The outsole of this shoe is just a beauty, an utterly beautiful piece of work. The sole unit is designed from a material of Merrell’s design called Vibram; the thing about Vibram is that, like the name, it is very unique. It gets the job done without all of the extra bells and whistles that come with other materials. Essentially, the rubber material in the outsole of the shoe is designed from a highly abrasive rubber material; this material allows the shoe to get high levels of traction without taking away from the flexibility whatsoever. Honestly, the sole unit of the shoe is so thin that it makes no sense. The thin sole unit on this shoe adds to the overall minimalistic effect that Merrell seemed to be going for in the design of the Pace glove; it should be mentioned that it does it rather nicely at that. The Vibram material runs the entire length of the sole unit and has several grooves in place throughout that enable it to really take advantage of the terrain that it was designed for use on.

The Pace Glove has a midsole that is just as thin, if not thinner than the outsole of the shoe. The midsole on this shoe is designed from an EVA foam material that enables the shoe to provide a bit of cushioning without taking away from the flexibility of the shoe; this effect was definitely achieved. The thin cut of the EVA material does take away from the shoe’s ability to comfort the wearer but, on trail surfaces this design is somewhat necessary; it allows the wearer to fully feel the terrain that they are running on which, in turn, results in better footing and an overall more thorough feel of the ground that they are running on. The midsole of the shoe as blend right in with the overall design because of it’s cut and provides the wearer what they need in terms of aesthetics.

The entire upper of the Pace Glove is very much like the upper on its male counterpart in that it conforms, rather snugly at that, to the wearer’s foot; this allows the wearer to achieve an above average fit and level of comfort. The upper is designed from a mesh material and has a few overlays in place that allow it to provide one with a fairly decent level of comfort and style while in use. The overlays on the shoe are designed from a synthetic material that aids the otherwise formless shoe in being sturdy/stable. Aside from that, there is a liner in place on the inside of the shoe that allows the shoe to be worn without socks; this compliments the thin cut of the sole nit and allows the shoe to really be considered a “barefoot shoe”. The lacing on the shoe is rather standard and is done in a way to compliment the mesh design of the upper in that it keeps it snug and ensures that the wearer doesn’t have to worry about the shoe coming off. There isn’t really any support placed on the upper of the shoe; this shouldn’t weigh very heavily on the wearer’s decision solely because of the fact that the shoe is meant for use on trails and needs to allow for a decent range of movement of the foot and its parts.

Look, this is a barefoot shoe. It is not meant to be heavy whatsoever, and it isn’t. The sole of the shoe isn’t very thick, honestly isn’t very thick at all, which adds to the reason why the shoe isn’t very heavy. Before anything else is said, the shoe weighs about 5.8 oz; this is extremely lightweight for a shoe. A barefoot shoe needs to be lightweight so that it can provide the wearer what they need in terms of mobility and flexibility; this is one of the reasons why the shoe provides the wearer with a high level of comfort and why the thin mesh upper that is present on the shoe is there in the first place. The extremely thin overlays that are present in the shoe’s design are also one of the reasons why the shoe is able to retain the lightweight aspects of its design.

Mesh is breathable and the upper of the shoe has tons of it. The upper of the shoe is designed from an extremely porous mesh material that allows it to provide the wearer with a decent level of comfort and actually works to provide the wearer with what they need in terms of flexibility. A porous design is extremely necessary for a shoe that will be used in strenuous terrains that require the level of movement that these shoes are made for. The liner inside of the shoe also works to give it what it needs in terms of comfort and allows the shoe to soak in the sweat that accumulates while the shoe is being used; some may not think this, but this feature is actually extremely necessary for those who will be using the shoe. The lack of various overlays in the shoe’s design also compliments this feature and allows the shoe to retain a level of airflow that would’ve otherwise been impossible.

One of the main contributing factors to the comfort that is provided by this shoe is the fact that the shoe has a mesh upper; mesh has several qualities that allows a shoe to provide the wearer with an extremely high level of comfort and flexibility. The porous nature of mesh allows it to be extremely comfortable; because of this the shoe provides a decent level of airflow mainly due to the excessively placed perforations found all throughout the shoe’s design. The sole unit provides comfort because of the thin cut of it, but, other than that is honestly a hit or miss; the support provided by the shoe isn’t really much to pay attention to so the flexibility and almost non-existent feel of the shoe are all that can really be paid attention to.

These are barefoot shoes plain and simple; they don’t have a whole lot of materials in place throughout the design and are minimal in all other areas, even the color scheme. The colors in the shoe’s design, such as the lighter color for the mesh on the shoe with a bit of darkness in place for the other portions. They come in extremely base colors and actually when worn correctly look rather attractive on foot; the lack of the materials and the thin cut of the shoe overall are the primary reasons for this. With that being said, this shoe can be worn in various places aside from the traditional use because of the lack of material in the shoe’s design; when worn with the right articles of clothing, the shoe looks absolutely fantastic.

