I hope you all had a happy International Fluevog Day last Friday. Pardon the sneezes; the pollen count has been high in the northeast this week. Heavy boot season is about done and I’ve been wearing sneakers a bit more along the northeast corridor.  What about you?

Doug from Jersey City, New Jersey tipped me off to this swell video that went around on the webs heavy last week:

I’d been wondering about that extra set of holes lately, and since I’m not a runner (I just walk a lot), never bothered to look into it. I’m sure there are a google ways to use the extra holes. My New Balance 498s have this extra set, and I usually skip it, or obtain some 45-inch laces that don’t leave as much tip. I did lace up as instructed in the video above and it felt pretty solid, but I found this lacing a pain to untie quickly. Locking might be preferable for competition runners, but I’d avoid using the technique while air traveling or going on dates.

Speaking of New Balance, they opened a new factory outlet shop on April 4th in Avon, Massachusetts*. As a former Bostonian who’d been visiting the main NB outlet in Brighton, (Boston, Massachusetts) since it was located on North Beacon Street, I was curious to see how it would compare. The regular New Balance running shops, like on 5th Ave in New York City or Boylston St. in Boston are fun to visit for the latest and greatest New Balance, plus customization stations, but at an outlet we expect to see older models, deadstock, and totally random oddballs that you can’t even find on the Internet.

The new new is located on Stockwell Drive, and is definitely stocked well. They did have plenty of brand new older models, with a split down the middle for women and men. 

You had your insole and accessory endcaps, with some try-on benches toward the back, lots to look through.  Hockey players could even get gear from NB’s Warrior brand.

There were a couple Brannock foot measuring devices at the store. When I’m considering buying a shoe, I like to try all sizes above, below and wide to make sure I’m getting the best fit. Some irregularities could be in sizing, and that could be the reason the sneaks ended up at an outlet anyway.

Chock-full clearance racks lined the back walls. This is where you find the oddball randos. I ended up purchasing some Minimus MX20v3s for $40 out of said racks.

I first tried them with socks, and proceeded to break them in later that day via a batting cage session, some field frisbee, and even a turn playing drums. Remember that cartoon Laff-A-Lympics?

I ended up preferring wearing the MX20v3s without socks; much less squishy-feels, more sure-footedness. The shoe itself can nearly be compared to a padded sock with laces. The MX20s have no removable insole and feature antimicrobial treated inners much like minimalist offerings from Vibram and others.  

Vibram actually provides the outsole under a thin layer of foam attached to the uppers. Sporting some bug-screen style mesh on the heel-sides, these measure a 4mm heel-to-toe drop and are made-in-USA from imported components.

What else at the store? In line I spotted some sweet skull ‘n’ crossbones flat laces en route to checkout. The Minimus’s came stock with black 54″ athletic (oval) laces which I did try lace-locking and felt it was too constricting for this type of shoe.  Without the extra holes laced, the tips sometimes swiped the ground (A Popdiatry no-no). I swapped them with the 45″ skulls and I’m a happy urban camper.  

I use the Minimus’s for handball and other hard-ground excercises. I wouldn’t choose these to walk around all day in a big city, but I can definitely see packing them in luggage for use at a hotel gym. They’re definitely less attention-getting than toe-shoes, and I’d consider wearing them in close-range coffeeshop or foodshopping situations where I wouldn’t wear FiveFingers or SkeleToes. 

HEADS

Elsewhere off the path, thanks to Michael from Cambridge Massachusetts for sending us pics of this ridiculously fresh made-in-USA “Birds” snapback. 

If you’ve never seen the original Birds by Alfred Hitchcock, put it in your queue. 

* Thanks to Kathy from Brockton for the tip on the New Balance store.

Gotta run.. stay tuned for more posts. -Chris