If you're like me and need a shoe built for plyometrics and speed, yet stable enough for some heavy lifting, this is it. Finally, the flex grooves are well-placed to allow natural foot movement in the forefoot while stabilizing the midfoot and heel. It’s the ultimate cross-trainer, built for in-the-gym weightlifting and lateral moves, but ready to get out on the road. My only other complaint is that the laces are very slippery and short so you have to double tie them and even then sometimes they come undone.

The soles have come apart from the sides, so when you're on the leg press, for example, your feet will start to slide even more because of this. Also, the Bare-XF has a tight toe box that scrunches up the toes and metatarsals, preventing natural foot motion and leaving the feet feeling like they’re wrapped up in a medical cast. Their upper is a little lighter which helps but the core last construction is pretty similar regarding their snugness in that context!It's certainly not like a big Brooks shoe with expansion joints and buttressing and all of the other things that go into snapping your foot back into position.

To the first limitation, if you’re going to be doing activities that require a lot of foot protection and abrasion resistance—like rope climbing—a shoe with a more robust upper will be preferable (I’m looking at you OCR crowd). On turf and tracks, the durability will be fine in this shoe, but I’d suggest limiting their exposure to concrete and asphalt due to these surfaces tearing up the Innerflex tech.

This newer XT version retains most of that and is certainly award-worthy, but it didn't quite make it to the podium this time around.