When it says barefoot like running, do they mean these are similar to the Nike Free's and designed to offer minimal support?

All right, Steve... after having them for just a day, here are my initial observations: First of all, the NB 100 is a VERY light shoe. Even lighter than the Nike Free. The fit and feel of these is basically like a racing flat. The forefoot isn't particularly flexible, but the sole has got enough overall flex that it's easy to run with a midfoot or forefoot strike. One of the big differences between these shoes and the Nike Frees is cushioning. The Nike Frees are very flexible, but they've also got a bit of squishiness going on between your foot and the ground. Not so with the NBs. The sole is very flat, very thin, and somewhat hard. In a way, this probably makes them less forgiving of your running technique than the Frees. The sizing is quite similar to the Frees, in that they run slightly small, though I think the forefoot especially is slightly narrower than in the Free. Two things about the NB stand out as not so good... the first is that the plastic support thing on the back is not well-designed and will probably cause blisters on your Achilles area. That's something that may require some patience in terms of breaking the shoe in, or developing a sufficient callus. The other odd thing is the smell. The material on the soles has a VERY pungent, chemical smell. It's strong enough that it actually stank up my room while I was away at work today. Very strange. Hopefully that will go away over time. So, in sum, these are definitely a huge leap forward (or... backward?) in minimalism from most trail runners, from what I can tell, though different from the Frees in that they are slightly less flexible, and slightly less cushioned. A solid, but flawed, shoe. In the course of my internet searches, however, I've found that they are discontinuing the 100 as of this September and introducing the 101 which addresses some of the flaws of this shoe (notably the heel-biting, and making the sole slightly more flexible). You can see a preview video of the 101 here: http://www.runningwarehouse.com/sneakpeek.html?ccode=NBFALL10&video=SNEAK234 Also, if BC has run out of your size (and it looks like they're about to sell out completely), runningwarehouse.com still has pretty full selection of sizes (albeit in a different color) here: http://www.runningwarehouse.com/descpageMRS-NB100MG.html

Cool. I look forward to hearing back on that. Thanks!