Red Wing Shoes

[Katsushin]

@injunjack:

Is RW Crepe sole same as Vibram Crepe sole?  *cause I have a vague memory that they are not, and vibram sole doesn't wear so fast.  Commando soles tend to gather small stones, dogshit etc, which isn't nice…

just my 2 cents worth

I've found that the RW sole is quite a bit softer.  Its nice because it absorbs a lot of the impact of walking on concrete, (great for the back and legs) but it does wear out pretty fast.  For me (and many others) the heel wears fastest, so I have my cobbler cut in these inserts that are a lot more durable (he says it's like a Cat's Paw), and it adds quite a bit of life between resoles…

[Chris]

Finn, Ronald- looking forward to seeing your resoled boots and hearing your thoughts on the differences between the two materials.

[ronaldlsh]

I sent my Red Wings 8138 to the cobbler on Monday.

The crepe sole was in pretty bad condition, so I decided to resole them with the Vibram Commando Soles for longer lasting wear.

Vibram #132

So I got my Red Wings from the cobbler today. Since the cobbler is unable to do any stitching, I asked him to leave the white part (not sure what is that call) alone. I didn't really want the cobbler to mess around with the stitching. I know that is not the best idea, but it's not really bothering me. I'm sure it will look better with wear.

This is definitely not the best job. It would be better if they can leave the white part out and stitch the whole outsole onto the midsole, but I can't complaint much. It's not an easy to find someone who can resole boots with vibram soles here. I'm still pretty happy how they turned out…

[madmonday]

i think the resole looks good . . . . of course i'm looking at a crap picture 

how the hell were you able to walk with them like that? i will not talk sh!t about any of my shoes showing wear after taking a look at yours, finns & kats.  in fact i'm a shoe wimp & baby pretty much all my footwear.

some folks call it patina . . . . i call it run down looking shoes ::)

[ronaldlsh]

HAHA, I believe that Red Wings are meant to be trashed. So I didn't really baby them. And I think Finn's pair is really beautiful, I would call it patina. Haha. I will take some better photos tomorrow.

I think I would baby my white's like u do when it arrives.. Haha.

[Seul]

Monday: there's nowt more beautiful than a pair of good, worn in boots imo… 

ronald: the resole looks job perfect!.. Now go abuse them!..

[madmonday]

got to disagree, but one small point of contention doesn't make or break any relationship & i do realise i'm a weirdo in that aspect.  just comes from my small sneaker background & for the most part keeping sneakers as spotless as long as possible

hard for me to make the transition 

[Seul]

Keeping sneaks clean I understand. Keeping boots clean I don't. But as you say: who cares. Belgian missiles and crazy NY mondays will always go hand in hand.

[Katsushin]

I live in the country and walk through mud and gravel every day.  I don't have a prayer of keeping my boots clean on the regular, but do maintain them best I can. 
That said, if I lived in the city and had no excuse, I'd try to keep em fresh and clean as possible…

[Finn666]

monday - i think the moc-toe redwings do look better with a lot of wear. not feeling the worn down soles at all, but yeah…it´s like adding a new pair of laces to a broken in pair of shoes/boots...makes them look like 10times better again

but you know i´m gonna baby my yuks...that´s 4 sure 

ronald - resole looks good imo.

[Jii]

Definitely gonna go for a vibram lug sole when I resole my 875:s.. Looks great!

[baracuta61]

who can spot the difference?

[Beatle]

what , laced verses non laced ? oiled verses non oiled ? I am struggling

[baracuta61]

i'm looking for the difference that causes them to have different model numbers (and it's not the colour)

[ronaldlsh]

The vibram lug soles hurt a lot compared to the og crepe soles…. 

[Finn666]

@baracuta61:

i'm looking for the difference that causes them to have different model numbers (and it's not the colour)

plz post the different modell names…i´d say it really is the color...

[Rollo]

Is that the gentleman traveller vs the beckman or whatever?
I think someone said one was chromexcel ( or something similar ) and they replaced it with featherstone leather for the beckmans.

[Concret]

@baracuta61:

i'm looking for the difference that causes them to have different model numbers (and it's not the colour)

The 9016 is made with Featherstone Leather and the  1909 with leather  fullgrain Horween, which were softer and easier to break in. The 1909 were released on a limited number for the 100 years celebration.

[Giles]

5 weeks in…..

[Chris]

@ronaldlsh:

The vibram lug soles hurt a lot compared to the og crepe soles…. 

They'll get better, once you get used to them.  Probably.;)  They look great, though.