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THE OFFICIAL ALDEN THREAD FOR 2020 - SHARE REVIEWS, SIZING, ADVICE, AND PHOTOS.

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shahtirthak

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I wear through all of my leather soles in about a year give or take, right at the balls of my feet. My calfskin LWBs lasted about 8 months in a 3-shoe work week rotation (so no more than 2x per week), this will be shoe #4 so it may lst a bit longer, esp if I’m particular about not using them in the rain as suggested...But I will inevitably need to do a lot of walking across a college campus with a variety of surfaces (cobblestone, gravel, cement, etc)...do toe taps help with that sort of wear pattern?

Basically, I’m trying to find a) the best way to prolong the lives of the original soles, And b) a rubber sole to move to when the originals go, to keep costs down. These are meant to be semi-casual shoes (from sport coat and trousers to cords and jeans). Ideally I’d like to find something low profile that doesn’t change the entire nature of the shoe unlike a commando or lug sole

I have dainite on my AEs and don’t mind it so much...and it’s lasted 3x as long as any leather sole I’ve ha and are still going strong...but I’m open to other suggestions

I live in Singapore and we have tropical weather so it can rain any day of the year, all year round. I am also size US13 in footwear and have not found a good cobbler yet who can do the level of work that some other cobblers reference ed here can put out as and when I would need a resole. As a result, all of my leather soled shoes have a Vibram topy installed as that can be changed without any damage to the original soles.
1601014607847144313140088987828.jpg
 
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Shawnc

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Question for my Alden brothers on converting eyes to hooks. I've got 2 pair of pretty special boots that don't get much mileage primarily because they're 'tweeners', right between bus casual and denim. I want to send one in for a conversion (haven't decided which one but a slight lean towards the Splits). I've heard others say something about the hooks will not align with the eyes. Sounds like it is neither noticeable nor does it affect functionality but I wanted to get a clearer picture of the risks before pulling the trigger.......

20200925_084631.jpg


As always, any insight is greatly appreciated. And BTW, the whiskey's (Barrie 8E) can still be had for $1,200 net to me firm. IM me if interested. Inquiries posted to this thread will respectfully not be replied to.
 

smfdoc

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Happy Friday forum pals. The dependable, original, 975. I saw a pair in my size on the TSM seconds list. Momentary shoe lust and then I quickly recalled I already had a pair. I took this as a sure sign they needed to be worn.

IMG_9427.jpg
 

Vincent George

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I wear through all of my leather soles in about a year give or take, right at the balls of my feet. My calfskin LWBs lasted about 8 months in a 3-shoe work week rotation (so no more than 2x per week), this will be shoe #4 so it may lst a bit longer, esp if I’m particular about not using them in the rain as suggested...But I will inevitably need to do a lot of walking across a college campus with a variety of surfaces (cobblestone, gravel, cement, etc)...do toe taps help with that sort of wear pattern?

Basically, I’m trying to find a) the best way to prolong the lives of the original soles, And b) a rubber sole to move to when the originals go, to keep costs down. These are meant to be semi-casual shoes (from sport coat and trousers to cords and jeans). Ideally I’d like to find something low profile that doesn’t change the entire nature of the shoe unlike a commando or lug sole

I have dainite on my AEs and don’t mind it so much...and it’s lasted 3x as long as any leather sole I’ve ha and are still going strong...but I’m open to other suggestions
I mean, if Dainite is good for James Bond, it’s certainly good for me...

AE59C385-420F-43FA-BC2D-1C1E2BC005E0.jpeg
 

JSO1

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Dainite sucks, end of story, but Alden does need an alternative to commando. A combination sole would be good. Or a full, thin rubber option that isn’t rock hard and slippery (or cheap and light like Leisure II)
 

savvysartorial

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Nailed the dimple today, collars are perfect, Plaza last, and it's a sunny Friday. Couldn't ask for more!

PXL_20200925_145118646.jpg
PXL_20200925_144909695.jpg
 

BColl_Has_Too_Many_Shoes

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Question for my Alden brothers on converting eyes to hooks. I've got 2 pair of pretty special boots that don't get much mileage primarily because they're 'tweeners', right between bus casual and denim. I want to send one in for a conversion (haven't decided which one but a slight lean towards the Splits). I've heard others say something about the hooks will not align with the eyes. Sounds like it is neither noticeable nor does it affect functionality but I wanted to get a clearer picture of the risks before pulling the trigger.......

I've never done the conversion myself, but know a few people that had. Rather than asking if it turned out properly, I inquired if it made a difference in usage rate. Oddly it didn't haha.

How about you commit yourself to wearing them a few times before going all in?
 

Alden Northwest

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Question for my Alden brothers on converting eyes to hooks. I've got 2 pair of pretty special boots that don't get much mileage primarily because they're 'tweeners', right between bus casual and denim. I want to send one in for a conversion (haven't decided which one but a slight lean towards the Splits). I've heard others say something about the hooks will not align with the eyes. Sounds like it is neither noticeable nor does it affect functionality but I wanted to get a clearer picture of the risks before pulling the trigger.......

View attachment 1465048

As always, any insight is greatly appreciated. And BTW, the whiskey's (Barrie 8E) can still be had for $1,200 net to me firm. IM me if interested. Inquiries posted to this thread will respectfully not be replied to.

There are two issues that come to mind for me.

One is that on a typical hook boot from Alden there is a gap between where the eyelets end and the hooks start. May not be much of a big deal, but there also must be some reason they do that.

The bigger issue would be the typical hook boot has a strip of leather covering the backs of the hooks. Obviously the eyelets have already created the holes all the way through, so if you just replace the eyelets with hooks, the back of the hooks is going to be exposed. The only boot I ever had that had exposed hooks was the AE Dalton and those exposed hook backs scratched the heck out of the tongue. Not a big deal on a cheap Dalton, but might be a bummer on a nice rare shell. Perhaps a cobbler could install more leather to cover the backs of the new hooks, but I'm sure that would increase the cost.
 

audog

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The only boot I ever had that had exposed hooks was the AE Dalton and those exposed hook backs scratched the heck out of the tongue. Not a big deal on a cheap Dalton, but might be a bummer on a nice rare shell. Perhaps a cobbler could install more leather to cover the backs of the new hooks, but I'm sure that would increase the cost.
I totally agree with you on this. Here is photo of tongue of a pair of GS boots where there is no strip of leather covering the back of the hooks
IMG_4645.jpeg
 
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