One of the most frequent questions we get from Parents and Students here at Freedom in Motion is about footwear for Parkour. Check out this little-known but excellent choice of parkour training shoes.
Shoes are the only real equipment to consider when preparing for your Parkour training. You want to make sure you’re making an informed decision before you lay down your hard-earned cash for something you hope to keep you safe and propel your training forward. We’re going to take a look at the Mingren Doublestar.
Chinese Minimalist Shoe For Parkour
Mingren makes minimalist shoes for tai chi and jogging training. Very similar to the Feiyues, (another shoe we reviewed which scored highly) this review is for all of you minimalist enthusiasts out there. Let’s see how they stack up to the infamous minimal king.
Mingren Stats At A Glance
Durability: 3-Stars
Being compared to the Feiyue, these shoes have good durability. But as far as the contemporary tennis shoes go, they’re about average. Some things to note are that a few of the eyelets for the shoe strings broke, but oddly enough, this didn’t affect the integrity of the shoes at all. All in all, nothing to write home about, but they definitely hold up decently. I’ve had mine for about 3 months now and after heavy use, I put a hole in the toe.
Flexibility 4.5 stars
Only slightly less flexible than the good ol’ Feiyue, these shoes have a really good feel. They have a decently wide toe box which really allows the toes to spread out and feel around. I really appreciate that part about them.
Grip: 3-Stars
These shoes do pretty decently on most surfaces. I never really found myself slipping if I was using good technique. However, they slightly lackluster on flat walls, especially wood or smooth concrete. And honestly, if the grip was just a little better, these would be my favorite shoes and definitely my shoe of choice. Huge bummer that they came so close.
Padding: 2-Stars
Not very much padding at all on these guys. Definitely more than Feiyues, but not enough to sacrifice on the amazing feel. However, I wouldn’t suggest using these if you like training big drops and far hops. Unless, of course, your landing technique is well-trained enough to not have to rely on padding much. If your style includes a lot of high impacts, maybe try the Vans Ultra Range or Onitsuka Tigers Ultimate 81.
Looks: 3-Stars
The look of these shoes can be appealing to some. Their style is very minimal with a touch of the tennis shoe vibe. Looks like they only come in the two below variations of blue, white, and yellow.
Weight: Light
Just as light as the Feiyue, the Mingrens have a really light feel. For a shoe that looks like it’s made out of heavier material, this is a very lightweight shoe. That mesh must go a long way.
Price: $28~
You can generally find these shoes online somewhere between $20-$30. Generally, the bigger your feet are, the more you pay for them. I would say these are a really good value for the price point.
Additional Benefits For Parkour Athletes
This is kind of an esoteric one, but I LOVE that these shoes don’t smell super nasty out of the box. I find that a lot of Feiyues have a really gross kinda fishy-plastic smell upon opening. No such odor with the Mingrens. On a similar note, I wore these without socks quite often, and because they breathe so well, they don’t hold onto that feet smell either. If you’re a dirty hippy like me, you’ll love these shoes.
Drawbacks
You know, I really wanted to love this shoe. And there were times when I did. But unfortunately, the slightly lackluster grip just doesn’t quite make the cut. It’s a real shame that these shoes didn’t have just a little bit better rubber on the bottom. I’m a big fan of what these shoes are up to, but the grip just falls slightly flat of the functionality that I need out of my shoe.
Conclusion
Overall, this shoe is pretty solid for parkour and freerunning training. These are very nearly my favorite shoe ever. If you’re not too gung-ho about maximum grip and you want superb feel and flexibility, I would highly recommend this shoe. For the price point, these are very quality. These shoes are worth a purchase, especially to test them out! Click here to purchase a pair!
What do you think?
We want to know what the community has to say. What was your experience with these Mingrens? Did you love them, or hate them? Let us know in the comments below!