Nikes are bar none the worst shoes people try to have me repair. They are made from shitty criminally overpriced plastic and foam that decomposes and falls apart in the box let alone after someone wears them
From my point of view athletic shoes aren’t really a thing that can be effectively repaired because even the nice ones use plastics that aren’t easy to work with after they’ve been worn. I can usually do something but its sentiment that keeps them going not quality. But really the lesson I try to teach people is to not give a fuck about the name on the shoe. It vastly more important to know how a shoe is supposed to fit on your foot and that it feels comfortable long term.
Edit: I will add a few names to avoid pretty much entirely though. Post-1988 Cole Haan (owned by Nike), Louis Vuitton and Ecco
To elaborate on the “go for the fit, not the name”, there’s a common belief that shoes need some time to break in before they feel comfortable. This is only true if you get shoes that don’t really fit your foot. There’s more to feet variations than just the length. I learned that the first time I got lucky and one of the few shoes I was trying on in my mad dash to get shoes and go do something else asap fit my foot properly. It immediately made me realize that I need patience when getting shoes and to never buy a shoe that doesn’t feel great right away.
If you’re going for a designer shoe, I bet the odds of it perfectly fitting your foot are low, unless maybe you have the same foot type as Michael Jordan or whichever athlete’s name they are putting on the shoe, assuming that athlete’s foot was even part of the design at all. For all we know, they rip those shoes off as soon as the cameras aren’t watching because it was purely a marketing thing.
Why Ecco? I’ve been wearing the same pair of sneakers by them for a decade now and they’re still holding up well. Have they gotten worse in recent times?
The ones I see coming into the shop are usually about a year or two old and the soles are turning into a sticky powder-like consistency. That in and of itself isnt the problem but because the uppers are attached to the insole by a thin very exposed thread that has been melted into the now crumbling sole I can’t remove enough of the old material to get any suitable adhesives to stick without cutting that structurally fundamental stitch.
The sneakers might hold up better but must just not hold up well enough for folks to bring them to me
Good to know. I have a pair I bought early this year and have been wearing them almost daily. If they come apart in that time frame, that’s gonna suck, because they weren’t cheap.
The chemicals that went into making plastics and related polymeric materials last longer and be more flexible were found to be horrible for people and the environment. Basically a long list of cancer causing forever chems.
About once every few weeks, I’ll go visit my local blacksmith and he’ll nail a new pair of pair of shoes right on to my giant toenail. Or maybe he repairs the old ones. I’m not too sure, he doesn’t really tell me much. He just stands in places that make it really hard to kick him, and I only really wanted to do that the first time because I thought he was trying to steal my feet.
At least when it comes to running shoes, I’m of the opinion that the shoe chooses you. Go to a running store and try on a few brands, find the one that feels the best. Buy one pair from that store; every subsequent time you buy running shoes you know the band and model and can buy it wherever is cheaper.
Huh, I would have never thought to ask about most mass produced shoes. I guess my redwing boots are fairly mass produced, and ive gotten those resolved, but even my merril boots I dont think of as being repairable.
I used to work as a bike mechanic in my teens, and it was pretty standard for shops to have a ‘no department store’ policy for repairs. We’d chance a tube, but trying true a wheel, or properly set breaks and gear on those soft metal, low presicision components just wasnt worth it.
$500-2000 depends on what sort of shoe, where you buy it and so forth. If you go to a poor country it can be had for a lot less though. It might well be worth to have that vacation and find a shoemaker. You certainly will not exploit them nearly as badly as Nike.
Nikes are bar none the worst shoes people try to have me repair. They are made from shitty criminally overpriced plastic and foam that decomposes and falls apart in the box let alone after someone wears them
What shoes do you recommend? Looking to get a new pair soon.
