Viberg Boots - Reviews, appreciation, news - share yours

[mcdecker1]

Check out New England Outerwear Company. Different styling, but in terms of quality, IMO they are superior to Viberg and 1/2 - 1/3 the price.

 

[rydenfan]



I believe around 640 as per Guy. Wonder what different materials

That is pretty steep. I am sure they will be awesome but I got these limited edition Danners for like half that in PDX recently. For my occasional lite usage they are totally fine

 

[Mon Dieu]

The price keeps goes up because people are willing to pay the retail price. Just like any other luxury brand.

Hence the addition of "Clothing" etc....A Viberg "Lifestyle" Ha.

None the less may well get the Hiker...........

 

[Akeem]



What other brands are making similar boots at this level of quality? As long as Viberg keeps doing so, I'll keep paying the price. 

Here you go. I believe Norvegese stitching is even higher on the quality scale than regular stitchdown.

http://www.riderbootshop.com/categories/Rider-Boot-Co./

 

[guyferguson]



I be curious to know such a large jump on price

The original workboot.com site launched 4 years ago. It was never properly maintained and has never really been accurate in terms of available product, pricing, leathers, etc. If an order was processed it was of course honoured, but the site probably should have just been taken down a long time ago. It's true that the Hiker was listed at $440 (USD), but that is a price almost 10 years old and does not come close to reflecting the amount of materials and labour that go into that particular boot. It would be similar to browsing a decade old catalogue. We also have no stock in the hiker as it was shown on workboot.com and haven't for quite some time, so it's not like we've taken an existing physical product and just changed the price arbitrarily. $640 is based around a wholesale price that our stockists have been paying for a few years now. If you've seen the past hikers at Leffot or Four Horsemen they were nowhere near $440. The reality is that the Hiker is one of the most complicated boots we produce. The upper is a single piece which makes it very difficult and expensive to cut. It has a Thinsulate liner (which is hand cut) and a full leather lining which essentially doubles the labour time. It gets a full length leather and foam footbed which is again hand cut and assembled for each boot. Even the hardware is considerably more expensive. Given that a Service Boot at an absolute base cost is still over $600 the Hiker should really be somewhere in the $7-800 range. We don't produce that many of them anymore, and it would be easy enough to just axe the style completely, but it's an important boot in our own heritage and offers something different aesthetically and functionally. There are cheaper hiking boots out there, just like there are cheaper work boots, service boots, oxfords, derbies, etc., but we're not really interested in changing what we do to compete with them. We only make boots one way and unfortunately it is expensive.

Are these to be on site Thursday ?

That's what i'm aiming for! I'll try to confirm before the end of the day.

The price keeps goes up because people are willing to pay the retail price. Just like any other luxury brand.

I wish this were the case. Every year our cost of materials and labour rise considerably. Unlike most companies we cannot increase our production capacity because it is not outsourced. I'm not sure what you mean by luxury brand, but we simply do not operate on that level. We don't have an advertising budget, we don't sell fragrances and handbags, we don't have flagship stores to support. I'm personally the only full time employee who is not directly involved in production on some level. If you mean more independent "luxury" brands like Nigel Cabourn, Visvim, etc. then i can tell you for sure that we have nowhere near the same margins on the wholesale or retail level. We continually undercut ourselves to maintain our current prices and I know many small, independent manufacturers across North America who are in the exact same boat. Unfortunately, an expensive product does not always equate to large profits and inflated margins.

 

[Heymanniceshot]

Respect. Keep doing what you do and I can't wait for the brown waxed flesh service boot to arrive. Tis my first viberg pair

 

[Michael Haines]



