These shoes have been a significant part of my life, almost 5 years (through 5 pairs). During that time I did some big races, survived the Covid Pandemic, and thousands of miles in training and daily wear. Having gone through my final pair, I felt like I was losing a comfortable part of me. That’s how good they were!
Overall Score: 9.5/10 **One of my favorite all time shoes**
Comfort: 5/5 **Great toe box for normal feet that want a little extra room but don’t want a huge toe box like Altra**
Durability: 4/5 **See long term durability comment**
Racing/Training: 5/5 **For runs under 15 miles if on pavement and if foot is built up**
Price: $100 retail **Bought most of my pairs for $50 on sale at Merrell.com
These have been by far my favorite shoes over the past couple of years. I had some success with previous versions of this model (I had worn the TG1, TG2, and TG3) but was pumped when I unboxed the TG4.
Right from the start, they fit like a glove, no pun intended. The rounded and wide, yet not overly wide like some of my Altra shoes, was a perfect match for my feet. It gave my toes room to splay and feel natural yet wasn’t so wide that I was sliding around in the shoe causing the dreaded toe to the front of shoe issue that I get with really wide toe boxes.
I loved these so much in fact that I bought 3 more pairs as soon as they went on sale (I do this often when I find those magical pairs that just ROCK!!). My collection was 1x all black pair, 2x red pairs, and 1x grey/red pair that was the waterproof/goretex version. I have put thousands of miles in these shoes walking, running, rock climbing, racing, and was my every day general wear shoes.
A few years ago, I went all in on the minimal/zero drop shoe movement. I had read Born to Run by Christopher McDougall and had seen the silly looking “toe shoes” around the gym years earlier, but I didn’t become a believer until I started practicing the Pose Method for my running stride. By changing my running gait and striking position to be more underneath me, I sought the feedback from the ground on where my foot was hitting. Bulky running shoes with high heel to toe drops dampened this feedback.
I also had started walking barefoot more as a way to strengthen the ligaments and tendons in my foot (plus I will forever be scarred by my Spartan Death Race that involved hiking on Vermont logging trails barefoot after the instructors took our shoes and most of our clothes). The TG4 were a great way to bridge the gap between intentional foot conditioning and every day life.
Without going down the rabbit whole too far, I feel the Vibram Five Finger toe shoes failed because they were not only ugly, but the marketing did a such great job pushing them as a health product that it ultimately hurt a lot of people. It wasn’t their fault entirely, it was the human nature idea that “if some is good, then more is better” that got people hurt. People switched overnight from highly padded shoes to minimal shoes and then compounded it by running/training in them all the time.
Determined not to make that mistake, I slowly broke into my TG1’s like I would have basketball trainers as a kid. First I wore them only at home to break them in and to get use to them. Then I used them during warm up at the gym. Then I added miles slowly. Then they transitioned to my everyday shoes. Then they were my 90% of my shoe use. By then my achilles, calves, and soft tissue in my foot had built a system strong enough to withstand their use. Now my feet are stronger than ever and I rarely get foot pain at 39 (not ready to say 40 just yet!).
But back to these shoes. Their simple tongue integrated design allowed for light lacing techniques and kept most of the debris out of my shoe. They were well ventilated (except for the waterproof version), light, and pretty durable. As a result, all 4 pair only wore out when the rubber wore almost all the way through after long term use. I had always chose the Trail Glove series over the Vapor Glove series because the extra rubber was great on trails, wasn’t as slick on wet surfaces, and lived a little longer.
I never tried out the TG6 series because I was still rocking the TG4’s. Unfortunately when I ordered the TG6’s, they had changed the base model. It was less flexible, slightly more narrow, and had an added arch support that did not agree with me. Add disappointment that the color schemes were a bore. So I sent back my TG6s not wanting to kill the vibe I had grown with the model series. This makes me even more sad that my last pair of TG4 just wore out š
Here is another review of the Merrell Trail Glove 4 from our friends at RunRepeat.com: CLICK HERE
Fortunately the TG7s were just released. Unfortunately they look like a step in the wrong direction and closer to a platform lifter that was lost in the woods too long. As a result, I will be branching out and trying a few new brands that have evolved in the minimal/zero drop field as well as scouring eBay for some of the previous TGs that maybe never got attention from their owners š
