Inov8 Bare-XF Pro review

The Inov8 Bare-XF Pro is one of the best minimalist cross-trainers we've tested so far, and we firmly believe that it is ideal for the gym goers who:

• love true zero-drop, barefoot trainers for the natural experience they provide
• intend to build their foot, ankle, and calf strength and rely less on external cushioning and support
• prefer the control, stability, and proprioception that minimalist shoes provide for weightlifting (deadlifting in particular)
• want the most spacious toebox in their training shoes

Although we can confirm that the Bare-XF Pro is a high-quality shoe, we still believe it's priced a bit high for a minimalist shoe. You might as well check out its cheaper and more stripped-down version, the Bare-XF.

You might as well consider the Xero Shoes HFS II if you want a more breathable option.

Cushioning is obviously not to be expected from a barefoot-style shoe like the Inov8 Bare-XF Pro. There is hardly any midsole material to provide it in the first place!

The shock absorption measurements here are as minimal as they get - 12 SA in both the heel and the forefoot. If you've never trained in barefoot shoes before, you want to tread extra carefully with this Inov8 trainer.

Unsurprisingly, the Bare-XF Pro offers no rebound other than what's generated by the wearer's own muscles and tendons.

But the shoe's energy return is not equal to zero either because there is no soft foam to buffer it in the first place. And because this minimalist trainer absorbs very little energy to begin with, there’s less energy to be lost.

That explains the Bare-XF Pro's decent energy return readings of 45.1% in the heel and 43.9% in the forefoot.

You know you're looking at a true barefoot shoe when its platform thickness doesn't even reach a centimetre! Our calliper recorded a minuscule heel stack of 6.9 mm in the Bare-XF.

Even New Balance's Minimus TR v2 had 14.0 mm!

The shoe's forefoot stack turned out to be exactly the same as the heel at 6.8 mm.

With a practically non-existent offset of 0.1 mm, we are happy to confirm that the Inov8 Bare-XF is a true zero-drop offering!

This is great news for the minimalist shoe purists, but it can become a struggle or even a hazard for athletes who only worked out in traditional cross-trainers before (6-8 mm drop). If you are new to this type of footwear, be sure to take it slow and give your feet and body adapt to the new experience.

A spacious foot-shaped toebox is yet another essential feature of a barefoot-style shoe. And Ino8 nails it in the Bare-XF Pro!

But please note that in its widest area (between the pinkie and the big toe), the shoe still comes in at a standard width of 97.8 mm. This is more on par with the medium width of training shoes.

What makes the Bare-XF Pro truly stand out from the other gym trainers on the shelf is its exceptionally broad and rounded toebox shape.

Measuring 79.7 mm in the big toe area, it is one of the widest we've ever recorded in our lab. A major green flag for people with wide feet, bunions, and a love for a good toe splay.

In addition to being extra wide horizontally, the shoe's toebox is also generously spacious vertically. With a toebox height of 31.2 mm, it exceeds all other cross-trainers except its counterparts from Inov8.

Toe pinch be gone!

If you've come to expect stellar grip from Inov8's G-Grip outsoles, you will most likely be disappointed by the Bare-XF Pro's modest traction.

With a below-average friction coefficient of 0.19, this trainer didn't feel as surefooted as the brand's other cross-trainers. Thus, we recommend avoiding wet and dusty gym floors in this shoe.

Flat black rubber takes up most of the Bare-XF Pro's outsole. It helps to create a more direct contact with the floor, while the strategically placed dimpled gum rubber adds some necessary tackiness.

All other cross-trainers pale in comparison to the flexibility of the Inov8 Bare-XF Pro. Yet another benefit of any barefoot shoe is, of course, its remarkable pliability.

Our shoe-bending gauge barely even moved when measuring the amount of force it takes to bend this trainer by 30 degrees. So, no wonder it showed one of the absolute lowest readings in our lab - only 3.3N!

To our great surprise, the Inov8 Bare-XF Pro wasn't even the lightest training shoe in our lab! But it came pretty close with the weight of 8.7 oz (248g) in a men's US size 9.

It's not like it disappears on the foot, but it does feel like an extension of one.

And if you feel like you don't need the extra reinforcements on the Bare-XF Pro, you can try its even lighter and cheaper version, the Bare-XF.

