John Lofgren (Speedway)
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Alriiiiiiight!!!
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I have some Custom wescos, and I spoke with chris at wesco today. I could have got the stock Mr. Lous in natural cxl but they wouldn’t be ready until October. Shorter than their 11 month custom build time for sure. But I wanted something different than my MP 1339 last morrisons. Taller shaft and engineer buckles is all my wescos are missing compared to the Mr. Lous.
Here comes a new chapter in my boot evolution. Who here prefers wesco to Lofgren and vice versa? I guess so much comes down to foot shape and last. Just curious on overall takes…
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Nice man! You go with a size 9?
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Who here prefers wesco to Lofgren and vice versa?
I feel like this is almost a sort of apples/oranges thing to me… yes, they're both engineer boots but I feel like they're in really different worlds. I'll fully admit being a Lofgren fanboy, so there are definitely things I like a lot better about theirs. I'll preface this by saying that I am not a proper shoe geek, so I might be saying this wrong, but I prefer the general look of the soles / welt / heel on the Lofgren engineers. Sleeker, prettier, for lack of a better word... fancier. Of course that fanciness starts to diminish a bit as they get beat up, but frankly as most of us can agree, they get better.
The Wescos' construction feels more utilitarian and less fussy to me, but also... my Nat CXL Mr. Lous were immediately comfortable and gave me no trouble whatsoever putting them on. To me, this was huge.
So really, I love both of em and would have a hard time really saying one is the clear winner. I think that if I get a pair of MTO Shinkis in my proper size of 12.5, that would probably put the Lofgrens over the top for me personallly. But in that case I'd fekkin hope so, since they'd be probably close to double the price of a stock pair of Mr. Lous.
TL;DR - I have both, wear them about equally, and enjoy them in different ways.
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@popvulture that was a wonder write up!! You just got me mad stoked on getting these Lofgrens!! I absolutely adore my Wescos so it’s going to be rad to have both to compare and enjoy!! I just hope I can get them on my feet!! Haha
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Yay! Glad it was of help, vs just a long ramble
Make sure to post some pics when you get em!
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I can’t say that I prefer one over the other. The Lofgrens are maybe a bit more refined than the Wesco, which are a bit more rugged. At least fresh out of the box. The Wesco being custom made, do fit better and are easier to pull on. Both are great boots, value for money I would go with Wesco.
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Burg und Schild in Germany just got the Shinki engineers
https://www.burgundschild.com/de/john-lofgren-bootmaker/lk-003-engineer-boots-shinki-horse
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no, have a pair in natural and two pairs of Donkeys. thats enough
And I don´t like black boots or black denim. not my style… -
I’ve had black cxl lofgren engineers from s&s for one year. They were my first engineers. I ride in them. I’ve had stock mr Lou in brown cxl for about 5 months. Picked them up at the factory in Scappose with Chris’s help. Only wear them around town / on short walks.
I paid 1075 for JL vs 669 for mr Lou, a 60% premium for JL. The JL are better made. The stitching is cleaner and they look more polished. JL are size 10.5 while Lou are size 10 (benefit of trying in person). The 10 fits much better once broken in. I have to wear 2 socks to not feel like I’m falling out of the JL. Lous had very little break in for me. I got some blisters wearing them on 2 mile walk in first couple weeks. Once those healed they’ve been comfy as house shoes since. The JL took weeks of wearing around house, short walks, etc but finally got comfy too. Getting them on was a real bitch for a while.
I like how black is a little different, a little spicier but truth is I love brown much more and gravitate toward to it. I also like Lou silhouette better. Looks a little more slim and curvy, a little more cowboy boot vs more straight, bulbous, rounded nature of JL.
All in all, I actually like Lou better despite it being way cheaper. Granted you probably have to wait for them. If you can, this is the way I recommend.
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Well that is disappointing, apparently indexing to a point in a YT video doesn't work here… About 30 seconds in was where I was trying to go
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straight, bulbous, rounded nature of JL
I do not see anything remotely bulbous about JL engineers — ymmv though. I get the cowboy boot thing though with the Wescos. I generally think of them being more rugged, while the JLs are a lot more refined.
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Fair enough. I only have 2 engineers that I’ve actually worn to compare to. So maybe they aren’t bulbous in world of engineers, but compared to looking down at Lou’s they look little bulbous to me. Both beautiful boots though and you won’t be disappointed either way.
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@68degreesorless why don’t you ride in the Wescos?
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I totally would / could. My primary riding jacket is black leather so get a better match from JL. But I may still at some point.
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Construction on a pair of Lofgren's is considerably better than Wesco. That's not to say Wesco's are not quality boots. But Lofgren's are a step up in how clean and consistent construction is. Fit is totally wearer dependent so I'll leave that alone.
