REVIEW: GROUNDIES BALANCE: Barefoot trainers for the whole summer

REVIEW: GROUNDIES BALANCE: Barefoot trainers for the whole summer REVIEW: GROUNDIES BALANCE: Barefoot trainers for the whole summer

Stories and Brands Selecting and Maintaining Barefoot Shoes Reviews

Looking for barefoot trainers that are airy, easy to look after, fit brilliantly and will support you in the desert as well as in the city? Groundies Balance are the right choice.

Tested model

GROUNDIES BALANCE VEGAN Woman

Intended use

city, from spring to autumn

Upper material

bamboo viscose fibre and recycled polyamide

Lining

breathable microfibre

Sole

TrueSense® GP1 with a 5mm base sole and 2.5mm tread

Fit

roomy in the toe box, suitable for medium to narrower feet

Shoe height

low

Colour options

black

Available sizes 

37–47

Price

2 990 Kč

Testing conditions

mountains, hills, asphalt, Middle Eastern desert April–May 2023

Manufacturer

Groundies

I work in the Middle East. I move through all sorts of environments, terrain and conditions. Most of the time it’s warm to hot, sometimes unexpected rain comes along and it cools down sharply. At the same time, I spend quite a lot of time in cities, where I try to dress at least reasonably smart and “city-appropriate”. I alternate city life with hikes in the mountains.

What do I expect from my shoes? That they’re breathable, look elegant, have a decent non-slip sole and are easy to clean. After a consultation at naBOSo, we chose Groundies Balance—and I headed straight from the shop to the airport in them.

Main pros:

  • elegant look (for me, a big plus is that they don’t look like barefoot shoes at first glance)
  • non-slip sole for all kinds of terrain
  • easy to wipe clean
  • breathable
  • environmentally friendly
  • excellent fit on the foot
  • lightweight

Main cons:

  • they can be a bit slippery on smooth wet surfaces
  • without socks, they start to “smell” (editor’s note: this article may come in handy Ditch the socks: even barefoot, you can feel comfortable in your shoes and keep your feet fresh)

Key features

The Groundies Balance trainers are designed for walking in warmer conditions (from spring to autumn). That’s why the upper is made from bamboo viscose fibre and recycled polyamide, which allow air to circulate. Thanks to the TrueSense® GP1 sole with a 5mm base sole and 2.5mm tread, the shoe is stable and lightly cushioned—something I tested more than once while travelling. Jumping, scrambling, descents and even a short run are no problem.

At first glance, they don’t look like typical barefoot shoes—but of course they’re completely flat with zero drop, a wide toe box, and they follow the shape of your foot beautifully. Travellers will also appreciate that they’re very flexible, easy to pack and extremely light. Personally, I was a bit worried about the fit—according to the description they’re meant for medium and narrower feet, which I unfortunately don’t have, but even on my medium-to-wider feet they fit brilliantly.

They lace up with classic laces. Of course, you can slip in and out without untying them, but I felt it had quite a negative effect on their shape—precisely because the upper is made from such a thin material.

Testing under real conditions

Yemen

I took the new trainers on a week-long trip to Yemen first, where we were welcomed by pleasant 30-degree temperatures and higher humidity. I walked mainly on asphalt, with the odd bit of stone here and there, sand on the beach, and so on.

I’m not the type who wears barefoot shoes all year round. In fact, these are only my second pair—the first I wore in Africa until they literally fell apart. But that was mainly on the sand of the Sahara, so I was a bit nervous about longer walks on anything other than sand. My feet are used to city shoes, boots, trainers, court shoes… basically everything—and now a week in barefoot shoes. I was more than pleasantly surprised.

The shoes fit absolutely perfectly, handled every type of terrain, didn’t slip on smooth stone, and my feet didn’t hurt in any way. At the same time, my feet didn’t overheat in them—and in the evening, when it cooled down, they weren’t cold either. Still… following the classic “advert-style” approach, I wore them for a week without socks, which I won’t be doing again with any shoes. In a hot week, even the high breathability didn’t help, and by the end of the trip they weren’t exactly fresh.

Back home, I was figuring out how to get rid of the smell—and completely against the “how to care for your shoes” section, I simply threw them in the washing machine. I meant to wash them on a hand-wash cycle, but apparently I selected some hardcore programme. I was dreading what would happen to the trainers, but they came out looking like new and there wasn’t a trace of odour left. Which is great, because scrubbing them by hand would have taken several rounds.

Syria

Once the shoes were clean and fresh, they didn’t stay at home for long—I took them to Syria. This time I packed low socks so the Yemen mishap wouldn’t happen again. In Syria, the walks were longer. Whether it was strolling around the paved and tarmacked centre of Damascus, where we walked almost twenty kilometres, standing around in museums, or clambering through the ruins of destroyed Palmyra.

The shoes handled every terrain without any issues including the very stony and sometimes sharp ground of the Syrian semi-desert and in the evening, when I wiped the dust off with a damp cloth, they still looked like new. I could comfortably swap my dusty trousers for something smarter and head out to a bar or a tea house. And what’s more—for me at least, as someone who has been dealing with foot pain for years due to a fallen transverse arch — my feet didn’t hurt.

Final verdict

From the very first moment, they fit brilliantly, didn’t need breaking in, and there were no scuffs or even a small blister. In Turkey, I tried wearing them for a short morning run—running isn’t what they’re designed for, but they handled a 20-minute jog before breakfast reasonably well.

I also like that the trainers are vegan, made in the EU, and should also be produced in a climate-neutral way. I’ll admit I’m not vegan myself, but I do believe it’s better to own fewer high-quality things than to drown in low-quality ones. One amazing steak a month rather than cheap salami every day. I see it the same way with shoes: I’d rather have one great pair that meets as many of my criteria as possible than twenty different pairs.

Groundies Balance are, in my view, ideal shoes for anyone with a varied summer ahead who wants trainers that will support them whatever the plan. What’s more, they weigh next to nothing and practically disappear in your backpack.

As for sizing: following the guide on the website, I chose a larger size (I’m a 39, so I went for 40), but my foot was swimming in them. The 39 fit like a glove. So I’d definitely recommend trying them on in person at one of the naBOSo shops if these are your first Groundies.

Author: Lenka Hrabalová – traveller, guide, interpreter 

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