Second (brightly coloured) pair of Vapor Gloves arrive

The second set of Merrell Vapor Gloves has arrived. Straight out of the box, they're more attractive than the black ones. I suppose that not everybody wants a bright yellow/green/blue pair of shoes on their feet. But they're much smaller than normal running shoes, so I think they can get away with being brighter. In effect, they colour your feet, rather than adding a bit lump of colour that hangs off the bottom of your legs.

These ones are size 10 (the others were size 9.5) - I'll talk about the fit below.



 

When I first put on the size 10s they felt huge, so it seemed easy to pick the 9.5s. Its a bit of a shame because I prefer the more colourful ones. Though, I suppose, I could track down a pair in the colour I want, I don't really want to keep posting shoes back and forth.

 

But when I adjusted the laces a bit, and put them both on, I realised the fit is very similar. The 10s do feel a bit longer and wider and, if they were the only ones I'd tried I'd probably think they were perfect. As it is, I think there is a bit of a trade off between length and width. As someone with wide feet, that's something I've been used to.

This review by barefootjosh suggests coming up with your own lacing pattern to make the shoe fit best. His advice - "Don't be a slave to lacing convenionality!" Certainly, from the photos, he's following his own advice. I'll have a bit of a play around with that. The fact that the upper is so thin does mean that you can adjust the fit quite a lot with the lacing.

Final choice? My heart says the green 10s, but my head says the black 9.5s.