Tesla Baretrek 30 – My $30 Multi Terrain PR Shoes

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I started out barefoot, briefly gave Vibram Five Fingers a chance, migrated to Luna Sandals for a while, had a series of muddy sandal malfunctions (looking at you Way Too Cool 50K), ran a bunch of ultras with the Merrell Trail Glove’s, lost some toe nails at the Miwok 100K and sat around wondering what I was going to do with my footwear. I mean I love barefoot and all (yes, still), but as I (try to) get faster and the weather gets cold, my mostly vegan diet just doesn’t generate enough heat in my core to keep my toes from freezing. So the week before Dick Collins 50M I go out to Zombie Runner store and pick out a 24mm (gasp!) Altra’s and took ’em up on the local PG&E trails at Rancho. It felt like running on pillows until the descent. My nail-less toes were on fire begging me to stop running. I limped my way back to the car.

Telsa Baretrek 30

Just a few months prior to the Dick Collins 50M, Amazon’s everyone-that-looked-at-this-also-looked-at-that suggestion took me to the Tesla Baretrek 30 shoes. Based on the reviews, these were apparently a Merrell knock-offs from Korea. But hey, at $30, I was willing to give it a shot. Even ran the San Francisco Marathon with a PR on these shoes. My first 10-mile run with them wasn’t all that great. By mile 3, the insoles were sliding out from behind my heel and I was thinking, well I got what I paid for. Until it occurred to me. WTH, I was going to remove the insoles and run just on a 2mm zero-drop sole. And you know what? It was awesome! Way back then, there use to be these things call racing flats. This pretty much is how I would describe the Tesla Baretrek 30’s. I ran the Dick Collins 50M on these shoes (without the insoles) and still managed to finish sub-10:00. And my toes were totally fine on all the downhills.

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So here’s the deal. Every now and then (okay, most of the time), I dream about wind-swept, rocky ridges that I’m running on, bombing down screes and technical trails tapping into my inner-Kilian, until I wake up and realize I’m mostly running 5 miles of asphalt around my home or work, jumping on every piece of tan bark looking like a wannabe trail runner. Okay, the occasional jaunt to the nearby Rancho Trails or Wunderlich running through redwoods and soft dirt trails count too. But point is, my running is totally recreational, mostly on nearby trails and I’m not on ice/snow/scree/muddy runs and definitely not setting FKT’s. What with the drought and all (let’s hope El Niño changes all that), there’s not much mud anywhere. So why the heck do I want to spend $150+ bucks on a pair of shoes that don’t last more than 100 miles?

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At Whiskey Hill Half Marathon, bombing on the descents

At Whiskey Hill Half Marathon, sporting the Tesla Baretrek’s

The pair of Tesla Baretrek 30‘s shown above has lasted me over 600+ miles and they are still going. I got myself a half-dozen pairs, one in every possible color and these have become my every day shoes. Run, walk, go to work, visit customers – zero drop all day, every day. When things do get gravelly, my pace slows down, ‘cos I can feel everything. But you know what? That’s totally okay. They keep me warm and injury free. Just a word of caution, if you are a Hoka-One-One runner, don’t ever get close to these. They gonna hurt you bad. But I feel like I finally (for now) have a brand of shoes that are affordable cheap, lasts forever and allows me to go fast without getting hurt. I’d say that’s a steal.

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25 thoughts on “Tesla Baretrek 30 – My $30 Multi Terrain PR Shoes”

  2. I have a pair, something near 100 miles on in and their holding up fine. I’d bet I’ll get 500 out of um. Plus I only paid 20 on Prime, so it’s as good as anything on the market in terms of miles/dollar. Hope the company does well

  11. I might give them a try too. I had the first two Gen of minimus which I just broke and got the third gen…they are ok but not really anything minimal about them. They’re light and zero drop but that’s about it…first pair of shoes in about 5 years that I can’t just bend in half :/

    • Looks that way, but since there’s no hard material around the toes, the mesh fabric really stretches. I have no issues with splaying my feet inside the toe box. That said, based on reviews and trial/error, I ended up with 1/2 size bigger and they seem to work well.

  15. I don’t have any experience with these particular shoes, but it should be said that Kowsik is the exception to the rule on this one. It is true that not everyone needs a $200 pair of shoes (or even $100), but it is also true that many people are unsuccessful with minimal or inexpensive shoes that don’t provide support. Ironically, it is usually a deficiency in their form, not their shoes that end up causing problems somewhere up the biomechanical chain — fancier shoes simply hide more running form sins than minimal or cheap shoes do. So unless you have excellent biomechanical form, and a strong core (Kowsik has both), rushing straight to low end or minimal shoes can and does cause people problems. Not every person, but statistically more than the fancier shoes. If you commit to learning good form (read up, there are lots of online resources), then I agree with Kowsik, it doesn’t really matter what you wear on your feet. It then comes down to comfort, preference and fit. I worked on my form for 10 years and wore very minimal shoes through most of that time. But I learned by trial and error that as a heavier runner, my legs felt better/fresher late in a run/race in maximal shoes (ie Hokas) than in minimal shoes so I made the switch. It does cost me a bloody fortune comparatively, but it is worth it to me.

    • Larry, agreed on all counts. Most of my first 2 years of running was spent on lots of experiments, gait analysis and studying form (aka watching youtube videos!) and lots of drills to get that right. I also have a partially-torn ligament and a calcified bone fragment on my ankle that mandates me to stay very low to the ground to minimize injuries. Ultimately though, there’s no silver bullet. Everyone’s gotta experiment to 1. learn their own body and 2. figure out what works.

  18. I’m envious you’ve found the perfect pair of running shoes for you for only $30 a pair! My first running shoes were Brooks Villanovas that cost $20, but now I purchase shoes around the $100 range like the New Balance Fresh Foam Zantes. I could only imagine running striders on the grass with the Tesla Baretrek 30s. My feet and body would be a mess if I put on any long road mileage with those shoes. One big benefit of the Baretreks is that there’s no midsole to degrade. I usually have to replace my shoes between 200 and 400 miles because the midsole has gone flat.

    • Charles, yes it took a lot of experiments before I landed on these, but these are definitely not for everyone. If you are not used to barefoot running, this will take a long time before your feet get accustomed to it.