Author Topic: Women's Parkour Shoes (Read 8772 times)

Stephanie Belle Hagan · « **on:** January 31, 2009, 08:19:57 PM »

I've been looking for shoes that are specially designed for parkour/freerunning. Unfortunatly, all of them seem to be for the male practitioner. Surprise, surprise.

But yeah. What shoes do you guys (gals) train in? Do you ever use men's shoes?

Any info would be appreciated, mates. Thanks!

Muse_of_Fire · « **Reply #1 on:** January 31, 2009, 08:41:34 PM »

I think there was a thread on this not long ago, here in the Women's section. I know Amanda uses Ariakes, at least part of the time if not always. My feet are too small to fit even the smallest men's size, so I use just a pair of cheap shoes I bought at Target, that are perfect for parkour. I don't think they make them anymore though, so once they're dead, they're dead.

I also have a pair of kayaking shoes that I like although they're not as good as my cheapie Target shoes. The kayaking shoes are Ahnu brand, I forget the exact shoe, though.

I'm sure other ladies will have better info... and of course that thread will too, it's around here somewhere...

Stephanie Belle Hagan · « **Reply #2 on:** January 31, 2009, 10:04:19 PM »

Thanks, Muse. I'll take a looksie for that thread.

Phytolith · « **Reply #3 on:** February 05, 2009, 07:41:02 AM »

I usually alternate between Ariakes and La Sportiva Fireblades. I really like the support and touch of the Fireblades, though they aren't quite as sticky as the Ariakes. La Sportiva makes the shoes for both men and women and any of their trail running shoes are really well-made and last a long time.

Janine · « **Reply #4 on:** February 12, 2009, 10:08:52 AM »

I really liked the Inov8 Pk360's, they were really light, very sensitive, and very nimble. Horrible grip though, so they teach really good wallpass technique though don't get you much height if you don't go 100%.

I'm also working on the Kalenji's that Tyson brought me back from London. Apptly they're very popular with the traceurs/euses over there.. but they're clunky as heck so we'll see if I still like them in a month.

Good luck finding the right shoes for you!

germaniac · « **Reply #5 on:** March 01, 2009, 11:58:46 PM »

Due to the size I have to go for men's sizes... Ms. Bigfoot... but I still believe that there is no need for special "parkour shoes" anyway, parkour should be done with whatever is available and normal sport shoes (be it target or whatever) should do - at least for me they do.

Guess this is not much help though.

Laurie Jennifer · « **Reply #6 on:** March 04, 2009, 12:33:46 AM »

I just happened to check the FiveTen website this evening... and there is now a women's version of the Freerunner. (www.fiveten.com)

I personally prefer to use Vibram Fivefingers, or train barefoot. I've also had success with New Balance shoes (though I'm not a fan of their newer trail running models). They particularly fit my feet well.

I actually love these off-brand shoes I discovered at Payless. I loved them so much that I bought two pair (they were dirt cheap).

Good luck finding a good fit!

Photo Ninja · « **Reply #7 on:** March 09, 2009, 04:12:13 PM »

Currently I'm using a pair of Vans skate sneakers. Very bad grip for wallruns. I'm actually going to buy a pair of Ariakes or Natural Runs from K-Swiss. I know quite a few traceurs/traceuses who have used them and they've given nothing but good comments about them.

A-SkyfiOriginal · « **Reply #8 on:** April 07, 2009, 11:48:55 AM »

I really like these for parkour/free running. The grip is amazingly good, and yes they are guys shoes cause i couldn't find any i liked.
http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_07690426000P?vName=Shoes&cName=Mens&sName=Athletic

Elvira · « **Reply #9 on:** May 12, 2009, 06:09:52 AM »

I wear kalenji's, I actually really like them and they're cheap. And besides that just about everyone in 'my community' wears kalenji's. I have both versions (for men and women), but I prefer the 'male' version.
But then again, I live in europe, so I haven't even hear about most of the shoes you talk about.

Carissa V · « **Reply #10 on:** July 28, 2009, 05:48:27 AM »

Okay, hey everyone...
from reading this thread, I get the impression that not too many traceuses use the big name brand parkour/freerunning shoes (fiveten and ariake, etc), and I can see how, seeing as they are mostly designed for men.
I'm not sure how many people will be able to accurately answer my question, but if anyone has *any* advice or suggestions or just comments on my question, please just reply, as I am looking to make as informed as a decision as I can.
My question is twofold:

The first part is simply that, yeah, they make a lot of freerunning shoes for guys. I am a size 9 and a half or size ten, in womens, so concievably, I could just get some guys shoes, which I have done before, in the appropriate men's size (size 7.5 or

. So my first option is that I could order the 5.10 freerunners, men size, and just use those for parkour.
The second option is that now, going back to 5.10, they now have some shoes for women, both a female version of the FreeRunner shoes, and also another version, called the Savant, which isn't exactly designed for parkour, but it's more a multi-sport shoe that still has most of the features I am looking for in a good pair of shoes for parkour. However, if no one else has any feedback or comments and everything, I am kind of hesitant to just buy a pair of women's parkour shoes that I don't know if they are a good pair or not....

