Resoling

[EZB]

I am not an expert, but I am an engineer by trade, which makes me curious to analyze all sorts of things. One thing I am not sure I understand though is resoling of shoes and boots. Now, don't get me wrong, I do understand the basics. Resoling a quality shoe means you can restore an old shoe to near-new condition, maintaining some of the break-in aspects of it that you love. However, I am not sure I believe that resoling a shoe makes sense in many cases with "cheaper" shoes and boots.

For example, say you have a quality AE shoe that retails for $425. You may have gotten it on sale for $250 or as a factory second for cheaper, but let's not consider that too deeply here. You love the shoe and wore it pretty heavily. The leather is well broken in, and the shoe has molded to the shape of your foot. But the sole is gone. You can send this shoe back to AE and have it recrafted for $125. The leather will be restretched and refinished, and the outsole will be replaced with a brand new one. Your shoe will retain its molded shape to your feet in the insole. With the exception of the refinishing of the leather removing the patina, this seems like a terrific deal. For $125, you get back your shoe in nearly $425 condition. Yes, I realize some creases will remain, and some things are not redrafted; but, in all, you are getting a lot of value back for that $125. Getting a new shoe would cost $250 on sale and $425 regular, so this makes sense.

Now consider another example. You have a pair of $200 Thursday boots or shoes. Thursday products are also goodyear welted and resoleable. I am not aware of an internal Thursday recrafting program, so I assume you have to pay an independent cobbler. I assume you won't be taking it to Kirby Allison for the $165 tag, so perhaps you can get this done for $100 elsewhere. You would be restoring the shoe to a like-new condition, but is it really worth it? The brand new shoe (no sale pricing needed) is $200. For $100, you are not getting the manufacturers original sole. Your shoe isn't being worked on by the company that made it and understands that shoe the best. Why would you do this instead of just buying a $200 new shoe?

Then the question becomes--why would you AT ALL buy the Thursday shoe? Let's say the $200 Thursday shoe is identical to the AE $425 shoe, though I admit AE is higher quality generally. For a one-time price of $425, you can recraft it several times for $125 each time with the AE. But with the Thursday shoe, you will spend $200 each time, since it just isn't worth it to recraft. After three recraftings, with the AE, you have spent $425 + $125 + $125 + $125 = $800. After three "new" purchases of the Thursday shoes, you have spent $200 + $200 + $200 + $200 = $800. It's the same cost! It would seem then that buying the AE makes more sense if it is actually a better shoe anyway.

Thoughts?

 

[dluce76]

That's why I put on rubber topy half soles on all my shoes (and metal toe taps too on some).

When the rubber topy wears through, costs much less to replace - and I actually just do them in my basement with some simple tools, so it costs me about $10 (the cost of the topy on Amazon).

 

[NoNameNecessary]

That's why I put on rubber topy half soles on all my shoes (and metal toe taps too on some).

When the rubber topy wears through, costs much less to replace - and I actually just do them in my basement with some simple tools, so it costs me about $10 (the cost of the topy on Amazon).

That’s impressive. You have a big grinder wheel at home?

 

[Mark Seitelman]

I agree that it doesn't make a heck of a lot of sense to spend $100+ to resole a $200 shoe. The exception is a $400+ shoe bought at $200.

One of my late friends used to buy shoes for below $200. I believe that it was Bostonian. His maintenance would be limited to shines and perhaps a re-heeling. In any event, he viewed the shoes as disposable, and he was prepared to buy a pair or two a year.

Also, it is unlikely that one would get a pair of Allen Edmonds resoled three times. I think that after the shoe has been re-soled twice (i.e., it has had three soles in its lifetime), the shoe would be pretty shot. Of course, there may be AE fans and the bespoke customers who re-soled three or more times and refused to depart with their shoes. But I think that two re-soles are the reasonable expectation.

 

[NoNameNecessary]

First, there is a certain point where higher quality cost less. But like already been said, no one will resole AE more than 3 times. I think AE factory will refuse the shoes after 2nd or 3rd resole. You can find a independent cobbler after that, but they won’t be able to guarantee the shoes won’t fall apart.
Plus, new shoes are better than resoled ones. I would prefer new shoes at lower bracket than resoled higher end shoes

 

[breakaway01]

The assumption here is that throwing away three pairs of boots has no cost. I would argue otherwise.

 

[NoNameNecessary]

The assumption here is that throwing away three pairs of boots has no cost. I would argue otherwise.

What’s the cost of throwing garbage?

 

[mediocrecomposer]

Another thought here is that the more shoes you have the fewer times you wear each in a year, and the fewer resolings. If you have ten pairs of AE shoes (not too crazy for some of us) then each of those pairs could last most of your career, getting resoled three or four times.

 

[mediocrecomposer]

I have a related question: a bad cobbler convinced me to resole my Alden Indy boots and he butchered the job. Instead of redoing the 270 degree Goodyear welt it appears that he cemented the soles. The day I picked them up I walked down the street and they had already started coming apart. I took them back and I think he just recemented them. They are coming apart again. Can I take these boots to a good cobbler and get them done right, or are they ruined?

 

[dluce76]

That’s impressive. You have a big grinder wheel at home?

Don't need the heavy duty grinders.

A small bench sander (I got the Wen one on Amazon for $100) is all you need.

After it's all said and done, resoling isn't cheap, and I found many other woodworking uses for the bench sander over the years.

 

[Nick V.]

I have a related question: a bad cobbler convinced me to resole my Alden Indy boots and he butchered the job. Instead of redoing the 270 degree Goodyear welt it appears that he cemented the soles. The day I picked them up I walked down the street and they had already started coming apart. I took them back and I think he just recemented them. They are coming apart again. Can I take these boots to a good cobbler and get them done right, or are they ruined?

Any reputable cobbler could re-do the job correctly. There is a good chance that the welts need to be replaced bc when the existing sole gets removed the welts may get damaged.

 

[EZB]

I have a related question: a bad cobbler convinced me to resole my Alden Indy boots and he butchered the job. Instead of redoing the 270 degree Goodyear welt it appears that he cemented the soles. The day I picked them up I walked down the street and they had already started coming apart. I took them back and I think he just recemented them. They are coming apart again. Can I take these boots to a good cobbler and get them done right, or are they ruined?

Have you considered asking The Hanger Project? I'd trust them to do a good resole. If they can't, I'd take them back to the cobbler that mess them up and clobber his head with them.

 

[mediocrecomposer]

Have you considered asking The Hanger Project? .

I'll look into the Hanger Project, thanks.