Leather sole wearing?

[matei]

Hola amigos,

Those of you who wear leather-soled shoes... how long do your soles last? I wear mine daily and, although I try to rotate them as normally as possible, I seem to wear a hole in the right sole in about 3-4 months.

Only the right - never once had a hole in the left...

 

[drkilmer]

I wear leather soles daily, also. These are cowboy boots, and they went a full 2 years before I had to have them re-soled. They did waer out on the right foot first.

 

[Blackgrass]

Hola amigos,

Those of you who wear leather-soled shoes... how long do your soles last? I wear mine daily and, although I try to rotate them as normally as possible, I seem to wear a hole in the right sole in about 3-4 months.

Only the right - never once had a hole in the left...

Maybe your gas pedal is wearing out your soles?

 

[matei]

Hmmm... very interesting. Either we have extremely rough pavement here in the UK, I severely favour my right foot or... my shoes have rather wimpy soles.

I think it is the latter. I have a pair being resoled now, but for what these people charge I could get a new pair!!!

 

[matei]

Maybe your gas pedal is wearing out your soles?

If only!

I walk everywhere... well, not entirely true - I do take the bus and the tube. But everywhere else I go is on foot. We don't have a car here in London.

 

[Zemke Fan]

Those of you who wear leather-soled shoes... how long do your soles last?

I have found a solution to the problem that is MUCH less expensive than a new sole or half-sole every few months. My shoe shine guy at Nordstrom turned me on to a product called "zip-soles" that are essentially a thin rubber insert (sorta like a heel) that covers the portion of the sole that wears. I have taken all of my expensive Allen Edmonds shoes in and had them "zipped" and have yet to replace another sole. Zips and heels cost me $30.00 and last about six to nine months since I have 8 to 10 pairs of shoes in my rotation. Hope this helps.

PS: The zips are about 1/8" thick and made by Goodyear. That's all I know. The actual product name may be something else since I tried a Google search and came up with nada.

 

[Slicksuit]

Last month's GQ had a recommendation that the owner apply toe taps to a pair of shoes to minimize wear and tear. I've never tried it myself, but found it an interesting idea.

 

[Lauren]

That's what they did in the 30's! But I think this was more for a fashion amongst the younger crowd (guys and girls). Tiny little metal plates at the toes. I love it when I run across a pair of shoes that still has the taps

 

[Angelicious]

You could always try the old standby - hobnails. They keep your soles from wearing out as fast, but you will 'click' as you walk down the street. As my mother told me from her childhood, you can also hoon downhill on a bicycle dragging your feet and get sparks out the back.

I don't recommend grandad's old trick of soling your shoes with cast-off pieces of rubber car tyre... it just lacks class.

 

[nightandthecity]

Matei, I used to wear leather soles all the time, and still have a few leather soled shoes/boots. How long the soles last obviously varies according to usage and quality, but even the best quality with careful usege will wear out a lot faster than any other type of sole. In the past only the rich put up with this, the rest of us either fitted a rubber stickasole over the top, or fitted hobnails (segs) or metal tip-taps (i.e. taps at the tips, it's almost poetry) sometimes called "blakeys" after the main maker.

The stickasole option is a bit self defeating, you might as well get a full rubber sole fitted and have done. Hobnails give a most satisfying clatter but are like ice skates on many modern urban surfaces e.g. in shopping malls. But I have always found tip-taps a good compromise. Any decent cobbler will fit them for a small sum, and if you are a bit handy they are very cheap and easy to DIY (you will need to find a second hand cobblers anvil).

However, the best all round solution is have a rubber sole fitted! Rubber is still authentic, they had rubber soles in the 40s. A cleated rubber sole will last yonks and grip most surfaces from mountain to mall. For daily wear I mostly use rubber soled now. I keep my leather for special occassions:tip tapped or hobbed for party/pub/tap dancing, and plain leather for jive dancing.

Incidentally, if you are being charged that much for resoling I'd hunt around for another cobbler. Somewhere in the back streets of London you will find a little old man whose been there since 1950 who'll do you a proper job for a tenner.

Finally, sole life will affect shoe life. You can only resole a pair of welted leather shoes so many times before the welt gets too holed and torn up. So if you can minimize resoling you will prolong shoe life.