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Choosing Trail Shoes That Fit | Freemind Blog

Trail shoes fail for the same three reasons every time. We break down width, drop and grip so your next pair lasts a full season.

Published recently Six minute read Style notes

Written by the Freemindadventures team

Fit, fabric and footwear advice from South Brisbane

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Most trail shoes get returned for the same three reasons: the toe box pinches on the downhill, the heel lifts on the climb, or the tread is wrong for the surface the runner actually trains on. None of those are about the brand on the side of the shoe. They are all fit problems, and they show up in the first hour of a run, not in the shop mirror. Start with width, not length. Your foot spreads when it lands, and a narrow shoe that feels fine standing still will bruise your little toe by kilometre eight. Step onto a sheet of paper, trace both feet and compare the outlines. Most people find one foot is half a size wider than the other. Buy for the bigger foot and add a heel lock lace if the smaller one slides. Drop matters more than cushioning on technical ground. A shoe with a big height difference between heel and toe encourages a heel strike, which is fine on fire trail and awkward on loose rock. If you are moving from road to trail, try something in the middle range first and give it a few weeks before deciding it is wrong. Grip is the last thing people check and the first thing they regret. Look at the lug depth and the rubber compound, then think about what you run on most. Deep lugs chew through smooth trail quickly. Shallow tread on wet roots or clay is a slip waiting to happen. Buy for the terrain you train on weekly, not the race you have booked in six months.

Talk to a real person

Not sure about sizing or fabric care? Ring the shop and we will sort it out.

Phone +61 7 4928 1736

Email freemindadventures@gmail.com

Address 275 Grey Street, South Brisbane QLD 4101, Australia

From the racks

Looks we keep coming back to

Three outfits our South Brisbane customers wore out of the shop this month.

Layered linen outfit styled by Freemindadventures — Relaxed linen layers for a warm Brisbane afternoon.

Leather ankle boots on a wooden floor — Leather ankle boots that survive a wet commute.

Denim jacket folded on a chair — A denim jacket that only gets better with wear.

Customer note

Why people keep shopping here

I came in for one pair of boots and left with a winter wardrobe that actually fits. They measured my feet and talked me out of the pair I wanted, which turned out to be the right call.

Daniel Mercer

Customer, West End

How we got here

A short history of the shop

Freemindadventures started as a weekend stall and grew into a Grey Street storefront. The way we buy stock has not really changed.

First market stall

A fold-out table, two racks of second-hand denim and a card reader that only worked half the time.

The Grey Street move

We took a small shopfront in South Brisbane and started stocking new footwear alongside the vintage finds.

Online, finally

The same stock now ships Australia wide, still packed by the people who sold it to you.

Freemindadventures

Come in and try it on

275 Grey Street, South Brisbane. Bring the shoes you already own and we will find something that works with them.

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Find us

The store on Grey Street

Two minutes from South Bank, with parking on Grey Street and the busway around the corner.