found my sweet spot by accident.

I have a pair of the Vivobarefoot shoes, which are very minimal.

I like them; I mainly bought them to see if they would help with my fubard achilles.

Pros:

- Quite light, fold up easily, great for cycle touring
- Fairly easy to clean, so can walk around with the dog and the mud can all be removed easily afterwards.
- Feel quite nice to walk in - you really can feel what your feet are getting up to

Cons:

- They are starting to fall apart after about a year of usage.
- While grass is fine, running on concrete is not a lot of fun. Maybe I just need to use them for longer.
- A bit slower than regular running shoes.

Have they fixed my achilles tendon? Nope. I think my dreams of being a pro-basketball player are over.

When I do run I like my altra lone peaks more for the shape than the zero drop but all my shoes are barefoot now (minus work boots)

I like the lone peaks but I'm 1km max before I'm on a trail.

If you are using insoles you are probably adding a fair few mm to the shoes drop already as most insoles with arch support also have a larger heel height, so something to think about - If you are using an average 8mm shoe at the moment your actual drop could be 12+mm

I haven't bothered with zero drop but try to keep all of my shoes to 4-8mm, really don't like higher - there are loads of low drop shoes out there so give one of those a go and see what you think, you could go to zero drop after getting used to them if you feel the need, trail running favours lower drop's but on the road you may not want to go lower.

Your first step should be changing what you wear daily to zero drop, before considering running in them. Also getused to not using aftermarket insoles, if you need arch support then your feet aren't strong enough to run in zero drop / minimal shoes.

Then slowly introduce the zero drop shoes into your runs - e.g. by doing the first mile in them then swapping to your 'normal' shoes.

Personally, I use vivo's for everything other than running & riding. I find them not protective enough for trail running over long distances, and run in shoes with a drop between zero and 6mm.

"Born to run 2" is a comprehensive guide if you want to go down that route.

I tried barefoot/zero drop shoes for a while about 10 years ago, but even as a pretty efficient runner, 9 stone and 17min 5k I was constantly getting niggly injuries. Swapped to Hoka and the injuries stopped. Tried some Altra shoes, but quality was rubbish. Mainly wear LaSportiva these days.

If you want to fix your Achilles, do highly controlled calf raises (straight leg and bent leg). Don’t change your shoes. The issue is weakness.