kigo drive Review

A couple months ago I started looking for candidate for minimalist shoes for use in triathlon races. None of the minimalist shoes I’ve reviewed thus far (Soft Star RunAmoc Dash, Vivobarefoot Neo, and Vibram Komodosports) are very quick to get on. The first two have regular laces to deal with which can take awhile in transition, and the last one has the issue of getting your toes situated plus the fact that you’d have to be wearing toe socks if you want to wear socks. I was on the lookout for good minimalist shoes that took went on quickly. Enter kigo.

kigo footwear is an awesome company. Very responsible and producing great products.

Now, for starters, kigo is actually not capitalized, nor are any of their products. I actually am a fan of this. I like it much more than some companies which do all caps, and having no capitalization does make it unique. the more I learn about kigo, the more I like them. They strive to be as environmentally friendly as possible and they seem to be doing a great job of it so far. For starters, the pairs which they send out for review (such as in this case) have slight cosmetic defects (mine had a small dark spot on the upper). This means that the shoes which aren’t quite perfect go to good use instead of being thrown out at the factory. This is a huge improvement from the normal manufacturing procedures. I’d absolutely love to see other companies begin doing this. Also, even the packaging for these shoes was extremely minimalistic.

kigo drive Shoes. CYCLEPET uppers and an extremely thin sole. Great minimalist shoes.

Okay, so on to the shoes themselves. I’ve been testing out their drive model for the past couple months. These shoes are quite cool, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed training in them. kigo has been around awhile and have had much more time than the big name brands (who just recently started marketing minimalist shoes) to work on their minimalist design. Let’s look at some of the specs for the kigo drive: about 4oz (per shoe), 2mm outsole, speed lacing, anatomical design, and CYCLEPET uppers. Yes, you read that correctly… 4 ounces and 2mm outsole. I don’t think I’ve found a thinner outsole for a running shoe.

I’ve been using these shoes a bit more sparingly than most shoes, and the reason for that is simple. These are going to be my multi-sport race shoes for awhile and I want to save them for races as much as possible. I have about 80 miles in them including 10 from this past Saturday at the Cary Du Classic. So far, I’ve been extremely happy with their durability. the soles were obviously a point of concern for me, being so thin, but they’re barely showing any wear after about 80 miles of pavement!

Right before finishing at the Cary Du Classic. Wearing my kigo drive shoes!

The tread pattern on these shoes is extremely unique. They have a finger print pattern for the outsole which works quite well for running on pavement and light trails. However, I would not feel confident on decently technical trails. The soles are very flexible and honestly, these have probably the best ground feel I’ve experienced. I truly enjoy running with these shoes (unless I hit a gravel section 😉 ).

Very unique tread on these shoes! I love the fingerprint pattern, but it doesn’t give amazing traction on trails.

The uppers of the shoes are quite comfortable. They aren’t the most breathable shoes I’ve ever worn, but they keep the temperature regulated quite well. They’re okay in wet conditions as well, but again not stellar. Where the uppers really excel is in the area of weight. These shoes are awesome for feeling the ground and environment because of the lack of mass. That’s also why they make such great race shoes. And the environmental science minor in me must throw this one out there: you can actually send these shoes back after you use them back to the company’s recycling center.

Comfort-wise, these shoes really excel in my opinion. The speed laces create a surprisingly good and comfortable fit on my foot. They generally hug your mid foot and are fairly loose around the rest of the foot. This works incredibly well for minimalist running. The only situation where I found some issues with this was doing speed work on a track. Running the curves at high speeds did create some rubbing under the ball of my foot and almost created a blister. But, this is my only complaint with the fit and comfort of the shoe.

Speed laces on these shoes make them very convenient and fit surprisingly well. They were one of the main attractions for me since I was looking for a multisport shoe.

These shoes do have slightly weird sizing. They oddly only come in US half sizes for men and full sizes for women. So you may have to make the choice on shoes that are a bit small or a bit larger than normal. In reality though, with minimalist shoes, I would argue precise fit is less important because there is no support. I usually wear a 10 and I got a 10.5 and they don’t feel floppy or too large at all.

These shoes function great on three fronts: a road/light trail trainer, a race shoe (especially for multi-sport), and as a lightweight minimalist everyday shoe. I’ve used these around campus quite a bit because they’re so easy and convenient to get on and off. That’s mainly due to the speed laces and once they’re on, they’re so comfortable. I’d highly recommend these to any minimalist runners, but I would be very hesitant to recommend them as a first pair of minimalist shoes. Personally, I’m definitely planning on buying another pair after these wear out.

Picture from kigo’s website, but I can definitely vouch for using them on a regular bike. They work well!

You can buy these shoes directly from kigo for $91 in either grey (pictured throughout the review) or black. I’d rate these shoes as a good value at this price since a lot of good minimalist shoes will run you more than $100.

I love wearing my kigo drive shoes. Great overall minimalist shoes. I’ll be racing in these for quite awhile!

*Product provided by kigo for review. All opinions expressed are my own.*