so in this video i'm going to do something a little bit different and take a look at a
brand new hiking shoe that i've never worn before with some new technology which is exciting because
boot technology really hasn't changed that much in the last i don't know 15 years this boot or rather
shoe is the keen ridge flex they sent it to me asked me to make a video about my first
impressions so i'm going to whack these bad boys on tie them up take a little hike and tell
you what i think this is going to be a little nostalgic for me because i haven't worn a boot
like this in a very long time i think my first or maybe my second pair of hiking boots ever
were from keane and the reason why i got them was because i walked into a store in australia
called mountain designs which i later worked at and they said well you've got a big fat foot
and because you have a big fat foot you should be wearing a keen because all of their lasts or
a lot of their shoes are made on a wide last if you've seen a few of my videos you'll probably
know two things first i'm really not a big fan of boots i actively avoid wearing boots at all costs
and secondly i'm a personal trainer so i like to talk about anatomy and physiology in my videos
and in this case we're going to be talking about the anatomy of the feet and in particular we're
going to be talking about toe extension or this movement which obviously happens a lot when you're
going uphill now if you look closely at this boot you'll see something new that yellow part there
is what keener calling bellows flex so this is something new to the hiking boot
shoe world so i thought it was worth talking about so i guess the idea with this rubber section here
that keener going for is to not only reduce the amount of friction you get from boots when you're
going uphill but also to reduce the amount of wear and tear this area here is a really common area
where boots tend to fail after you know 500 or a thousand miles so what keen have done have tested
this rubber to a million times i believe they did that toe extension under load during their testing
but that's all well and good in the lab we're gonna test it now let's take a hike
so i was hoping to bring this video to you from a slightly more interesting location but i haven't
been able to leave the city for about eight weeks so this is about as good as it gets on the hills
behind barcelona without being able to go to the pyrenees unfortunately it might be like that for
a little while due to the uh c-word that we shall not mention so depending on what type of hiking
footwear you usually use you might find that this is a whole new world of movement for your
foot for me because i usually wear trail runners which are obviously very lightweight i'm used to
that amount of flexion but it is really nice to have the combination of a really sturdy base and
then also have what is quite a lightweight shoe that allows a lot of movement through that area
time for the downhill test i don't really anticipate any problems because you know these
aren't a boot they're a shoe so there's no problem for the ankle to flex and extend fully should be
absolutely fine but this is uh about the most extreme terrain i can find on this little hill
above barcelona let's try out this rubber on some trickier type of terrain here it's always
a good sign when shoes can just kind of hang on to steep rock like this let's see how we go
yeah pretty good there's still a little uh rock hopping here i like to be able to move
freely over this kind of terrain without too much restriction
so that's nice i mean to be fair the amount of tread on these things is like
a tractor so i expected to be able to move around you know pretty confidently like this
well they're pretty grippy they've got a five mil tread on the bottom which seems like to me
relatively soft rubber but also you know that has its benefits in terms of how long it will last
i'm going to do another follow-up video in about six months that'll get into some of the more you
know endurance aspects king shoes definitely have a distinct style i think you can pick clean shoes
from a mile away and i think that's partly due to their focus being on function rather than fashion
usually when you have a boot that is a little goofy looking there's probably a good reason
behind that design part of having a wide shoe design that enables your toes to spread out widely
and stabilize you as they're meant to do means that the shoe is not going to be quite as sleek
and as sexy as other shoe varieties so that's something that you might appreciate if you aren't
necessarily in this hiking thing for the fashion but if you're looking for a shoe that's going
to be functional very stable and good grip then honestly this is a great shoe to start off with
would i choose this shoe to go out and buy for me personally i wouldn't the reason why is because
oftentimes when i'm hiking i'm actually running with a backpack on so this is
going to restrict me from doing that so personally i wouldn't choose to wear this
now doing the kind of hikes that i tend to do that's why i choose to wear trail runners however
the reason why i'm reviewing the shoes not for me to get a free pair of shoes is to show an example
of a good beginner's hiking boot or not even a beginner but someone that needs that extra
supportive base of a really nice wide shoe with a lot of support through the mid-foot something
that's gonna you know make you feel safe and secure when you're on uneven surfaces and that's
