[pct-l] Pct-L Digest, Vol 32, Issue 60

[greg mushial]

> Date: Fri, 27 Aug 2010 16:33:58 -0700
> From: Diane Soini of Santa Barbara Hikes <diane at santabarbarahikes.com>
> Subject: Re: [pct-l] how do running shoes tend to die, and when?
> To: pct-l at backcountry.net
> Message-ID:
> <EA12DC7D-27A2-4EF6-9716-C93B5257BE0C at santabarbarahikes.com>
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>
> On Aug 27, 2010, at 1:09 PM, pct-l-request at backcountry.net wrote:
>
>> how do the shoes tend break down? Stiches blow out?
>> Bottoms wear out?
>
> I've had them look more or less fine on the outside but the foam in
> the sole (not the insole but inside the sole) has worn out messing up
> my gait. I've also had them where the upper material gets a lot of
> holes and once they get to a certain size, too much dirt and little
> rocks get in. I've seen thru-hikers with their shoes' uppers held
> together with dental floss.
>
> I really don't think running shoes last long enough. They're hardly
> worth the money. I've had $40 running shoes last a lot longer and
> feel a lot better than the really expensive ones, but the minus has
> been that they usually stay wet longer which can be annoying if
> you're walking through a particularly wet area.
>

Actually I think these are too cheap to even have foam in the sole :-) 
(cheaper is better??) What I've noticed is: that I'm walking maybe 1/4" 
closer to the ground, and more stablely..  I think there's been some 
compression of the footbed (3-4mm); and looking carefully, it looks that the 
biggest change has been the grinding down of the soles where the load is 
being carried (under my footprint). This change has actually been positive 
in that instead of walking on top of the ridges of the sole, the tops of 
said ridges are gone, giving a more stable footprint. I do understand and 
and am wary of the holes in the sides/tops allowing crud in - have had lots 
of problems with such with mesh or fabric uppers on other shoes. Again, 
these are so cheap in design/construction, that they don't have such - or 
have very very little (two little strips of mesh [may not actually be, but 
material made to look like such] on each uppers - 1/2" x 3"), but otherwise, 
the tops are mostly fake leather, or some heavy fabric.

W/re them being "hardly worth the money" - absolutely have to agree. In 
China the nominal construction cost of a mid-line pair of shoes, is on the 
order of  8-10 yuan / shoe ($1.40-$1.80) [google and find custom shoe mfgs - 
and what they'll sell for, Q100k]. One can also see this in what one can 
find closeout shoes for (which are rarely rarely sold at a loss) - "$100" 
shoes marked down to $14.95...  ding ding - they were never $100 shoes, that 
was simply what the clueless/sheeple were fooled into paying for them 
(running shoes have HUGE markups).

The staying wet - I hadn't thought about that aspect - maybe I can slather a 
coat of Snoseal on them to at least keep the material from becomeing wet... 
then it'll only be my sock (wool) and my foot that'll get wet, and those I 
can either swap or towel off. [btw: was in town last night, and stopped by 
ShopKo (btw: I think I misidentified the source as Target in my initial post 
:-(  )... still had them "on sale" for $29.95...  asked a employee: how much 
longer are they going to be on sale?...  "Oh...  they're always on sale" 
:-)  Since I've already gone from D widths and 10.5s to EEEE and 11.5's... 
maybe I'll snag another pair or two (ie, not too worried about spreading 
beyond the new sizes).

Thanks Diane...   TheDuck