Metal Tap Solution?

I use plastic. They wear out after apr 4-6 months(I rotate 6 shoes.) My shoe guy charge 2 bucks to replace so no biggie....

 

You say it like it's a bad thing.

 

Actually, I only have one pair of shoes with metal toe-taps, and haven't noticed much/any extra sound compared to normal shoes (they all click a bit), and I think I'm quite heavy wearing on the toe area of the sole. Maybe it comes does to how your personal gait as to how much noise is generated from taps. I like the sound of clicking shoes, though, so maybe I just don't notice it much.

+1
mine makes no appreciable increase in noise.
i like to think i walk like a normal person.

most of the sounds from my shoes are from the heel striking the floor - specifically the nails in the heel striking the floor

Same here. They're cheap enough and don't take more time to put on that it takes for the average shoe shine. I'll have both done at the same time and am no worse for it.

I use small metal plates on the heels. I hardly notice the noise as they say. But the larger the plate the more click. Talk to a cobbler. He sold me on mine. All my shoes have a small plate on the heels.

all my shoes have flush metal toe taps and plastic heels. the plastic heels wear out in about 2 months, but even in new york they are only $6, so it's not a big deal. i just pop into my shoe guy's place and he'll do them right there in 30 seconds.

I tried the plastic heels and they are terrible as they change the dynamic of the shoe.

Most of my shoes are EG and I have no truly exotic shoes so I never felt the need to put metal in them. My shoes tend to last me 4-5 years before needing to get resoled. Maybe one day when I get really nice shoes I will look into it but right now, I really don't see the point.

I suspect the clicking of metal taps depends on the pieces themselves as well a the cobbler putting them in. I have a pair of second-hand loafers with toe-taps that never make a sound. I love them, so I asked a local place if they could put taps on another pair of my shoes. Unfortunately the taps weren't installed as flush as my in my loafers (they might be a different brand, with a more convex shape?). They tap all the time. So I have one pair of metal toe taps I like, and one I can just tolerate.

If I could get the "right kind" of metal toe taps on all my shoes, I would. I never notice the first pair.

Then again, maybe it just takes a year to wear the toe taps in? They were really slippery the first couple of days. Maybe after a full year they'll get ground into shape. Dunno.

Edit: here's a picture of the two types, for reference. The left shoe is the older loafer with taps that fit seamlessly (silently), and the right shoe has a newer tap that has always clicked. Well, check back with me in another year and we'll see how it's improved.


Edited by Makoto Chan - 10/1/12 at 5:41pm

my metal taps have bent to shape the toe a bit. here they are on some lobb's.

I kind of like the sound of the metal taps, but I do have a few shoes with plastic taps. They last a reasonable amount of time. They cost me $3 to replace at my cobbler. Not an issue.

I like the sound of metal taps on heels if they are on a solid/hard heel so they just make a hard solid click when walking. They do protect the heel as well,
and if applied properly won't fall off like the plastic taps.