Another Pair: Kinvara 5 Review

The old cliche states one cannot fully know another without walking a mile in his shoes. It turns out, one cannot fully trust a shoe review or hype without trying it for oneself. Case in point: my experience with the Saucony Kinvara.

The Kinvaras seem to be a wildly successful shoe for Saucony and a trendsetter for minimalist(ish) shoes. Glowing reviews abound on the intrawebs. Being a researcher, I dug and dug and was fully convinced that the Kinvaras would be perfect for me. I even tried some on a few months ago at a local shop but chose the Brooks PureFlows instead. Even then I planned to buy the Kinvaras if I did not fall in love with the PureFlows.

That is exactly what happened. The PureFlows were not perfect, so after about 400 miles, I purchased some Kinvaras to try. I intentionally purchased from RunningWarehouse.com so I would have the option of returning the Kinvara if they did work out.

First Impression
The Kinvaras are light and streamlined. I like the feel of the shoe and the stride. However, I sounded like a cantering horse in the shoes for the first 100miles or so. Click clack, click clack. I could not figure out why. The soles are almost entirely foam and I am not a big heel striker. While the shoes were quick and light, the cushioning is vastly different from the PureFlows (read nonexistent). That is how it feels. Perhaps the foam is denser but there is not much plushness or noticed absorption of shock. I figured I could deal with the noise and firm strike for the marathon, and I started using the Kinvaras for my marathon pace and faster runs.

After Some Time
It did not take long for me to notice some increased soreness in my legs. When my PureFlows started rubbing on the inside of my big toe and midfoot, I switched almost entirely to the Kinvaras. Soon thereafter, I developed significant soreness in my left calf, ankle, and foot. One day I could barely walk in the morning. I chalked it up to making the shoe change and figured I needed some time for my legs to make the transition. In addition, I was in peak mileage (over 60mpw), so maybe the soreness was a byproduct of that. Regardless, I continued using the Kinvaras and holding onto hope.

Finally
The final straw happened this past week. Due to record-setting snows, I was forced to run on the treadmill 4 days. On the 3rd day, I developed a pea-size blister on the side of my big toe. I don't remember the last time I got a foot blister. The next day, I made 8.5 of a 16miler indoors before relenting. I had developed an identical blister on my left big toe. I could not identify what was causing the blisters, but I cannot risk that happening in the marathon.

Overall
I wanted to like the Kinvara and tried hard to overlook their flaws. Like a relationship, we were "slow dancing in a burning room." No matter how hard we tried or for how long, we just weren't meant for each other. The leg soreness, lack of cushioning, and blisters are evidence (albeit circumstantial) that the shoes are not working, and I cannot take that risk with the race.

What now? I have the same pair of PureFlows with almost 500miles on them. I've been surprisingly impressed with their durability (much better than the kinvaras). I know they work, so I am strongly considering just sticking with them through the next 3 wks (that's it!). Why spend $70 on a new pair to wear for a couple hundred miles if the old ones are working? I think I'd rather stick to them and save that money for something else (maybe some trail shoes)! Hopefully they last and don't irritate my feet too much (calluses are building).

I'm glad I used Running Warehouse and will be mailing the shoes back this afternoon.

Project Week: Shoe Care

How should I take care of my leather shoes? I have black dress shoes, classic brown desert boots, some wingtip brown boots, casual brown shoes. They are all different quality and colors of leather, and I've never really known how to properly care for them. Until now. After perusing the web o' knowledge and visiting a cobbler, I've put together a strategy.

Why do I have so many shoes?

Leather Conditioning
Leather dries out and cracks if it is not kept supple and conditioned. I remember an old leather jacket of my father that sat in our front closet for years. It looked great but the leather was like beef jerky it had dried so much. To keep leather shoes (and other leather goods) well conditioned and soft, using leather conditioner once a month or a few times per year is appropriate. Personally, I have used Clark's Weather Guard (more of an oily semisolid) and Lexol Leather Conditioner (creamy liquid). Both noticeably soften the leather. The Clark's leaves some sticky residue to collect dust. In general - rub it in liberally, let it sit awhile, wipe off the excess.

