Initial impressions

• The TrailFly Zero Wide has a very anatomically designed toebox, with an even wider toebox than Lone Peak's.
• The TrailFly Zero Wide has a bit of an aggressive tapering at the outer toes, similar to the tapering of Vivo shoes. Still, compared to the insoles against the Altra's, the Inov8's insoles are actually wider than Altra's, which was a pleasant surprise.
• The TrailFly Zero's cushioning feel a bit stiffer than the Lone Peak's, but I have not broken them in yet.
• I prefer the outsole design of the Lone Peak's on paper, but I haven't actually tested them out.
• I love that the Inov8s are 23g lighter than the Altras.

Inov8 TrailFly Zero V2 Wide vs. Altra Lone Peak 9+ (size 44) comparison table

metric	Inov8 TrailFly Zero V2 Wide	Altra Lone Peak 9+
price	170 EUR	150 EUR
drop	0 mm	0 mm
stack height	22 mm	25 mm
insole max width	11 m	10 mm
weight	301 g	324 g

Context

I ran a 128K ultra in Altra Lone Peak 9+s (link) two weeks ago, where I was able to finish the ultra but ended up with huge blisters on my big toes. Despite really liking the shoes otherwise, I decided I needed to find an alternative ultra shoe that hopefully won't give me the blistering issues I faced with the Lone Peaks.

To find alternative ultra shoes, I tried to find trail running shoes that:

• Are zero drop
• Have anatomical toe boxes
• Have enough support (around 20mm) to last ultra-distance runs past 100K

Excluding Altras, there actually weren't that many, and I only found two other brands that made shoes that fit the bill:

• Topo Athletics, Pursuit 3
• Inov8
  • TrailFly Zero V2 Wide
  • MudTalon Zero V2 Wide
  • TrailTalon Zero

I tried out the Topo Pursuit 3 in person at a local running store, but I didn't like the arch support and how tight they felt at the midfoot, presumably due to the arch support. I also didn't like the rounded & elevated design of the front, instead of the shoes sitting flatter on the ground like a neutral shoe should. The toebox also felt much more narrower than I liked, and it didn't feel like my toes had enough room to splay out naturally.

On the other hand, I used to really enjoy trail running in Inov8 shoes back in 2016 (previously used Terraclaw 220 and Trailroc 245), so I wanted to give Inov8 another shot, especially with their move back into natural running-inspired design philosophy called NATURALFIT:

>Our new design and fit ensures the foot controls the shoe, not the other way round. It's as nature intended.

The Talon shoes seemed to be a bit more niche and specialized, while the TrailFly shoes seemed to cover a wider range of terrain variety, so I decided on the TrailFly shoes.

While I haven't taken them out for a test run yet, I love how they feel on my feet. I am especially impressed at the anatomical design of the toeboxes, and I did not expect them to actually be wider than the Lone Peak 9+s. I just hope that I won't have similar blistering issues with them.

Side note, the shoes were strangely quite difficult to find, and I only found 2 pairs left in stock in my local running store, 1 of which miraculously happened to be my size in the wide version. If I like them, I may need to stock up on them when I next visit the UK, Inov8's home domicile.

Disclaimer: The shoes were provided to me by Lono as a review unit, but no editorial input was provided by Lono.

Album

Link

Summary

The Flow 2s by Lono are some of the most innovative minimalist shoes I've seen, with incredible attention to detail and character. They are functional, comfortable, breathable, grippy, and stylish. However, they are a bit heavy and have more support than what I personally look for in my everyday shoes. Overall, they make for amazing gym and indoor training shoes, and can also be a good everyday shoe if you are okay with some support.

The pros of the shoe:

• Very competitive price point at less than 100 EUR, compared to 170 EUR for Vivobarefoot Motus Strength II or 150 EUR for Xero XT Max
• Comfortable and breathable knit material
• Grippy outsoles that prevent slippage on surfaces like weightlifting platforms
• Sleek and anatomical design
• Innovative and creative features I haven't seen often or at all in other shoes
  • A small notch in the outsole's sides that decreases pressure, stress and pinching from the rubber (common in Vivo shoes as shown here)
  • Small cushions at both sides of the inner heels to help with heel lock (picture)
  • The shoe lacing system designed so that the knot of your shoelaces sit slightly off-center from the shoes, preventing pressure on the top of your foot
  • The tabi splits on the outsoles that allow for more flexible foot positioning (picture
  • The sidewalls that help with lateral movement
  • The removable insoles, two pairs of shoelaces and a quick-lace system that gives extra customization options
  • Small design details that give the shoe character, such as the left insole/inside being engraved with "Lono" and the right with "Flow", and the right outsole being engraved with "be water" and the left outsole being engraved with "in flow"
• The cons of the shoe:
  • They are a quite heavy at 302g per pair (size 43 with insoles), compared to the Merrell Vapor Glove 5s that weigh in at 179g per pair (size 44).
  • The combined stack height with the insoles is 7mm (3mm base + 2mm tread + 2 mm insole = 7 mm total), which is more than I like in my everyday and gym shoes.
  • The shoe volume is perfect with the insoles, but becomes too roomy for my feet without the insoles.

Full review

My use cases for the Flow 2

I have been wearing minimalist shoes for over a decade, and I wear them for my everyday shoes as well as for sports, which is mainly ultra/trail running, but I also enjoy squash, resistance training (Olympic weightlifting and powerlifting), and cycling.