what probably 90 of people out there are looking for in hiking footwear and at the same time you
probably don't want a big heavy fully supported you know leather boot that's going to take you
50 miles to wear in one of the good things about this shoe is that you can put it on and go hiking
straight away there's no real wearing in process that you have to do with a shoe like this for
those that are looking to get into a little bit more serious hiking carrying a little bit more
in their backpack then you're going to want to look for a shoe that has a wider base of support
you know with some good grip and just the basic things that a good hiking shoe should have
while we're talking about features i'll whip the shoe off and we'll have a closer look at
it firstly there is a heel lock here by the looks of it so if you look closely you'll notice that
this taping locks the heel down it looks like it pins underneath under the heel of the shoe here
and it also connects here into the laces so when you sit the laces down you've got a bit
of a heel lock action meaning that your heel is locked safely here in place where it should be at
the back of the boot the shoe is waterproof at least up to around here it has king dry
that's keane's own version of something like gore-tex it's a waterproof breathable membrane
so there's some of the features that stand out to me let's keep going we'll dive into the specifics
a little more some of this is kind of loose and sketchy which is always a good testing ground
oh you know what these could be good for what i might end up using them for is an approach shoe
because they're waterproof they're light they're stable and i feel quite safe having you know
10 12 kilos in the backpack and moving up and down this sort of stuff
so i think that's where i'll end up using them that's if they ever let me out of the city
found a cave so at least if my youtube career doesn't work out i've got something to stay
but one of the things i don't like about big heavy structured boots is that you lose that
connection to the ground i want to be able to feel when there's loose rock something slippery under
my foot so i can make a better decision because a lot of the time i'm moving over terrain like this
and you know without a rope for better for worse for for speed so having that relationship
you know between your feet and the ground is super important and not something i want to miss out on
so on the more steeper rockier terrain one thing i really notice the difference between
wearing trail runners and something like this even though this is a shoe this is built on
the base of a boot you know what i mean so it's really wide to be honest i quite like it i like
having that extra level support it's been so long since i've worn a shoe like this the one
thing that does concern me and the reason why i've tended to shy away from footwear like this
is because it does tend to make your foot a little bit lazy but as long as you're doing you know the
strength training and the preparation to keep a really good strong foot and a mobile ankle you
shouldn't have any problems some of you might have questions about barefoot style shoes or for me in
particular why i chose not to wear a barefoot shoe when i did the gr11 and it simply comes
down to the risk versus the reward so yes over the long term i definitely want to be transitioning to
doing most of my movement and including walking in a barefoot style of shoe the risk just wasn't
worth the reward for me and my approach is as always is a long term thing so long term i want
to be moving towards you know being 99 barefoot there's always going to be those occasions when
you'll need some more structure you know it's certainly nice to have the option for some more
stability uh and some more support in a shoe on some occasions so what's the verdict here with
this shoe after an hour or so of being in the shoe i think when it comes down to it uh this is a wide
stable um very grippy supportive shoe and like i said if you're new to hiking or if you don't have
really strong ankles and strong feet and you want to get out and challenge yourself and go into
some more unpredictable you know more extreme kind of environments and you want a shoe that's
going to support you do that then i think this is a great shoe to do that with the thing about
the bellows and the toe flexion yeah it's cool i like to see new technology and shoes for sure
is a complete game changer for me it's not simply because of the style of shoe that i wear already
already allows for a lot of flexion like that but if you've always worn rigid shoes and you're
looking for something that's a little bit lighter a little bit more nimble but still has that good
solid base and maybe this is worth trying out but i wanted to thank keane for placing there trusting
me to get this information out and also just for making boots that are made on wide last there's
honestly very few hiking boots at least that i'm aware of that are made to be nice and wide and
accommodating when it comes to the foot if you are sick of your foot being trapped in one of
these skinny sleek european hiking boots then i think this is a good option for you to try out
guys that's the video i hope you enjoyed it the like button if you learned something um comments
and questions you know where to put them i'll see you on the summit it's a real hazy day out here
we have these days in barcelona where we actually have the sand that blows across the mediterranean
from the sahara and it just covers the city in this thick orange haziness it's kind of beautiful
you