These are designed for use on a trail terrain which means that they must have high quality, durable materials in place throughout the design. The shoe’s outsole is the area that must be protected and provide functionality for the wearer regardless of the shoe’s placement; this essentially means that the shoe must be able to gain a decent grip on various surfaces and shouldn’t falter while doing so, and it doesn’t. The upper of the shoe works very well to give the wearer a high level of functionality while in use and definitely doesn’t rip very easily; this is another very important quality of trail shoes; since they are used in such a strenuous environment, they must be able to handle it relatively well.

The fact that this is a barefoot shoe opens the wearer up to the fact that it doesn’t have many, if any “extra” protective features. For starters, the shoe is equipped with a luminescent material on the sides that allow the wearer to be visible in the dark; this material is somewhat necessary as well due to the areas that the she could possibly be used to run in. Aside from that, the upper of the shoe is somewhat void of any of the typical enhancements in terms of protection. The midsole is extremely thin as well as the outsole which kind of opens one up to the fact that they shouldn’t really expect much in the area of protection from these parts of the shoe. It doesn’t have any solid overlays that could work to prevent damage from objects in the surrounding areas; considering that the shoe is known for being lightweight, this is to be expected.

This is a somewhat fickle concept when it comes to the design of this shoe simply due to the fact that the midsole in this shoe is somewhat non-existent. The shoe comes equipped with a midsole that is fashioned primarily from an EVA foam; the thing about the midsole on this shoe is that it’s very thin and provides the wearer with very little if any, cushioning. It does it’s best though and conforms to the shape of the wearer’s foot while the shoe is in use; when this is coupled with the gripping abilities of the midsole, the shoe does provide the wearer with a decent level of responsiveness while in use.

One of the key areas that the shoe doesn’t provide much to is support; the shoe is just too thin and has too little cushioning to give the wearer any level of support. The midsole of the shoe being nothing more but a rather thin layer does it’s best to provide the wearer with a decent level of conformity but, nothing more than that is really available; keep in mind that this is a barefoot shoe and that the wearer will need to gain a feel for the ground that the shoe is being worn on which means that support has to be placed on the backburner when it comes to the design of a shoe.

The capabilities of this shoe in terms of terrain handling are vast; mainly, the shoe was designed to provide the wearer with a high level of functionality on trails though. The outsole of the shoe has a design that simply allows it to take command of the trails and move rather easily over them; the shoe has various grooves in place that work to provide the wearer with a very high range of motion when the shoe is in use, ensuring that one doesn’t have to worry about footing on a terrain such as a trail. The upper of the shoe is highly perforated for a reason; the perforation provide the shoe with a high level of sweat resistance, which is something that one is going to need if they’re going to be wearing the shoes on terrains such as trails.

These shoes have a modest price tag tacked to their box. When one purchases a pair of these they barely have to worry about the shoe requiring them to pay exorbitant amounts of money because it won’t. The modest price tags accompanying the shoe also allows the shoe to provide the wearer with what they need in terms of functionality and are also quite durable; again, durability is something that one wants to place extreme emphasis on when looking to purchase a trail shoe.

The traction provided by this shoe is just what the doctor ordered. For starters, the outsole of the shoe is fashioned from Merrell’s Vibram material; Vibram is inherently sticky and definitely works to improve the grip provided by this shoe. The outsole itself has a tread patterning in the hind-part and the design of the foot in the actual forefoot; this allows the shoe to really flex in the same way as the wearer’s foot and results in the grip of the shoe being very intense and personal. The grip provided by this shoe is of a very high quality and does so even when the shoe is being used for activities in wet environments.

Barefoot shoes are known for providing the wearer with a high range of motion; the Pace glove doesn’t stray from this stigma very much. The glove has a mesh upper that still works to allow the shoe to bend to the will of the wearer’s foot; this is extremely necessary especially considering the fact that the flexibility provided by the glove directly compliments the traction provided to the wearer. The lack of overlays is one of the reasons why the upper of the shoe is so flexible; the other reason being that the shoe is extremely thin in both the sole unit and the material used for the upper (mesh).

Much like the lack of support provided by the shoe, the design of the shoe doesn’t have very many stability features. The upper of the shoe is thin and there simply isn’t enough of the actual overlay to give the wearer that secure feeling; the design of the shoe is meant to signal freedom of the foot, something that simply isn’t present when stability features are in place.

When you see “barefoot shoe” you can generally assume that you’re going to be buying a shoe with a relatively low drop; the drop on this shoe is roughly zero. Merrell’s shoes really go to town in that they provide wearers with the actual feel of the trail.

• Zero-drop
• Vibram outsole
• 5. oz
• EVA midsole

All in all, this is a wonderful shoe, much like it’s male counterpart. The features that come with the design of the shoe such as the extremely low drop and the flexible really allow the shoe to achieve a high level of functionality when the shoe is in use; the outsole on the shoe should also be considered when one is looking to purchase the shoe especially when the sheer grip that it provides is considered. For the price, the Pace Glove 3 simply can’t be beaten; it has way too many features and functions at too high of a level.