As the title implies, I have been making my own footwear (minimalist, primitive, period, etc.) for some time now and never imagined I would actually be buying shoes again. Unfortunately, I encountered a perfect storm of four older pairs failing at once for various reasons in the same week, having to spend over $300 on additional materials to make enough to replace them all since I was nearly out, and just not having enough time to sit and stitch that many by hand. So I went looking for alternatives and stumbled across Xero's site while they were having a sale.After reading a bunch of reviews, I took a chance on the Prios since they were one of the items on sale and their lacing system is similar to that of the turnsoles I liked to wear the best. (Honestly, Xero's ... MoreAs the title implies, I have been making my own footwear (minimalist, primitive, period, etc.) for some time now and never imagined I would actually be buying shoes again. Unfortunately, I encountered a perfect storm of four older pairs failing at once for various reasons in the same week, having to spend over $300 on additional materials to make enough to replace them all since I was nearly out, and just not having enough time to sit and stitch that many by hand. So I went looking for alternatives and stumbled across Xero's site while they were having a sale.After reading a bunch of reviews, I took a chance on the Prios since they were one of the items on sale and their lacing system is similar to that of the turnsoles I liked to wear the best. (Honestly, Xero's setup may be a little better.) After a week of breaking them in, they are now the only shoes besides what I make for myself that I don't feel the need to get off my feet once I am done for the day. The only complaint I have about fit and feel is that the materials used on the uppers keep my feet a bit on the warm side. It's not bad enough to remove a star in my opinion though. I intend to use these as 'daily drivers' along with the surviving pair of loafers I made in October of last year. If they last and wear well enough, I will happily buy another pair of Prios when these begin to die.Other thoughts: Most of the bad reviews I've read concern either durability and sole separation, or fit and feel. I've long been accustomed to low stack, low rise footwear, as opposed to 'normal' shoes, so the Prios feel quite nice to me. If you've never worn shoes like these before, you might need to ease into them. Once you get used to this kind of shoe, you probably will not want to go back to 'normal' shoes either. As for durability, I am concerned about that; not with the soles themselves, but with the uppers and the adhesives used to glue them down. If I'm spending this much on footwear, then I am expecting a good service life from them. I've never known vegan and/or manufactured materials to last as long and age as gracefully as well cared for leather. (I've gotten up to eight years with resoling mine for example.) I was still willing to give these a try despite those misgivings since Xero does appear to honor their warranties, plus I know how to care for footwear and could likely effect a repair if they chose not to for some odd reason. (A tube of Shoe Goo and some large binder clips will take care of a separating sole for example.) I'm not going to knock them for a 'possibility' though, so the Prios get five stars. (Pic shows the new Prios alongside the loafers.)

Transitioning to such a minimalist shoe was weird. I was having such bad foot and back pain from 16 shifts (walking 10+miles on hard floors). I needed something I could wear my toe spacers in as needed to help correct some foot and posture alignment. These shoes helped with the wide toe box (working with the elderly and seeing how our shoes squish your toes over time was eye opening, so this is my favorite feature about this shoe). How lightweight they are helped with fatigue. The lack of heal is my next favorite feature, I hate inclined heals in shoes as it hurts my knees and feet and can cause flare ups in my plantar fasciitis. These minimalist shoes however don’t help much with shock absorption or protection from hitting the sides of your feet, so my feet do feel ... MoreTransitioning to such a minimalist shoe was weird. I was having such bad foot and back pain from 16 shifts (walking 10+miles on hard floors). I needed something I could wear my toe spacers in as needed to help correct some foot and posture alignment. These shoes helped with the wide toe box (working with the elderly and seeing how our shoes squish your toes over time was eye opening, so this is my favorite feature about this shoe). How lightweight they are helped with fatigue. The lack of heal is my next favorite feature, I hate inclined heals in shoes as it hurts my knees and feet and can cause flare ups in my plantar fasciitis. These minimalist shoes however don’t help much with shock absorption or protection from hitting the sides of your feet, so my