I've been using minimalist training shoes for more than a decade. I like the "medicinal effect" these toe shoes have to offer. The last pair of them were out since last year and I have been struggling to find a replacement for a few reasons.
One of the main reasons being, the exchange rate. Our currency against USD has gone down by a third despite the dollar losing value, but our Ringgit is losing faster than the dollar.
It is not that bad if they have a distributor and or official representative here in our country, unfortunately they don't. I just can't risk that much big money to buy shoes online which will cost me almost 5x, if the size doesn't fit, I'm going to regret it for the rest of my life as I will have having trouble to send them back to the US and hopefully the seller can replace for me and send it across the globe.
Findcool, is a Chinese brand minimalist running shoe that promotes the same benefits as the main brand that we all know making five toe shoes. However, the price is rather reasonable for me. I won't call it a knock off, because they use their own brand and their own design, and I am not here to compare it with the big brand from the USA.
Since it's like ⅕ price of the big brand, I decided to give it a try. Trust me, I would rather order 1 size bigger then my usual. Even if it's bigger, I can still wear it; but if it's smaller, I can't possibly shred my legs to force it to fit right?
It wasn't really a long wait, since it was shipped by sea. Took me two weeks to wait and it arrived. Packaging looks fine, but the write up is as broken as my Engrish. It came with a condition, do not test fit. And that is what I already expected, part of the return policy. If test fitted, which means not eligible to return. If not test fit, how do I know I can fit 🤣
One of the brilliant things about the Chinese design being the adjustable ankle strap. The size came actually 1 size bigger according to what I ordered, I can easily fit it by adjusting the ankle strap, to tighten the back so all my toe can slip into the finger pouches.
Quality wise... meh... the smell of the sole doesn't give me enough confidence. Since it's ⅕ of the price, I should not anticipate more then it has to offer. The toe "lip" isn't covering high enough, I need to be very careful when running with these shoes. I could have my toe busted by just kicking a small stone. A small consolation price came in the shoe box, it was a pair of toe socks which I think the seller is very thoughtful since not many humans on earth know what their toe's actual usage is.
I've been wearing this baby for several weeks now, and if I am not satisfied with the price I paid, trust me I won't be writing this blog entry. If I don't look at the ugly camouflage color of these shoes, it did feel quite similar to the big brand toe shoes, if not better. I'm really impressed by the ankle strap that helps a lot in keeping the shoes tight yet still comfortable to run or walk without cutting blood supply to my foot.