It's easy to assume that the Bare-XF Pro is a breathable trainer because, well, what's there to obstruct the airflow?

But apparently, the shoe's knit upper is not as porous and well-ventilated as it seems. It did allow some smoke to pass more easily compared to other cross-trainers in our breathability test, but it wasn't enough to approve the shoe for summer use.

What's more, its heel and midfoot are covered in thick overlays, making the toebox the only area for proper air circulation.

But the weave is tight and the threads are thick, leaving no decent pores to keep the ventilation going.

All of this lowered the Bare-XF Pro's breathability score to a moderate 3 out of 5. Not so great for sweaty gyms, but not awfully stuffy either.

The Inov8 Bare-XF Pro is a far cry from, if not a complete opposite of, the Inov8 F-Lite Max, which is built for stability and weightlifting at its core.

But the Bare-XF is a little more than just a barebones slipper; it comes with supportive reinforcements made of rubbery KPU material - the cupped heel in the rearfoot and the Adapterweb in the midfoot.

Both add a touch of structural integrity to the trainer, ensuring decent lateral support when lifting and moving swiftly side-to-side.

Not to mention that the shoe's zero-drop construction and wide toebox make it ideal for deadlifting.

But we are talking minimal support here because we were able to wring the Bare-XF Pro out like a towel in our manual test of torsional rigidity.

On a 1-5 stiffness scale, this is still a 1.

The same goes for the shoe's heel counter. Despite the rubbery overlay around it, it didn't gain any rigidity in the rearfoot.

Another 1 out of 5 it is.

Examining the midsole shape of this Inov8 trainer from the bottom, we can clearly see how it starts narrow in the heel and widens towards the front. Folks with flat feet might as well appreciate the fact that it doesn't get narrower in the midfoot like in most cross-trainers.

The Bare-XF Pro's broad forefoot matches the shoe's spacious toebox, resulting in a solid width of 109.2 mm in the ball of the foot area. On par with the category average, it ensures a decent landing area for a planted stance when jumping, lunging, and pushing off the foot in general.

However, the shoe's minimalist nature instantly reveals itself in a very narrow heel measurement of 71.1 mm. It is by far the slimmest heel in our cross-training roster, so don't expect any lateral flanges for added support here.

Inov8 promises a 'protective and hard-wearing' shoe in the Bare-XF Pro, and it delivers!

Exposing the shoe's knit toebox to a Dremel with sandpaper for 12 seconds, we were impressed by the toughness of this material. Considering how minimal the damage was, we rated the shoe's toebox durability with a high score of 4 out of 5.

We observed the same wear resistance in the shoe's inner lining.

The scuffing on the collar was so minor that we didn't hesitate to give the Bare-XF Pro another high score of 4 out of 5 for heel padding durability.

The Inov8 Rubber in the shoe's outsole didn't disappoint either.

The blend fought the Dremel back so confidently that it didn't let the tool leave a dent any deeper than 1.1 mm.

Measuring the shoe's rubber outsole thickness at 4.1 mm, our calliper confirmed that rubber takes up most of the shoe's so-called 'sole.'

An Inov8 trainer wouldn't be complete without a signature Rope-Tec feature to guard it from the abrasion of rope climbs.

A super thin insole of 2.8 mm is sewn into the Inov8 Bare-XF Pro, making up the rest of its sole. It creates just a touch of underfoot padding without messing up the shoe's direct ground contact.

You would be right to assume that the shoe's interior padding is kept to a minimum.

But our calliper showed that there is still a decent foam layer of 4.0 mm in its tongue.

Considering the sock-like design of this Inov8 trainer, we found it very handy to have finger loops both in the heel...

...and the tongue of the Bare-XF Pro.

To maintain that second-skin feel, Inov8 gave the Bare-XF Pro a seamless interior with a fully gusseted tongue. It wraps around the foot like a bootie, minimising any potential shifting and sliding inside the shoe.

We believe that the Bare-XF Pro's price point is a bit hefty for a minimalist trainer.

Its retail price goes toe-to-toe with the usual price of such flagship cross-trainers like the Nike Metcons and the Reebok Nanos. And these models surely pack many more features to match the price point.