How often will you do re-sole for your leather-sole shoes?

[texas_jack]

your soles look normal. when you wear a hole get new soles.

 

[fritzl]

Originally Posted by Chips

Anyone else agree?

not at all.

good leather soles are not slippery - from the beginning

 

[taxgenius]

Originally Posted by holymadness

WTF is this collection of old wives' tales? Some mythbusting:

1. Applying topys requires zero wear as the cobbler will just sand the sole down a bit to create an adhesive surface. This does not shorten the life of the sole.

2. Heels always go before soles and topys cannot change that.

3. Goodyear welting has nothing to do with waterproofing. Leather is never waterproof.

4. Resoling once a year is excessive unless you're wearing the shoes 3-5 times a week, including in the rain, and walking a LOT. I have a beater pair that I have absolutely destroyed under the rain, on gravel, etc. that I still haven't had to resole after 1.5 years, and they don't even have a topy.

+1

 

[fritzl]

Originally Posted by holymadness

1. Applying topys requires zero wear as the cobbler will just sand the sole down a bit to create an adhesive surface. This does not shorten the life of the sole.

yay and nay.

cheap leathersoles, which need to be topyied also need to be condensed from wearing before topying makes "sense". it's not that difficult to comprehend.

 

[patrickBOOTH]

I don't know, I still don't understand topys. Just don't wear the shoes in the rain and be careful walking. Even if you are wearing them in the rain if you give them two days to dry out they will be fine. I feel like if you want better traction just get shoes with a Dianite sole so it at least looks good and you don't have to deal with warped leather soles. Topies are so dorky looking, and ruin the elegance of the leather sole. You can easily not have to deal with them and the hasstle.

 

[makewayhomer]

I purchased the below shoes on Ebay. Florsheim Imperial Shell Cordovan, probably from the late 70's or early 80's. not sure. as you can see they had plenty of wear. they polished up nice, and the heels needed replacing.

but the cobbler told me the soles were still in fine shape, and my guess is they were original (since the heels looked original )

 

[Joffrey]

I have a pair that I wear once or twice a weak, walk a mile or so on and have been caught in the rain a few times. It just developed a tear on the sole after about 2 1/2 years.

 

[Sanguis Mortuum]

Originally Posted by mfcboy

It seems the leather sole is wearing pretty quick, I am wondering how often you guys will do the re-sole for your shoes?

Don't let the contrast between the 'brand new' look and after the first wear fool you, they may ugly up pretty quicky but it will still take a long time for them to actually wear through.

And I don't know where you got the idea that goodyear welting = waterproof. It's a method of construction not of treating the leather. It's possible to waterproof the uppers using certain waxes but this is not so good for the leather so is best reserved for more utilitarian shoes, and waterproofing the soles wouldn't make any sense since any coating would just wear off within a few steps.

 

[srivats]

Originally Posted by fritzl

not at all.

good leather soles are not slippery - from the beginning

This is not true for all leather soles.

 

[KObalto]

As to waterproofing, perhaps the OP is confusing Goodyear welt and storm welt.

 

[Holdfast]

Originally Posted by ajv

Cause I do have my shoes resoled when they need it, i.e. when there is a hole that appears or is about to appear.
I do not understand why one would resole on a regular time basis, without taking into account the amount of wear.

+1

Perhaps I'm abusing the shoes a bit more than they should be, but I really can't be bothered to spend money on resoling unless a hole is about to appear, esp. since good resoling is not cheap.

 

[fritzl]

Originally Posted by srivats

This is not true for all leather soles.

hmmh, what can i say now.

from my personal experience. i never had the slippery effect with leather, though with metal heel taps.

 

[Don Carlos]

Originally Posted by fritzl

hmmh, what can i say now.

from my personal experience. i never had the slippery effect with leather, though with metal heel taps.

Brand-new leather soles, without taps, can definitely be slippery. Even with really good leather, i.e., Redenbach or comparable. In my experience, a day's worth of wear will correct this problem, as slightly scored leather will provide better traction.

 

[LynahFaithful]

OP - Those soles look normal to me and do not need to be re-soled. If you resole them, they'll look just like this after you wear them once or twice. What you see is just some minor surface abrasion. Wear them and don't resole until you wear a hole in them or they get very soft.

I can't answer the poll either as I only resole when needed.

 

[cptjeff]

Originally Posted by LynahFaithful

OP - Those soles look normal to me and do not need to be re-soled. If you resole them, they'll look just like this after you wear them once or twice. What you see is just some minor surface abrasion. Wear them and don't resole until you wear a hole in them or they get very soft. I can't answer the poll either as I only resole when needed.
The question he's really asking is how long it typically takes before your shoes need it. If you've ever resoled before, you can answer that one.