Any comments/suggestions/tips/etc?
Thanks a ton!

Phytolith · « **Reply #11 on:** July 28, 2009, 06:30:07 AM »

I've used men's Ariakes before, and even though they were technically my size, they didn't fit as well as women's shoes. I feel pretty strongly that shoes made for parkour give you only mild to moderate benefits over other, reasonable athletic shoes. I use women's trail running shoes (La Sportiva Fireblades), which are probably pretty similar to the 5.10 Savants or FreeRunners, though I would recommend against any of 5.10's shoes that are designed more for climbing or 'approach' - they tend to be too stiff.

carolynn · « **Reply #12 on:** July 28, 2009, 09:17:40 AM »

ClvFree - If you're looking at 5.10's I would recommend getting the women's freerunner instead of the guy's version or the Savants. I have the women's freerunner and so far I've been pretty happy with it; I normally wear the K Swiss women's kirovs (the one's they don't sell anymore), but I wore my 5.10's for a performance that we did here in CO and they worked pretty well -- the only thing is that a bunch of the guys that I know that wear the 5.10's all the time say that they're a little iffy on rails and that they tend to wear out a little faster than other pk/fr shoes. But unless you're doing a bunch of rail precisions (which is the main reason I normally don't wear them) I would say the women's freerunner will work fine for you.

Also like Amanda said, the La Sportiva Fireblades are also great shoes. I wore my pair until it had nothing left (and then I spray painted them black for a ninja costume

) before I switched over to K Swiss (I'm now on my second pair of the women's kirovs). You can also get the kirovs off of ebay for pretty cheap (that's how I got my second pair). Whatever you get, I would recommend getting women's shoes, since they'll fit better.

TraceuseDS · « **Reply #13 on:** August 03, 2009, 08:27:01 AM »

I use men's Ariakes. I actually really like the way they fit my feet, so try on a few different brands if you can, to see what fits your feet the best.

Amanda is right, though: technique will get you a lot farther than shoes, even really good shoes.

Rebecca Myers · « **Reply #14 on:** August 13, 2009, 05:07:11 PM »

I wear an 8 1/2 or 9 in women, 5 or 6 in men (According to my wrestling shoes). For training I just wear my good ol' ugly Saucony's. I have a problem on one of my feet so I can only wear shoes with mesh on the sides. I've found Saucony's to be the most comfortable and durable, for me at least.

Hannah L · « **Reply #15 on:** November 26, 2009, 02:57:13 PM »

Hey fellow traceuses!
I'm looking to purchase the 510 Women's Freerunners and I was wondering if any of you had the shoe and knew how they fit, size-wise. I'm trying to figure out if they are true to size.
Thanks, ladies!

Hannah L · « **Reply #16 on:** January 03, 2010, 08:05:53 PM »

Well, ignore my question, as I know have an answer to it, which I shall post for the benefit of the group.

I received the Women's 5.10 Freerunners for Christmas and I love them! Fantastic shoes, true to size, comfortable, good grip. Also, another plus about the shoes is that they allow for a mid-foot strike instead of the heel. While this is a controversial topic among the various athletic communities, I am of the opinion that mid-foot/ball of feet strike is the best for running (especially for parkour purposes). In other words, the fivetens make running easier because of where they cater toward striking.
Additionally, the shoes have a super awesome hard tip and grippy bottom to assist with wall work, though I have not gotten to try that out yet, due to excessive amounts of snow in my area of the country.
To sum up: fantastic shoes.
I apologize if I repeated a review on the shoes...hope it helps; my two cents

Nos0323 · « **Reply #17 on:** January 18, 2010, 12:38:27 AM »

well i live in oahu so are there any stores here were they are good for parkour? cause the shoes i wear now are new balance shoes...i only properly did parkour today and found out that the grips are almost completly worn down...

Hannah L · « **Reply #18 on:** January 18, 2010, 08:45:15 PM »

Hey Nos0323-
I actually have a pair of NB that I wear for gym training because they have less padding than the 5.10's. Depends how you like to train, and the amount of padding you need. If you like a barefoot feeling, you could try something like the Vibram's. I do not own a pair myself yet, but I hear they are quite fantastic. Personally, I love the Women's Freerunner by 5.10, but I'm incredibly biased

Ashley McC · « **Reply #19 on:** January 19, 2010, 01:12:51 AM »

Pssh Vibrams? Who needs protected feet Hannah? Just go barefoot. Joking. All sarcasm aside, Nos wear whatever you feel comfortable in and have good grip and honestly you don't have to have the Ariakes or 5.10's or any parkour specialized shoe to train in unless you want to get them, but thats your choice. If you want barefoot, go with the Vibram Five Fingers, your essentially barefoot but have protection from glass and what not. If you don't choose a shoe you want, little to none padding theres Feiyues, or if you want some padding try different shoes. The shoes I've been training in, since it was all I could afford at the time, were some Fila's I bought from Ross. They were awesome shoes for me but now they are pretty much dead, they have a hole in the bottom. Just go with what is comfortable for you and also what you can afford. I feel like that post was scrambled a bit, sorry if it doesn't make sense.

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Author Topic: Women's Parkour Shoes (Read 8772 times)