Cobblers, shoe care, DIY

[cjbreed]

^^thats what i am afraid he did. i don't have a pic on me but they look exactly like the image above but the bottom layer is rubber.

if he did remove that bottom layer of leather, is there any way to replace it? very similar in color to the boot pictured above. i do realize that this is a height difference of .5cm and no one will ever notice but me. but it is bothering me

[calv]

if he would not do this, your heel would be too high.. the way he did it now is beneficial both for the aesthetic of the shoe and for the position of your feet.

[lowrey]

I do this to most of my shoes, I ask to grind of an equal amount / take of a layer so the heel height will the same as it was without the rubber. I realize some consider it tampering with the design, but the appearance will be closer and the shoes will "perform" the same (being the same height as it was designed).

also, I'm 6' out of which 5' is legs so I certainly don't want to add any height to the already high heels

[bestial]

This seems like a pretty standard thing to do on heels, every cobbler I've been to have done it. But I can attest to the initial fright that the boots have been tampered with – but in the long run this way makes more sense, for the reasons already mentioned.

[Oasis]

Yeah, it's how a competent cobbler would do the job. Granted it's maybe not what you wanted but from a neutral perspective a cobbler is gonna want the finished product to be flush with the floor..

The only downside is should you ever wish to remove the vibram and wear the boots in their natural state you're going to have to have another layer added to the sole which will be hard to match colour/style wise..

It's how I have my footwear vibrammed and it's never really bothered me..

[Jin]

no one will ever notice but me. but it is bothering me

know that feel, cj.

I know that it's totally incorrect, cos it affects to the boots geometry, but I always ask cobbler to add rubber as an additional 5mm layer, without any procedures with current heel.

Usually they really replace last leather layer with the rubber one, but sometimes they can replace a few leather layers too. Maybe something went wrong and they replaced 2-3 layers of leather with thinner ones?

[gavagai]

I never understand why people use the thick rubber on the heel. I always use the thinnest rubber layer plus taps and just replace the taps (super cheap) when needed.

[Oasis]

Personal preference surely? I'm not a big
fan of taps..

[lowrey]

^ this. I hate taps, and a thin sole on its own will wear in a couple of weeks.

[Oasis]

^ this. I hate taps, and a thin sole on its own will wear in a couple of weeks.

Yep. For me I have a cobbler I trust. I have him remove 1 layer of leather, ensure the rubber layer is the same height as the layer which was removed plus a few mm to account for the front vibram and that's me good to go. After 5 or so wears the vibram is dirty enough that you can barely see a difference..

[gavagai]

Maybe I walk funny but the thin sole lasts on all my boots but I need to replace the taps every couple of months.

[Oasis]

It's probably us that walk funny, I drag my feet haha..

[mattizzle]

Do you guys think it is possible to add a heel tap to the CCP Usole sneakers?
Do they just get glued on or will require nails?

[cjbreed]

thanks for all the good feedback guys. its good to know that i'm not alone on this thing. i feel sure that is what he did. he replaced the leather with the rubber to keep it at the same height. and i must admit it is my most comfortable boot. i'm not totally used to the look yet because i'm so used to the other pair. but we are talking about a .5cm difference here. i'll live...

i can say for sure than when you set my 2 pairs side by side, the one with just the rubber added on and this one that is at original height, this one fits much more flush with the ground. it looks more natural. the other, taller heel boot sits awkwardly with only the front edge of the heel touching the ground. that has to create pressure on your foot. and the taller heeled ones aren't nearly as comfortable

[miserableman]

Is there any particular reason why CCP will add extra leather toe and heel pieces to the soles of some footwear styles and not others?

Gonna take a pair to be soled and I assume the cobbler just remove both.