I took a pair of boots and a pair of hiking shoes down to get repaired recently. Renee looked at the boots and said, “I can repair the heel and sole of the boots. The shoes are factory made shoes and it would be cheaper to buy a new pair than try and have me repair the sole.” He said, “It is the same with factory made boots. I have to take the entire sole off to replace it. Hand stitched boots have a separate sole and a separate heel, and I can replace them easily.” It seems most shoes today are factory made, and while the leather top is in good condition, the sole may begin to wear out. The sole of a factory made shoe is all one piece and if it wears out the entire sole must be replaced. It is cheaper to buy a new pair. And when the outer hard rubber portion wears out the soft rubber underneath is also honeycombed with air holes. It seems every small pebble on the road finds those air holes and every step after that has a click like a tap shoe.
I have been running since back in the late 70’s and early 80’s and recalled my efforts to keep my running shoes lasting as long as possible. It goes back to when I said, “If I have to pay over $40 for a pair of running shoes I’ll find a cheaper pair.” Today the cost is still $40 with an extra $100 cost added to it. And when the bottom wears out there are no repair possibilities other than to buy a new pair. Depending on how many miles a runner puts in every week will determine how long the shoe will last. The ad for the shoes may say they will last a “lifetime” means the lifetime of the shoe not the runner. The running style of the runner also plays a role in how long a shoe will last. I am a neutral pronator runner. My outside corner of the heel is the first part of the sole to go. And when that hard black outer sole wears out the soft cushion rubber will wear out extremely fast. And looking back at those shoes I remember picking up all the small pebbles on the road in the air spaces. That annoying ‘click-click’ sound on a run was enough to make you want to run only on the toe portion of the shoe.
