SKX, my contrary view on value points!

My wife and I walk for about an hour every morning. We both wear Skechers shoes when we walk. They provide good support. They were comfortable when we tried them on in the store, requiring zero “break-in” (the amount of time required to convince yourself that the shoes you purchased are comfortable). They also look good. My other pair of Skechers are my daily walk around shoes. Very comfortable (but don’t provide the same degree of support as the walking shoes). They are timelessly casual fashionable unadorned black slip-on shoes.

Both pairs of shoes were made in China and were very competitively priced. I’ve owned both pairs of shoes for under a year, so it might be premature to discuss how sturdy they are, but so far anyway they show no signs of poor craftsmanship or inferior materials when compared to Cole Hahn, Nike, New Balance and other more expensive shoes I’ve owned. In other words, so far they appear to be a very good value for the price paid.

I don’t think they will last for 1 year. I bought two pairs, which I use for my daily walks (1 in the morning and one in the evening). It took a few months for the soles to smooth out on the heel part of the shoe. It may be due to how I walk but my Asics which are much older held up much longer and I am back to using my much older Asics over the Sketchers. Will I agree they are comfortable out of the box I don’t find them lasting all that long with my daily usage.

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It took a few months for the soles to smooth out on the heel part of the shoe.
Yeh that build in obsolescence pisses me off. Heel adds on and sole manufacturers deliberately use fast degrading materials. The heel of the sole gives out on my shoes before anything else, every time.
Ant

Ant, shoes do give up the soul! Don’t you guys have cobblers? They heal shoes. LOL

Denny Schlesinger

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LOL - yes cobblers heal broken souls. We do have some in Asia but…

  1. British gentlemen take their shoes very seriously
  2. Cobblers can fix souls but usually the leather sole variety not the rubber soul type (vinyl or otherwise) - yeh did you see what I just did! :wink: (the younglings round here might not get it, anyhow…)
    In the case of SKX I haven’t come across leather soles so when your rubber soul gives out there ain’t much you can do except get a whole new pair of shoes.
    Ant
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Vinyl and leather are of the past tense variety. Some synthetic shoes, the ones that imitate leather, can be soled but not the sneaker type. The burdens of progress! LOL

Denny Schlesinger

Yep Vinyl Rubber Soul and leather brogues had to give way to mp3 and synthetic sneakers. It is the story of the 20th century - convenience trumps quality. Whilst I have succumbed to CDs I still buy Church’s leather brogues (although I have to admit they aren’t very useful to jog in).
Ant

It took a few months for the soles to smooth out on the heel part of the shoe.

If you want your shoes to last longer stop walking so much! :wink:

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It is less a matter of materials as construction. If the sole is sewn on it can be replaced. These days most shoes are glued together, and resoling becomes pretty much impossible.

Personally my default shoe is Clarks Wallabee, the low-cut version. They have the unusual feature of being shaped like my feet. The thick crepe sold eventually wears out, but that takes years for me.
http://www.amazon.com/Clarks-Originals-Wallabee-Oxford-Suede…