Here's what I have been up to since I posted my first review of the new Invisible Shoes FeelTrue 6mm huaraches.
I absolutely love the soles, but the nylon cords just weren't working for me for running. I had quite a bit of heel slippage and, when I tightened the cords to prevent the slippage, they dug into my heels too much. I also noted that they felt a little "sloppy" in the front, although I never missed a landing. So, I decided to play around with my FeelTrue soles to see what I could do to make them better for me. First I tried the laces from my old Chuck Taylors. I used the tying style where strap makes a V across the top of the foot, goes through the ankle holes, around the heel, and then ties on top (like the Branca sanals). The wider laces were more comfortable, but I didn't really like the look and the floppy knot on top was bothersome while running. Then I tried 3/4 inch elastic nylon, but it was too wide and just didn't hold well. Neither did the thin bungee cord I tried after that. So, I looked at several different huarache designs on the interwebs and decided that the single nylon climbing strap/buckle method used by the Bedrock folks would be ideal. The design is also similar to the minimalist tying style posted on the Invisible Shoes site and that I was previously using. The only real difference is the use of the webbing instead of the cord and the buckle instead of a knot.
With a little research, I easily found the 1/2-inch flat climbing webbing and ladder buckles on-line. All-in-all, this modification cost about $10 (with shipping costs for 12 feet of the webbing and buckles), and I had enough materials to also re-do my original Invisible Shoe 4mm Cherry soles.
The only real change I had to make to the FeelTruesole was to cut a 1/2-inch slit at the ankle holes for the strap to go through. Once that was done, I was able to thread the toe strap through the hole in the toe (with quite a bit of difficulty) and then thread the rest of the strap through the ankle holes in the sole to complete the design. When finished, it is very similar to the Bedrock sandal in design.
To get the toe strap through the sole, I took a hint from one of Barefoot Ted's videos and cut a 1/2 inch slit in the end of the strap. That allowed me to thread a smaller piece of the strap through the hole and then pull the rest through with a pair of pliers. I then cut off the two pieces where the slit was and burned the cut edge to seal it.
For the toe strap under the sole, I glued that to the sole using Shoe Goo and then covered it with another layer of Shoe Goo for protection. It is a bit raised, but it isn't very noticeable when running. I have about 30 miles on them since the mod, and the Shoe Goo is holding up quite well. Another way to do it is to melt the nylon and flatten it into a hard little button that won't slip back through the hole. I'm going to try that later.
Adjustments with the buckle are fairly easy (but not as easy as the Bedrocks seem to be from their videos), and they actually hold really well. Better than I thought they would. I ran the first 3.5 miles of the Chicago Half Marathon in them (I ran the rest barefoot) and have added many miles since then. They have held onto my feet really well, and I have not had to make any adjustments. I also really like how this design eliminates the looseness when the sandal is off the ground that I felt with the original nylon laces. Oh, and the flat webbing is very comfortable. Tubular webbing would probably be even better.
It took a bit to get the strap just right so that the heel portion would stay in place. Since then, it hasn't slipped at all.
Overall, this modification is pretty simple and works very well. It takes some planning and effort, but is generally pretty simple. For me, it is a definite improvement over the original Invisible Shoes laces.
I would recommend this mod to any body who seeks a little more comfort and security from their FeelTrue sandals, especially for runners.
I have attached some pictures of the finished product.