Cobblers, shoe care, DIY

[eton97]

Definitely vibram them. I've got a pair and once that original sole goes, they are pretty much done in. Cant see hiw yiud replace them
A good cobbler can put in a white vibram that is unnoticeable and replaceable. I'm about to get mine redone for the third time.

[lowrey]

the rubber seems pretty durable, more so than typical sneaker soles. I had barely scratched the back corner on mine before I lost them recently. I had them for about a year, but wore them mostly during the summer. that said, I did consider doing something to them early on to protect them, but didn't get around to it before my suitcase went missing, now I'm hunting for a new pair...

[cjbreed]

i've heard they wear down quickly. should put a rubber sole on them

[xzacx]

Can anyone with a pair of A1923 trainers comment on how durable the soles are? Just got a pair and trying to decide if I should protect them. I'd rather not, but if they wear down super fast like Ricks do or something, I'd consider it.

[blackfedora]

are there heel taps for sneakers / rubber soles? bit of a dumb question, i know, but wondering if there's a solution out there. i wear my heels down fast and get them replaced but would prefer to avoid the wear if possible.

normal heel taps wouldn't work since they're installed with nails, and nails in a rubber heel would not be a great idea. glue would be the other option but i would imagine it wouldn't stick that long.

Since you seem to know and may have brought stuff to Nick's custom shoes, I'll pass on some of what he's told me and what has been done on my rubber bottomed shoes in the past. I've brought pictures to him of sneakers with plastic heel taps apparently nailed on and he basically refused to do that to my shoes, citing leaking and heel stabbing concerns. There are two ways that we've compromised.

1) Start with a thick rubber sole addition and only replace the heel section when it wears down by removing just a sliver of the original. Also it's done at a fraction of the price of a full sole replacement.



2) Once when I was adding only a thin rubber sole to a shoe that had heel damage already, one of his workers incorporated a thin steel plate at the heel, under the added rubber sole. It's worked out fine so far. Nick called it unconventional but functional.