The original workboot.com site launched 4 years ago. It was never properly maintained and has never really been accurate in terms of available product, pricing, leathers, etc. If an order was processed it was of course honoured, but the site probably should have just been taken down a long time ago. It's true that the Hiker was listed at $440 (USD), but that is a price almost 10 years old and does not come close to reflecting the amount of materials and labour that go into that particular boot. It would be similar to browsing a decade old catalogue. We also have no stock in the hiker as it was shown on workboot.com and haven't for quite some time, so it's not like we've taken an existing physical product and just changed the price arbitrarily. $640 is based around a wholesale price that our stockists have been paying for a few years now. If you've seen the past hikers at Leffot or Four Horsemen they were nowhere near $440. The reality is that the Hiker is one of the most complicated boots we produce. The upper is a single piece which makes it very difficult and expensive to cut. It has a Thinsulate liner (which is hand cut) and a full leather lining which essentially doubles the labour time. It gets a full length leather and foam footbed which is again hand cut and assembled for each boot. Even the hardware is considerably more expensive. Given that a Service Boot at an absolute base cost is still over $600 the Hiker should really be somewhere in the $7-800 range. We don't produce that many of them anymore, and it would be easy enough to just axe the style completely, but it's an important boot in our own heritage and offers something different aesthetically and functionally. There are cheaper hiking boots out there, just like there are cheaper work boots, service boots, oxfords, derbies, etc., but we're not really interested in changing what we do to compete with them. We only make boots one way and unfortunately it is expensive.
That's what i'm aiming for! I'll try to confirm before the end of the day.
I wish this were the case. Every year our cost of materials and labour rise considerably. Unlike most companies we cannot increase our production capacity because it is not outsourced. I'm not sure what you mean by luxury brand, but we simply do not operate on that level. We don't have an advertising budget, we don't sell fragrances and handbags, we don't have flagship stores to support. I'm personally the only full time employee who is not directly involved in production on some level. If you mean more independent "luxury" brands like Nigel Cabourn, Visvim, etc. then i can tell you for sure that we have nowhere near the same margins on the wholesale or retail level. We continually undercut ourselves to maintain our current prices and I know many small, independent manufacturers across North America who are in the exact same boat. Unfortunately, an expensive product does not always equate to large profits and inflated margins.

I appreciate the feedback and can't wait to order this hiker

 

[Mon Dieu]

^ Very well put, and this is why I will pay what I pay for the boot....By far the last purchases of have made from Viberg has been money well spent, which I wish is something I could say about ever thing I purchase !

 

[jp2k1]

The original workboot.com site launched 4 years ago. It was never properly maintained and has never really been accurate in terms of available product, pricing, leathers, etc. If an order was processed it was of course honoured, but the site probably should have just been taken down a long time ago. It's true that the Hiker was listed at $440 (USD), but that is a price almost 10 years old and does not come close to reflecting the amount of materials and labour that go into that particular boot. It would be similar to browsing a decade old catalogue. We also have no stock in the hiker as it was shown on workboot.com and haven't for quite some time, so it's not like we've taken an existing physical product and just changed the price arbitrarily. $640 is based around a wholesale price that our stockists have been paying for a few years now. If you've seen the past hikers at Leffot or Four Horsemen they were nowhere near $440. The reality is that the Hiker is one of the most complicated boots we produce. The upper is a single piece which makes it very difficult and expensive to cut. It has a Thinsulate liner (which is hand cut) and a full leather lining which essentially doubles the labour time. It gets a full length leather and foam footbed which is again hand cut and assembled for each boot. Even the hardware is considerably more expensive. Given that a Service Boot at an absolute base cost is still over $600 the Hiker should really be somewhere in the $7-800 range. We don't produce that many of them anymore, and it would be easy enough to just axe the style completely, but it's an important boot in our own heritage and offers something different aesthetically and functionally. There are cheaper hiking boots out there, just like there are cheaper work boots, service boots, oxfords, derbies, etc., but we're not really interested in changing what we do to compete with them. We only make boots one way and unfortunately it is expensive.
That's what i'm aiming for! I'll try to confirm before the end of the day.
I wish this were the case. Every year our cost of materials and labour rise considerably. Unlike most companies we cannot increase our production capacity because it is not outsourced. I'm not sure what you mean by luxury brand, but we simply do not operate on that level. We don't have an advertising budget, we don't sell fragrances and handbags, we don't have flagship stores to support. I'm personally the only full time employee who is not directly involved in production on some level. If you mean more independent "luxury" brands like Nigel Cabourn, Visvim, etc. then i can tell you for sure that we have nowhere near the same margins on the wholesale or retail level. We continually undercut ourselves to maintain our current prices and I know many small, independent manufacturers across North America who are in the exact same boat. Unfortunately, an expensive product does not always equate to large profits and inflated margins.

