I wore minimalist footwear for a while and still own a pair of Vibrams and a pair of wide toe box sneakers.That said, no minimalist footwear has come close to the performance of Metcons for me. Yeah, I trade off having my toes squeezed some, but in exchange I get the most stable sneaker I have ever worn. That stability translates to safety during lifts and when I need to sprint. My previous Metcons were a pair of Turbos and I would take these over those any day. I end up wearing these as around town shoes a lot which means that I'll be purchasing another pair (and probably another after that as well). Money well spent for peace of mind during lifts and generally feeling planted while I wear them.