Waterproofing
Water is the enemy of leather and will lead to rotting and stains over time. Treating leather to resist water, therefore, is an important step. Fortunately, many of the leather conditioning products are effective for this as well. Applying Leather Honey, Lexol Conditioner, or Weather Guard periodically should protect your casual shoes from water damage (along with being careful how you use them).

Dress Shoes
If you polish the shoes, you are waterproofing them with wax, so you get a BOGO deal - shine and protection! A rare conditioning may be needed, but occasional polishing should work fine.

PROJECTS:

Dyeing Leather
Last winter I really wanted some nice leather boots I could dress up or down. Being drawn to high quality items, I coveted the Allen Edmonds Dalton boots seen first below (oh how nice!). At $425, though, that was not going to happen, so I looked around.

Allen Edmonds Dalton boot - $425 msrp
www.allenedmonds.com

I looked around and found these Hawkings McGill boots from Urban Outfitters. They had a similar wingtip look but were on sale for 40 BUCKS! I never did like the oompa loompa orange color, but at $40 I could deal with it. For the last year, I've worn them quite a bit with my navy suit or slacks for a nice contrast.

Hawkings McGill boot - $88 MSRP - $40 on sale at Urban Outfitters
http://dappered.com/2011/08/the-88-ships-free-wingtip-boot/

I can tell the HM boots are pretty cheaply made. For instance, the insole is constantly slipping, the leather is plastic-y, they are about as comfortable as walking with woodens clogs. But they were so inexpensive and I did not plan to wear them a ton. This was a fashion over comfort/quality decision. I never did like the color, though, so I sought to improve them.

Voila! With some acetone to strip the original polish/coating and some brown leather dye, I turned them into these. While darker than I intended, I'm much happier with the color and more likely to wear them!

Stripping and Repolishing

Back when I was in high school, I did ROTC, where I was a pretend navy sailor for 4 years. I dressed the part, underwent competitions, drill, and uniform inspections. Part of the uniform was standard black dress shoes, and one of our first responsibilities was to polish them to a high gloss shine. 

Master Chief showed us how: liberally apply traditional shaving cream all over the shoe, let is sit, scrub off the polish and coating down to the bare leather. I just now realized the implications of that for my face while shaving. Hmm. Anyway, once the leather is stripped, we applied Kiwi black polish with an applicator brush, lightly buffed it with a brush, and then spit shined with more Kiwi polish. I always took pride in doing this and having glossy shoes. That is why I've kept those first shoes for almost 13 years. However, there were always a few blotches where I either did not completely strip them or caked too much polish, so I decided to start over. 

I stripped them by rubbing acetone nail polish remover all over the shoes, leaving a nasty black rag. Whether I gully stripped them, I doubt, but I definitely removed all shine. Then I simply started over, but applying a light coating of polish with a brush, buffing, and then spit shining. After one coat, they look as good as ever and more consistent.

Polish is (maybe) Important

I had only ever used Kiwi polish before. I've used black, neutral (clear), and Kiwi Parade Gloss. They worked fine, I guess, but I started reading recently how they have lots of additives including gas and turpentine like compounds. Is that important? I don't know, but I figured I'd try something different at least. So I got some polish from the cobbler mentioned above - some Kelly's black and Lincoln brown. The big difference here is that the polish I got has stain in it (apparently Kiwi does not), so it works to both restore color and shine. Whether it is any better, I'm not sure, but the end product worked well, so I'll stick with it for the time being!

13 years and going strong!

Conclusion

That is what I've learned so far. I will definitely be paying more attention to using conditioner to protect my shoes form water damage. This is a big problem for my wife who wears boots all winter. We may need a bigger bottle of conditioner...

Here is one final plug for a new company called Nisolo. They make handmade leather shoes in Peru, fair trade. I got mine in Nashville courtesy of my very generous mother-in-law. They are super comfortable with all leather soles too and thick leather requiring break-in. I've been enjoying mine for a few weeks now.

Very sleek and stylish Emilio LE boot
http://nisolo.com/