Please keep it up! Love the boots.

 

[misterjuiceman]

Here you go. I believe Norvegese stitching is even higher on the quality scale than regular stitchdown.

http://www.riderbootshop.com/categories/Rider-Boot-Co./

I was speaking of Viberg in general, not just their hiking boots, but Ron Rider's hiking boots are also priced higher than Viberg's. This pair at Leather Soul was $800. If we're going to compare sale prices, we should compare it to Viberg's sale prices.

With regard to Norvegese stitching being higher quality than Viberg's stitch-down offerings, Viberg has their liner attached under the insole, and the upper is also attached under the insole, just before the liner stops on their unlined boots. This is a very water resistant construction, and as far as I know, it wouldn't see any benefits from having a welt added.

Boot quality also comes down to more than just construction style—you must also consider the internal materials. Does the welt on Ron Rider's hiker get sewn directly into the insole, or is a canvas holdfast used?

The only pair of Riders that I've handled were at at Leffot, and the stitching was exceedingly sloppy: there were holes from where the sewing machine came too close to the sole edge, and the thread had to be pulled and it was restitched. That may just be a rare one-off occurrence, but I've never seen anything that bad come out of Viberg. After what I saw, I'd be a little nervous buying online with Rider's boots on-sale, since returns are for store-credit only on sale goods.

With that all said, I like Ron Rider. I like his designs for Alfred Sargent and his own with Ron Rider Boots, but I don't think I'd compare them to Viberg—outside of the hikers, they're completely different boots.

 

[rydenfan]

Great response guy! and that hiker sounds like another extremely high quality product

 

[Odd I/O]



The original workboot.com site launched 4 years ago. It was never properly maintained and has never really been accurate in terms of available product, pricing, leathers, etc. If an order was processed it was of course honoured, but the site probably should have just been taken down a long time ago. It's true that the Hiker was listed at $440 (USD), but that is a price almost 10 years old and does not come close to reflecting the amount of materials and labour that go into that particular boot. It would be similar to browsing a decade old catalogue. We also have no stock in the hiker as it was shown on workboot.com and haven't for quite some time, so it's not like we've taken an existing physical product and just changed the price arbitrarily. $640 is based around a wholesale price that our stockists have been paying for a few years now. If you've seen the past hikers at Leffot or Four Horsemen they were nowhere near $440. The reality is that the Hiker is one of the most complicated boots we produce. The upper is a single piece which makes it very difficult and expensive to cut. It has a Thinsulate liner (which is hand cut) and a full leather lining which essentially doubles the labour time. It gets a full length leather and foam footbed which is again hand cut and assembled for each boot. Even the hardware is considerably more expensive. Given that a Service Boot at an absolute base cost is still over $600 the Hiker should really be somewhere in the $7-800 range. We don't produce that many of them anymore, and it would be easy enough to just axe the style completely, but it's an important boot in our own heritage and offers something different aesthetically and functionally. There are cheaper hiking boots out there, just like there are cheaper work boots, service boots, oxfords, derbies, etc., but we're not really interested in changing what we do to compete with them. We only make boots one way and unfortunately it is expensive.

Thanks for that detailed reply.

Are the hikers good to -10 degrees celsius? And how waterproof are the roughout hikers that'll go on sale on your site on Thursday? If not what would you recommend to waterproof them. I have some Tarrago nano protector I was considering using.

 

[Scott Stevens]

'but we're not really interested in changing what we do to compete with them. We only make boots one way and unfortunately it is expensive.'

So why are you planning to offer the Goodyear welt? Will this eventually replace stitchdown/nail-down?

 

[ojaw]

Thanks for that detailed reply.

Are the hikers good to -10 degrees celsius?

I wear runners at -30: as long as I'm moving, no problem.
With leather and soles that thick I'd think they'd be more than adequate.

 

[Distorbiant]

What do you guys think about this model?

Would anyone be interested in something similar for a groupbuy? The groupbuy version would be something with less branding and no tonal details at all--a completely blacked out boot. Possibly a sleeker wedge-style sole and no buckle if possible.