feet do feel beat up at the end of the day at times (and also can flare up my plantar fasciitis). I have finally (after years) found a shock absorbing shoe insert that finally makes these my favorite shoes! (Wish you guys at zero shoes made your own just for these shoes so the fit is perfect. could help with transitioning to a minimalist shoe or people with other foot issues?!)These have off and on been my go to shoes for I think 4+ years (for work or for outside walks/biking/errands etc, can’t do hiking the terrain is too rough for me in a minimal shoe my feet feet like they’ve been in a boxing ring). I finally have to retire them after all this time (falling apart in places and I could glue it back together but they have seen so much sweat and puddles and hours of wet feet inside them I can no longer get the stink out even after a baking soda and vinegar bath this time around. Sure beats other shoes where the heals wear down and that creates more foot, knee and back pain. I really appreciate how long these lasted and how much of a beating they took as I don’t have a lot of disposable income. Buying shoes every 6 months for work was killing me, some I was ripping holes in within a month.My biggest con (only other one is the hard impact of these shoes does cause me foot pain without a shock absorbing insert) is sometimes I cannot stand driving in them or any activity I roll my foot back on my heel. The seam of the sole to soft upper part of the shoe just really irritates my back heel and becomes at times very painful! (even without the inserts I put in) Especially for something I have to hold that position for like driving. Maybe something to work on in future designs to help protect the bone and sensitive area there when it is rolled back on the heel? I seriously can’t wear these on road trips if I’m driving because of this and even sometimes switch for my commute drive home. Maybe it’s me (I’m maybe just not there with the flexibility and strength for this level of minimalist shoe?) or daily abuse of my feet cause otherwise these work well for everything but rough/rocky hiking trails.

My son’s size 4 Nike’s were getting worn out, and I wanted to replace them with a pair of the Xero Prio. The sizing information on their site states that the shoes “fit true to size” and they “recommend ordering your regular shoe size”.I ordered and received a pair of the Youth 4 Prio, but they were way too small for my son’s feet. I emailed Xero about the issue and asked for help. They promptly replied with instructions on their exchange process and a note that the Women’s 6 is a half size larger than the Y4. This is where things started going downhill.Without knowing how their size relates to actual length, I didn’t feel like I had the necessary information to pick the correct size. So I measured my son’s feet, sent them the measurements, and asked for a ... MoreMy son’s size 4 Nike’s were getting worn out, and I wanted to replace them with a pair of the Xero Prio. The sizing information on their site states that the shoes “fit true to size” and they “recommend ordering your regular shoe size”.I ordered and received a pair of the Youth 4 Prio, but they were way too small for my son’s feet. I emailed Xero about the issue and asked for help. They promptly replied with instructions on their exchange process and a note that the Women’s 6 is a half size larger than the Y4. This is where things started going downhill.Without knowing how their size relates to actual length, I didn’t feel like I had the necessary information to pick the correct size. So I measured my son’s feet, sent them the measurements, and asked for a recommendation on which size to choose.They responded that they don’t give out size recommendations based on 2 dimensional measurements. They also noted that they have templates available for their sandals, but those templates don’t work for the Prio so they don’t recommend using them.I didn’t have any way of sending them a 3 dimensional model of my son’s foot and I didn’t want to continue with the trial and error approach that they seem to favor, so I asked them for the dimensions of the insole for the Women’s 6.5 Prio.They replied back that, unlike every other shoe company, they do not provide measurements for their closed toed shoes.So after multiple emails over multiple days, my attempts to try to get help on choosing the correct shoe size for my son were unsuccessful. Unlike every other shoe company, Xero won’t provide any type of size to measurement mapping.Xero only offers a full refund if it’s part of an exchange. They said that the Women’s Prio 6.5 should be about the same size as my son’s size 4 Nike, so without any other recourse, I used their trial and error approach and ordered the Women’s size 6.5 Prio for my son. They are still too small.All of the time, effort, aggravation, and frustration are not worth it. I can’t condone giving my money to a company that makes their customers go through that.