Leather Soles on nice shoes: to protect or not to protect?

[extempore]

Originally Posted by dshell

Which makers?
I'd be interested to know as well... so that I can avoid these makers, or petition them. It's ridiculous, and reeks of anti-competition to me - 'if they Topy their shoes, then we'll lose out on resoling!'

If I can virtually destroy a pair of shoes through heavy use, or pick up an absolutely battered pair of shoes from a thrift, and then send them off to the original maker for a resole/restoration, I don't see why adding a Topy will suddenly make my shoes unresoleable.

 

[billiebob]

Originally Posted by A Harris

Definitely my gait bears on how much time I get out of a topy, I seem to barely wear soles or heels at all for some reason. Still though, when I compare the wear on a topy'd pair of EG's I've had for seven years and another pair of EG's without a topy that I've had for 5 years a clear difference emerges. Both are basics (black and tan captoes) that see frequent wear. The black shoes have at least 1/2 their wear left in the topy while the tan shoes are close to needing a resole.

For me, here are is the + / - breakdown. Plus:

1) Topy's are FAR more secure / less likely to slip in most all conditions

2) Topy's wear far slower than a bare leather sole and are much cheaper to replace by a factor of 3-10. Also you get to preserve the look of the factory welt.

3) Topy's protect your shoes in the wet. In my experience the wear a leather soled shoe sustains in one wearing on wet concrete equals at least 10 wearings on dry concrete or asphalt, especially if you encounter any loose aggregate. And leather soles repeatedly worn in the wet tend to lose their shape and 'round' easily.
Negatives:
1) Slight loss of transpiration which is harder on the lining.
2) Some makers will not resole a shoe after it has been topy'd.
I think you guys are crazy to avoid them for aesthetic reasons btw. If the proper thickness is used and they are properly chamfered you will only see them when the sole is off the ground. And worn leather soles are ugly, at least as ugly as a topy.


This post is the truth. I have 30+ pairs of leather shoes and those I have topy'd are perfect and some I have bought in 2005 almost need a resole. I don't walk evenly and the soles are rounded and start to delaminate after the sole stitching is ripped (which is pretty soon if you walk in the rain as I do). And these are on soles that have at minimum Kiwi plastic heel and toe taps.

Sadly I topied shoes that I knew I was going to wear the **** out of, like the Polo darltons in brown cordovan and some polo boots. The EGs all have unprotected soles and are suffering for it despite their superior durability. I'm not going to pay $300 to have EG resole them, that's for sure. I think I'll sand them square and topy them myself when the time comes.

 

[Chips]

I have them put on all shoes when new. I had an embarrassing event happen in the hospital I work at once about a year ago; I had to run into a patients room during a code, and slipped 5 feet ( without falling) because the patients IV had gotten ripped out and a bit of saline was on the floor. The shoes I was wearing that night had no scuff protector or "topy", and I slid very easily. They went on all my subsequent shoes promptly after that. In defense of the leather sole though, they were practically new, with very smooth bottoms.

I'd rather replace those than have to pay for a resole.

I have heel taps in all my regular rotation shoes as well. But then again, I weighed a bit over 360 lbs two months ago, and did a good job grinding down the material. I'm down to 315 yesterday, and do notice that my feet feel a hell of a lot better. At 6' 4" I hope to get back to 220 by spring. But thats getting off topic.

I have no qualms what so ever about putting sole protectors on my shoes.

 

[ohm]

I tend to agree that they don't do anything bad to the shoe and have some real benefits, but I like the sound and feel of leather soles.

 

[A Harris]

Originally Posted by dshell

Which makers?

Edward Green is the one that springs to mind, unless the the reports I've heard are not true.

 

[Groover]

Originally Posted by dshell

Which makers?


All of the manufacturers I've spoken to about this issue when I've come to get my shoes repaired have said, "they reserve the right to reject a shoe for a factory repair if it's be altered from it's original specification". Now whether they choose to enforce that standpoint is something that can only be decided/discussed at the time.

Those manufacturers I've had the conversation with are:

Crockett & Jones
Cheaney
Church's
Loake
Barkers
Grenson

That said, some years ago I had a pair of Cheaney boots which I returned to Jones Bootmaker for a factory repair. The store sent them to a local cobbler and the job wasn't very good, I explained that I had requested a factory repair and not a local repair. They sent them off to Cheaney and they rebuilt them, new insoles, welts, full soles and heels, and to top it off the factory rebuild was only £10 more than the local job.

 

[bigbris1]

Originally Posted by A Harris

Definitely my gait bears on how much time I get out of a topy, I seem to barely wear soles or heels at all for some reason. Still though, when I compare the wear on a topy'd pair of EG's I've had for seven years and another pair of EG's without a topy that I've had for 5 years a clear difference emerges. Both are basics (black and tan captoes) that see frequent wear. The black shoes have at least 1/2 their wear left in the topy while the tan shoes are close to needing a resole.

For me, here are is the + / - breakdown. Plus:

1) Topy's are FAR more secure / less likely to slip in most all conditions

2) Topy's wear far slower than a bare leather sole and are much cheaper to replace by a factor of 3-10. Also you get to preserve the look of the factory welt.

3) Topy's protect your shoes in the wet. In my experience the wear a leather soled shoe sustains in one wearing on wet concrete equals at least 10 wearings on dry concrete or asphalt, especially if you encounter any loose aggregate. And leather soles repeatedly worn in the wet tend to lose their shape and 'round' easily.

Negatives:

1) Slight loss of transpiration which is harder on the lining.

2) Some makers will not resole a shoe after it has been topy'd.



I think you guys are crazy to avoid them for aesthetic reasons btw. If the proper thickness is used and they are properly chamfered you will only see them when the sole is off the ground. And worn leather soles are ugly, at least as ugly as a topy.

You are my arch nemesis A Harris.

 

[constant struggle]

This is what you must do, which is what I am planning to do, once I secure the funds...
Buy a few pairs with danite sole specifically for those rainy days...
Wear leather on the non rainy days

DONE!

 

[vitaminc]

google yield no results, so, what's topy? any pictures/websites?

 

[Schweino]

Originally Posted by vitaminc

google yield no results, so, what's topy? any pictures/websites?
A topy is a rubber stick-on sole to protect the leather sole of a shoe. Try the search function on this forum, it rteturn about 30 threads about topy-ing.

 

[StylingUK]

Would it be possible to add a topy on a danite sole like the boots below to make it last longer? Just wondering if the current sole is smooth enough to add the topy on top.

http://www.sierratradingpost.com/ecc.../f_88733_1.jpg

 

[grimslade]

No, it is not possible. But it's already a rubber sole...

 

[StylingUK]

Originally Posted by grimslade

No, it is not possible. But it's already a rubber sole...

thanks for clearing that up. Thought it would be good to have another rubber layer underneath to make it last longer.

 

[voxsartoria]

Originally Posted by grimslade

No, it is not possible. But it's already a rubber sole...

How about glueing a layer of leather to the Dainite, and then putting a Topy on top of the leather, like some sort of super shoe sandwich?

Best of all worlds?


- B