Unless you have been completely out of the loop, a few weeks back iPath started making a few real big moves in their BMX department for 2012. They picked up the BMX shoe guru Brian Osborne and shortly after announced the addition of Van Homan, Seth Kimbrough, Shane Weston and Alex Magallan. Now, unless you just don’t care about BMX, this is a pretty big deal. The brand needed a pretty big change to really start appealing to riders again. Without any doubt, I think they hit things right on the nuts with this crew.
With all of the goodness coming from them, I decided it would probably be a good time to take a closer look at the brands products. In this review, I’ll give you the break down of their Grasshopper Vibram shoe along with some Insight to two other shoes that I’ve been trying out for a few weeks now; the Stash and Iconic.
Let’s jump into this…
All right, so fresh out of the box. I’m running the Grasshopper shoe with the Vibram sole. Other than my fancy shoes I have to wear to all my friends weddings these days, I don’t own a pair of brown shoes. This is a win in the color option, especially with trails season just starting to get fired up. I should probably clarify that the color of these shoes are actually Monks Robe with Cow Skull accents. The shoes are lighter than the shot above from the iPath site but that’s partially due to shooting these photos in the sun and everything too.
Upon first glance, I’m really digging the mid-style design with the strap. They have a similar look to Aaron Ross’ Number Mid with the strap and everything which is a real good thing since I loved those shoes.
Above I mentioned the “Vibram” sole. What the hell is that you say? Well, if you think you have seen that name somewhere else then you probably have. Here’s some Wikipedia action about the brand. In short, they are a sole manufacturer that, from my understanding, have some of the best rubber in the shoe industry. They’re designed to be grippy, but still maintain durability. Two things that are real important when it comes to keeping your feet on the pedals. iPath teamed up with them for a few different models of their shoes and I think it was a solid decision.
All right, so let’s break this shoe down a little more specifically. The Grasshopper is made from a waxed suede (Monk’s Robe) and organic canvas (Cow Skull) material. They kept the shoe pretty slim and avoided going for the extra poof and material you can find on a number of shoes these days. This keeps the shoe looking dialed, the weight down and they aren’t hotter than your mothers oven after two minutes of riding. All good features.
Looking closer you can really see what all the hype is about using high quality materials and construction. The stitching is doubled and tripled all throughout the shoe.
The brand as a whole is more focused on skateboarding, so they definitely put some strength and extra material in places where shoes usually blow out for both BMX and skateboarding which is always a good sign.
The Grasshopper has a few aesthetic additions that I think they did a good job of keeping it from screaming “LOOK AT OUR BRANDING!”. You can find the iPath logo on the side, heel, strap, tongue and on the footbed. You can also find two eyelets on the “inside” side of the shoes which help with air flow. The only downside to this is if you catch yourself in about an inch of water you will be s.o.l in the staying dry department.
I know some people are partial to the strap look. I personally am a fan of it since I’m generally lazy and would rather just slip my shoes on than tie and untie them every time. The strap makes that a little easier since the laces don’t have to run all the way up and then just pull the strap over and you are set. Hey, style matters when you dream that all velcro shoes would be cool.
Having the strap is also is a bonus since it really helps keep the shoe snug and supportive on the ankles.
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All right, so I’d imagine by now you are seeing some of the places where the shoes definitely saw some wear from riding. If you look at the photos you will find wear marks along the inside where the cranks typically run, some wear on the right front toe from some foot jam action and a little bit of wrinkling on the heel from slipping the shoes on all the time….
Going into this, I was informed that these Vibram soles were tough while still being soft and grippy, so I wanted to really focus in on that since those two don’t really go together. As you can see from the photo above, there was definitely some wear from the pedals. I have been running the trusty metal Animal Hamilton pedals the whole time, so that’s why you will see the most wear right in the middle of the shoe. This combination along with the crazy pattern also prevented the feet from slipping the pedals which is always a good thing.
Surprisingly, there really wasn’t all that much damage and I guess Vibram’s reputation upheld to what I was told. If you run brakes and plastic / nylon pedals, I have a feeling you really won’t see much damage at all to the soles. I doubt I’d have much of any wear if I was running plastic pedals.
Overall, the Grasshopper from Ipath is a real solid shoe. The look of the shoe is dialed and the construction held together really well. I was definitely stoked on having the strap and the Vibram sole maintained it’s reputation. I also really liked that the soles didn’t feel thin and absorbed impacts really well. Being able to walk after a session trying failed tailwhips over and over to flat is definitely a perk to failure.
If I could make some changes, I really think the only thing I would do is another colorway. Don’t get me wrong, I like the brown option but these would be mega dialed in a black with grey or red accents. The non-vibram sole version of the shoe that I mention below comes in exactly that option…
You can currently pick the Grasshopper Vibram up for $100.00 on the Ipath site in the Monk’s Robe / Cow skull color in sizes 7-14.
Not feeling the color or price? Well, they have another version of the Grasshopper without the Vibram sole that comes in three different colors (Black / Gum / Rasta – White / White / Gum – and Blue Oasis / Cow skull) for $80.00 right here or $69.99 on Dan’s Comp.
Still not into the shoes? Well, CLICK HERE to check out an Insight gallery to take a closer look at the Stash and Iconic shoe!
For more information on iPath — ipath.com
