Teva Zilch sandal review

Teva Zilch sandal

  My experience with the Zilch has been surprising.  I first tried the size 11 and then went down to a size 10.5 and still wonder if a size 10 wouldn't have been an even better fit. 
  I have had to revise this review to highlight that the issues I had were sizing related.   The Zilch seem to run large.   I had this issue with the Proton water shoes a couple of winters ago however thought for some reason that it would be only something about that particular model. 

Blue is Before

Still after wearing the Zilch for months I hope to love them.  So far I only like them.  They have so many qualities of a great minimal shoe but just rub me the wrong way in too many spots.

I first tested these out in the spring in NYC. Walking around all day in new shoes is something I should have known better but I thought for sure these would be fabulous in every way.  I ended up with bandaids all across the top of my foot underneath the strap that goes across the foot.  On both feet.

 Now I have zero issues with rubbing when wearing the smaller size. They fit better around the big toe although the fit of the big toe was never an issue I am less aware of the strap around the toe. They also do not rub across the top of my foot. The second testing of the smaller size was not a day trek around NYC although it has been many long days walking with the family.  At some point when I am feeling better and back to running I will try running in these.  My guess is that they will work fine for running.

I even like the Creme' De Menthe colors better.

  As you can see from the top photo they are very flexible.  If you have experience with Teva you will know that most of their shoes are quite substantial and made for rugged conditions. The Zilch have what they call Spider Rubber for the soles which is both flexible and provide great traction.  I have found that they do really well on slippery surfaces.  So they are lite and yet durable and functional at the same time.
 

  The parts of the sandals that didn't rub and that I thought would were the heel tab and the strap around the big toe.  In fact they are very comfortable.  The toe strap has two parts.  The under strap is stretchy and the outside part is the same leather as the other straps and that hold the shape.  The  heel tab is soft and stays in place.  No sliding on the skin what so ever. 

  The Zilch weighs in at 7 oz which is pretty comparable to many of the minimal shoes out there now.   The ground feel is lacking however the zero drop and flexibility make up for it.   They are meant to be walking/hiking shoes but like I said could very well be running shoes.
 Much like most of the minimal shoes I have tried they look far more substantial in the photos than they actually are.

  They allow for natural splay of the midfoot and move with my foot comfortably. This is another reason why I think they would make descent running shoes.

They are priced at $80 and I think they would last for several summers making it a reasonable purchase.   I had wanted to love these sandals and was happy to find that they are pretty great shoes and only sizing was the issue.