From my point of view athletic shoes aren’t really a thing that can be effectively repaired because even the nice ones use plastics that aren’t easy to work with after they’ve been worn. I can usually do something but its sentiment that keeps them going not quality. But really the lesson I try to teach people is to not give a fuck about the name on the shoe. It vastly more important to know how a shoe is supposed to fit on your foot and that it feels comfortable long term.
Edit: I will add a few names to avoid pretty much entirely though. Post-1988 Cole Haan (owned by Nike), Louis Vuitton and Ecco
To elaborate on the “go for the fit, not the name”, there’s a common belief that shoes need some time to break in before they feel comfortable. This is only true if you get shoes that don’t really fit your foot. There’s more to feet variations than just the length. I learned that the first time I got lucky and one of the few shoes I was trying on in my mad dash to get shoes and go do something else asap fit my foot properly. It immediately made me realize that I need patience when getting shoes and to never buy a shoe that doesn’t feel great right away.
If you’re going for a designer shoe, I bet the odds of it perfectly fitting your foot are low, unless maybe you have the same foot type as Michael Jordan or whichever athlete’s name they are putting on the shoe, assuming that athlete’s foot was even part of the design at all. For all we know, they rip those shoes off as soon as the cameras aren’t watching because it was purely a marketing thing.
Why Ecco? I’ve been wearing the same pair of sneakers by them for a decade now and they’re still holding up well. Have they gotten worse in recent times?
The ones I see coming into the shop are usually about a year or two old and the soles are turning into a sticky powder-like consistency. That in and of itself isnt the problem but because the uppers are attached to the insole by a thin very exposed thread that has been melted into the now crumbling sole I can’t remove enough of the old material to get any suitable adhesives to stick without cutting that structurally fundamental stitch.
The sneakers might hold up better but must just not hold up well enough for folks to bring them to me
Good to know. I have a pair I bought early this year and have been wearing them almost daily. If they come apart in that time frame, that’s gonna suck, because they weren’t cheap.
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Disappointing to hear. They’ve been my go-to for years. I have a pair I bought this year and wear almost daily.
The chemicals that went into making plastics and related polymeric materials last longer and be more flexible were found to be horrible for people and the environment. Basically a long list of cancer causing forever chems.
I have a pair of redwings I’ve had repaired 3x over the last 14 years. They’re expensive, but worth adding to the list.
No one is cross shopping Nike sneakers and red wing boots. That’s apples to oranges.
Lemmy try not to give incredibly out of touch fashion advice challenge: impossible
About once every few weeks, I’ll go visit my local blacksmith and he’ll nail a new pair of pair of shoes right on to my giant toenail. Or maybe he repairs the old ones. I’m not too sure, he doesn’t really tell me much. He just stands in places that make it really hard to kick him, and I only really wanted to do that the first time because I thought he was trying to steal my feet.
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Solomon are hands down my favorite shoe brand. The perfect blend of comfort and ruggedness.
At least when it comes to running shoes, I’m of the opinion that the shoe chooses you. Go to a running store and try on a few brands, find the one that feels the best. Buy one pair from that store; every subsequent time you buy running shoes you know the band and model and can buy it wherever is cheaper.
Nikes - made for children by children.
Huh, I would have never thought to ask about most mass produced shoes. I guess my redwing boots are fairly mass produced, and ive gotten those resolved, but even my merril boots I dont think of as being repairable.
I used to work as a bike mechanic in my teens, and it was pretty standard for shops to have a ‘no department store’ policy for repairs. We’d chance a tube, but trying true a wheel, or properly set breaks and gear on those soft metal, low presicision components just wasnt worth it.
I won’t say it’ll always be a good looking repair but it’ll be functional. Always worth it to let one of us take a look
I have never had shoes that fit my feet. Ever.
How hard/expensive would it realistically be to design and build/have built my own shoes?
$500-2000 depends on what sort of shoe, where you buy it and so forth. If you go to a poor country it can be had for a lot less though. It might well be worth to have that vacation and find a shoemaker. You certainly will not exploit them nearly as badly as Nike.
Ha. As if I could afford a vacation.