You can expect great things from the Be Lenka Trailwalker barefoot running shoe because its loaded with durability, comfort, warmth and unsurpassed barefoot-feel! I strongly recommend the Be Lenka Trailwalker to anyone who wants the near barefoot experience because you can literally feel every pebble in these shoes!
The Be Lenka Trailwalkers provide one of the best barefoot feels, allowing your feet to function almost as if they were barefoot, which will optimize the placement of your forefoot strike when you run.
What the Be Lenka Trailwalkers Are Great For:
The Be Lenka Trailwalker is definitely made for running, hiking and walking on natural terrains, especially in extremely cold weather as well as in hotter weather, too!
The Trailwalkers perform best in drier conditions on hard-packed, very sandy or rocky technical terrains and perform just as lively when walking on city streets.
Although the Trailwalkers are not waterproof, they do keep your feet acceptably dry in rainy weather, very shallow puddles and creek crossings.
Upper
The upper is made of breathable, premium quality, featherweight leather with no unnecessary overlays. The upper of the Trailwalker is actually more breathable, lighter than other barefoot shoes from Be Lenka.
The best feature of the upper is its incredibly wide toe-box which proved to be very comfortable and functional because its so wide you can wear toe-spacers in them!
You’ll also appreciate the upper has lots of protection points because the black rubber of the sole wraps around the side-walls of the upper and on top of the toes.
For ease of entry, the bootstrap located at the back helps you pull the shoes on. It also attaches the shoes to your backpack, saving space while travelling!
Overall, the Trailwalker’s upper fits perfectly, especially around the ankle, and without any tightness or feeling overly wide in the front! There’s enough space in them to wear super thick socks for added warmth, or toe spacers. The materials are sturdy and durable without adding weight to the upper, and even though the upper isn’t water-resistant, it does a satisfactory job at keeping your feet relatively dry when splashing through puddles or in rainy conditions.
Sole
The Trailwalker sits on a zero-drop (completely flat), thin 4 mm ultra-flexible sole that’s also softer and more flexible than the soles on most of the other Be Lenka barefoot shoes.
The Trailwalkers sole works the best where it was meant to — on the trails and other natural grounds — thanks to the tightly packed small toothy lugs that provides good traction off-road without feeling cumbersome when walking on paved surfaces, too!
Even better, the sole helps mirror the barefoot experience by letting you feel even the smaller pebbles, and will help you have optimal precision agility and stability which is very necessary for moving safely over uneven terrains!
Final Thoughts
Because of the sufficiently large width, the Be Lenka Trailwalkers really do wrap to your foot in all the right ways, providing an overwhelmingly comfortable fit and feel!
Despite being 4mm with full coverage of grippy lugs, the Trailwalkers sole surprisingly offers crystal clear ground-feel for if you prefer to feel every pebble, then the TrailWalkers will win your heart! Every stride feels as if you are running barefoot in these shoes!
If you’re interested in the Be Lenka Trailwalkers, you can get your paws on a pair here!
If you’ve enjoyed this review, you’ll love my reviews on other barefoot running shoes here!
If you’d like, you can support Run Forefoot and help keep it going by making a donation in any amount of your choosing:
Or, you can support Run Forefoot by shopping at the BEST Barefoot Shoe Brands, and be sure to bookmark these links 🙂
Saguaro: https://www.saguaro.com/?ref=9bVA8fEkmDvB-I
Vibram FiveFingers: https://www.anrdoezrs.net/click-7600968-11372648
Vivobarefoot: https://amzn.to/3vycQOY
Be Lenka: https://www.dpbolvw.net/click-7600968-14330828
Xero Shoes: https://xeroshoes.com/go/Run_Forefoot
Iguaneye: https://www.iguaneye.com/?ref=8tfXVc92
Soft Star Shoes: https://shrsl.com/3mp1b
Wilding Shoes: https://bit.ly/3lIygQP
Bretta Riches
BSc Neurobiology; MSc Biomechanics candidate, ultra minimalist runner & founder of RunForefoot. I was a heel striker, always injured. I was inspired by the great Tirunesh Dibaba to try forefoot running. Now, I'm injury free. This is why I launched Run Forefoot, to advocate the health & performance benefits of forefoot running and to raise awareness on the dangers of heel striking, because the world needs to know.
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