My New Leg

After griping about the test socket being too tight, I’ve had a chance to focus on what the feet feel like. Here are some brief thoughts…

While I like the smooth rollover of the Trias, I like it more around the house than outside. First, the keel is a bit short, so the foot feels shorter than what I am accustomed to with the Renegade. Inside, this doesn’t much matter since we don’t wear shoes in my house and I tend to take shorter steps on the slippery hardwood floors. But outside, where I take longer strides, it feels like I’m falling off the Trias.

Second, it feels a little squishy, for lack of a better word. On some feet, you can feel the shock absorption kick in when you first land on the heel at the beginning of a step. When I walked on the Flex-Foot Reflex VSP a couple legs ago, for example, I remember feeling the shock pylon depress and spring back when I stepped off a tall curb. But this isn’t as firm, just kind of squishy. And the more weight I load on it, the squishier it gets. Again, maybe it’s because I’m accustomed to walking on a stiffer, less flexible foot, but it’s a little disconcerting to feel my trunk lean over with every step onto my left foot. When I walked around the block with Audrey, my two year old, it felt like I was perpetually on the verge of tipping over to the left. All in all, this would probably be a great foot for someone who walks at a reasonable pace, taking moderate steps, and who likes a soft foot.

So far, I prefer the Vari-Flex, which feels remarkably like my current Renegade, but better. First, it has a little more spring than the Renegade. I like spring — the more the better at this point in my life. I’ve been doing a lot of work around my house (re-landscaping the front yard, replacing a French drain on the side) and spend enough time lugging my kids around, that the extra bounce helps.

Second, the curve of the keel must be a bit different on the Vari-Flex than on the Renegade because I don’t feel myself pause just before toe-off. On my current foot, I pause in the rollover between mid-stance and toe-off; not a big deal, but may slow me down a little toward the end of a step and makes my gait look a little halting. The Vari-Flex just seems to rollover without pausing. Nice.