Galahad Clark In Barefoot Ted's Group

Several folks have had problems with blistering in the VivoBarefoot Evo, and started a thread about it.

Galahad Clark, CEO of Terra Plana, the company that makes Vivos, pitched in:

"Dear Harry and Friends,

"I want to reiterate the points made by Asher last year.

"It pains me to read that some of you still have problems with the Evo. I want to extend my sincere apologies to anyone that has not had pure joy from these shoes and 'barefoot running' in them.

"Creating the ultimate barefoot running shoe and educating people in the skill of barefoot running is our goal. As a company we do our utmost to incorporate consumer feedback into improving existing products and perfecting designs in development -- we take each and every comment very seriously.

"In the first production run of the Evo we received reports that a small group of customers were experiencing blister problems on the Achilles and toes. While none of our testers experienced such issues, we went back to the drawing board to investigate. We identified the following technical areas for improvement:

"The Achilles rubbing: This was addressed by reducing the counter height and adding a bit of volume to the back of the last. This allowed for a more universal and comfortable fit around the top line of the heel.

"The toe blister: The overlap of 4 layers of microfiber, 3M piping and lace loop reinforcement at the base of the lace gusset, where the tongue attaches to the upper, was causing a build-up of material. The layers have been reduced and softened and we have reduced the density of the PU cage.

"The EVO II is designed with a recycled nylon upper and non-friction Lycra lining, which means any blister issues have been reduced even further. In the rare cases that there are still blister issues – I can recommend the Neo mesh running shoe that has a completely simple and clear mesh upper – please get in touch with me direct if you have had issues with the Evo and feel you deserve a free trial pair of Neos!

"It is very important to us that our customers love our shoes and are confident in their wearability and durability, so, in addition to listening and acting on feedback, we have a sustainability guarantee that exchanges faulty shoes long beyond traditional exchange policies and we will take care of making sure shoes are recycled correctly.

"We are proud to be part of a movement started by a pure demand for a healthier and more natural way of life and driven by a desire for honesty and transparency. We take our role in this very seriously and value feedback when striving for product perfection. Please continue supporting the barefoot shoe movement with your comments and suggestions so that we, and like-minded companies, can continue to make products that allow people to run as nature intended.

"One of our main goal as a company is to educate the skill of barefoot running and we are producing new DVD’s, training programs, eBooks, coaching models and events to support this.

"Please don’t hesistate to get directly in touch if you have any further questions or would like to share any suggestions,

"Sincerely,

"Galahad Clark

"MD, Vivobarefoot"

Well done.

All companies have problems. What seperates good companies from bad ones is how they deal with the problems.  Galahad seems like a class act.