Recommended Zero Drop, Barefoot-Style, and Transitional Road and Trail Running Shoes: Runblogger’s Virtual Shoe Wall

I’ve often thought to myself “if I opened a shoe store, which shoes would I definitely want on my wall?” It’s an interesting question to think about for a shoe geek like me! My personal approach would be to provide a spectrum of shoe options, and yes, possibly even a few traditional models (even though I don’t generally ever run in them myself, plenty of people do without issue and probably have little reason to change).

A few years back I put together a guide to minimalist running shoes in which I offered my top picks in a number of categories. Given the length of that post, and since I’m often asked which shoes I recommend, I thought it might be helpful to provide a more streamlined set of shoe recommendations, which is what you will find here.

In my hypothetical shoe store, the shoes below would be the ones that I’d most like to see on the wall. They are all shoes that I have run in, so I have personal experience with each and every one of them – as such, this collection represents my take on the best shoes available right now.

I have provided links to my reviews of each shoe (if completed), as well as links to purchase the shoes at selected advertising partners (patronizing these sites via these links helps to support Runblogger and keeps the reviews coming - I buy about half of my review shoes myself these days, so your support is much appreciated!). All of my stack height data come from Running Warehouse, and clicking on the shoe image will take you to the info page for that shoe at the Running Warehouse website.

Shoes are grouped by broad categories spanning the minimalist to more traditional running shoe spectrum – they include barefoot-style shoes, zero drop cushioned shoes, and moderate to mild transitional shoes (both road and trail shoes where applicable). If I had to cull my collection, I’d probably retain at least one from each grouping – I’m a fan of a shoe rotation.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask in the comments, or visit the Runblogger Forum.

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Zero Drop, Barefoot-Style Shoes

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Road Shoes	Trail Shoes
Merrell Flux Glove Stack Height: 11mm, 11mm Weight: 6.8oz My Review (in progress)  Buy at Zappos	New Balance Minimus Trail MT00  Stack Height: 12mm, 12mm Weight: 4.4oz My Review (click to read) Buy at Running Warehouse
Inov-8 Bare-X 180 Stack Height: 6mm, 6mm Weight: 6.4oz My Review (in progress) Buy at Running Warehouse	Merrell Trail Glove Stack Height: 10mm, 10mm Weight: 7.0oz My Review (click to read) Buy at Running Warehouse
Altra Samson Stack Height: 7mm, 7mm Weight: 7.5oz My Review (in progress) Buy at Running Warehouse

 

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Zero Drop, Cushioned Shoes

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Road Shoes	Trail Shoes
New Balance Minimus Road MR00 Stack Height: 12mm, 12mm Weight: 6.1oz My Review (click to read) Buy at Running Warehouse
Merrell Bare Access Stack Height: 13mm, 13mm Weight: 5.7oz My Review (click to read) Buy at Running Warehouse
Skechers GoBionic Stack Height: 11.5mm, 11.5mm  Weight: 6.0oz My Review (click to read) Buy at Zappos
Altra Instinct 1.5 Stack Height: 16mm, 16mm Weight: 9.7oz My Review (click to read) Buy at Running Warehouse

 

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0-6mm Drop Moderate Transitional Shoes

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Road Shoes	Trail Shoes
Saucony Kinvara Stack Height: 23mm, 19mm Weight: 7.9oz My Review (click to read) Buy at Running Warehouse	Merrell Mix Master 2 Stack Height: 16mm, 12mm Weight: 9.0oz My Review (click to read) Buy at Running Warehouse
Brooks Pure Flow Stack Height: 22mm, 18mm Weight: 9.0oz My Review (click to read) Buy at Running Warehouse	Brooks Pure Grit Stack Height: 21mm, 16mm Weight: 8.7oz My Review (click to read) Buy at Running Warehouse
New Balance 730 Stack Height: 16mm, 13mm Weight: 7.0oz My Review (click to read) Buy at Running Warehouse	New Balance MT20v2 Stack Height: 14mm, 10mm Weight: 6.5oz My Review (in progress) Buy at Running Warehouse
Newton Distance Racer Stack Height: 24mm, 21mm Weight: 7.9oz My Review (click to read) Buy at Running Warehouse
adidas adipure Gazelle Stack Height: 17mm, 11mm Weight: 6.0oz My Review (click to read) Buy at Running Warehouse

 

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0-6mm Drop Racing Flats

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Saucony Grid Type A5 Stack Height: 16mm, 12mm Weight: 5.8oz My Review (click to read) Buy at Running Warehouse	Adidas Hagio Stack Height: 17mm, 12mm Weight: 6.1oz My Review (click to read) Buy at Running Warehouse
Mizuno Universe Stack Height: 18mm, 14mm Weight: 3.9oz My Review (click to read) Buy at Running Warehouse	New Balance MRC5000 Stack Height: 16mm, 11mm Weight: 3,1oz My Review (click to read) Buy at Running Warehouse

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6-10mm Drop Mild Transitional Shoes

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adidas adipure Motion Stack Height: 23mm, 15mm Weight: 7.5oz My Review (in progress) Buy at Running Warehouse	Saucony Ride 5 Stack Height: 28mm, 20mm Weight: 10.1oz My Review (in progress) Buy at Running Warehouse
Saucony Guide 5 Stack Height: 28mm, 20mm Weight: 10.0oz My Review (in progress) Buy at Running Warehouse

Posted in: Minimalist Running, running shoes