I partially blame my ankle sprain last Summer on a pair of semi-bulky trail shoes. I'd been wearing Mizuno Wave Ascends, which aren't even far down the bulky spectrum, but the heels on those suckers are still pretty hard and unyielding. When I would land on roots hidden under leaves my foot would sort of see-saw on top of the root, instead of absorbing it...yeah, landing on a root in a more minimal shoe would have made the bottoms of my feet sore, but my ankles would have been protected more.

If/when I get back to running trails I am definitely going to look at something a bit less structured. NB's recent offerings intrigue me, in large part because NBs have generally fit me better than anything else (I have very wide feet).