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There are so many variables that enter into this. When we make a pair of shoes to the Traditional standards there is a prescribed thickness and temper for insoles and for outsoles. These are the kinds of things that are passed on from master to apprentice but go missing in a factory situation...and ultimately forever.
Cheap shoes will more than likely have cheap outsoles (which will wear away quickly) but they might also have cheap and/or thin insoles which will allow the shoe to flex more readily.
When good quality insoles cut from the proper areas of the hide are paired with good quality outsoles, there is a resistance to flex that is created. That's why a shoe feels stiff when it is new or has just been resoled.
Too much resistance...such as when a double sole of good quality outsole is matched to a good quality insole...and the prospects for wear at the toe increase. This toe wear may or may not (but probably will, although to what extent I cannot say) decrease with successive re-solings and as the insole and mid sole break in.
Cheap shoes will more than likely have cheap outsoles (which will wear away quickly) but they might also have cheap and/or thin insoles which will allow the shoe to flex more readily.
When good quality insoles cut from the proper areas of the hide are paired with good quality outsoles, there is a resistance to flex that is created. That's why a shoe feels stiff when it is new or has just been resoled.
Too much resistance...such as when a double sole of good quality outsole is matched to a good quality insole...and the prospects for wear at the toe increase. This toe wear may or may not (but probably will, although to what extent I cannot say) decrease with successive re-solings and as the insole and mid sole break in.