I currently use the Merrell Vapor Glove 5 as my versatile, do-it-all shoe. It is:

• My daily, everyday shoe
• Gym shoe
• Emergency road and trail running shoe
• My travel shoe

They are possibly one of my favorite minimalist shoes, but they are discontinued, so I am looking for an alternative, versatile shoe that can fill in its spot when my pair inevitably bites the dust. These are the use cases my Merrell Vapor Glove 5s currently fulfill, and what the alternative shoe should also ideally fulfill (decision flowchart).

Enter the Lono Flow 2, an indoor training-focused gym shoe that can also handle light running. I wanted to see if the Lono 2s were able to handle everything I wanted to use it for, so I put it to the test with several weeks of testing at the gym.

The Lono Flow 2s at the gym

With the Lono Flow 2s, I did several types of resistance workouts:

• Heavy squats and deadlifts
• Olympic lifts
• HIIT/circuit training
• Upper body push pull
• Unilateral + stability exercises

The Flow 2s performed extremely well in all scenarios, and I was particularly impressed with:

• The non-slip outsoles were when working with barbells on smooth weightlifting platforms
• The grip of the shoes when doing sled pushes/pulls by pushing off from artificial grass
• The support and feet + ankle stability when doing explosive movements like box jumps or the Olympic lifts
• The additional flexibility of the feet thanks to the tabi splits on the outsoles, which were handy when doing movements where I am lifting off from the toes (split jerk, turkish get up, sled push, ball slam, etc.)
• The firm ground stability and support when lifting heavy from the ground (squats + deadlifts)

I am unfortunately unable to compare them to similar training-specific shoes such as the Vivobarefoot Motus Strength II or the Xero XT Max, but I feel more confident in the gym with Flow 2s than I do with my Vapor Glove 5s.

Overall, as a gym performance shoe, the shoes met and exceeded all my expectations, and they have become my favorite gym shoe.

The Lono Flow 2s as everyday shoes

The Lono Flow 2s also make for good everyday shoes, thanks to:

• The comfortable and breathable knit uppers
• The stylish look and design of the shoes
• Roomy toebox that allows for toe splay

However, they are a bit heavy at 302g per pair (size 43 with insoles) compared to the 179g of the Vapor Glove 5s (size 44), which make the shoes feel clunky when walking around in them. The extra training-focused additional features are wonderful for the gym, but weigh down the shoes outside of the gym.

Also, like all knit material shoes, they don't do well in the rain and will completely soak up any water, making the already-heavy shoes even heavier. This is a trade-off all knit material shoes and not necessarily unique to the Flow 2s, but if you live in a rainy environment, the Flow 2s won't make for suitable everyday shoes.

Finally, with the insoles, the shoes offer 7mm of support (3mm base + 2mm tread + 2 mm insole), which is too much support for everyday shoes for me. I personally like my everyday shoes to be as light, flexible and minimal as possible, but those who are newer to minimalist footwear or just want some extra padding in their everyday shoes for whatever reason would appreciate the extra support.

A great design about the shoe is that if you don't want as much support, you can easily remove the insoles to get the stack height down to 5mm. I tried this for a while, but I found that it results in too much volume in the shoe that decreased my foot stability during workouts, so I put the insoles back in. If you have high volume feet and want more ground feel in your everyday shoes, the Flow 2s without the insoles would be a fantastic choice for you.

Overall, they are pretty good everyday shoes, but I still prefer my Vapor Gloves for the weight and ground feel.

Conclusion

The Lono Flow 2s have a LOT going for it - competitive price, comfortable + anatomical + stylish design, and all the innovative features in the shoe that make it a fun and performant training shoe. They have become my favorite shoes to wear at the gym.

The extra support and training-specific features that make the shoes amazing at the gym mean that they are a bit heavy outside of it, but some may want the extra support in their everyday shoes.

I am especially impressed with the careful thought and design decisions that went into the shoe, and I look forward to seeing what Lono's other models have to offer. As a trail runner, I am particularly interested in testing out the Verve trail running shoes next.

Bonus: BareTOE socks mini-review

I was lucky enough to qualify for a free pair of the BareTOE socks with my Flow2 order. It's a great sock that doesn't have the toe-restricting feeling regular socks without the hassle of putting on toe socks. The grippers on the bottom of the socks are great for preventing slippage inside your shoes or while walking around with socks indoors.

They ride a bit too high for my personal taste when wearing shorts in the summer, but they should make for great winter socks, as toe separation in toe socks is not good for bodyheat retention.

I still prefer the softer fabric feel of my Injinji toesocks especially when running, but I really enjoy the BareTOE socks for everyday wear.

After my recent DNF at 70K from a 112K ultra due to foot and organ fatigue, I decided to mix in some unshod runs in my training to work on foot strengthening and to perfect my running form.

For today's recovery run, I started with my Xero Z-Trek sandals for the first 2K and then ran the remaining 4K barefoot, and wow, what a difference being barefoot makes to my running form!

I've been using minimalist shoes since 2011 (started with VFFs, and now mostly use Vivos), and I considered myself a pretty experienced minimalist runner, having completed road marathons and 70K trail runs in minimalist shoes.

But running barefoot has made me feel like an absolute beginner again. And I am really enjoying all the new learning I'm doing based on the feedback provided by my soles.

Even if you are an experienced minimalist runner, I highly recommend taking off your shoes for at least a couple kilometers, and seeing how much you are forced to have good form when you don't have any shoes to fall back on.

P.S. Ran past a girl in her 20s today and heard a loud "EWW! What the F!!" Made me chuckle.