What's with all these vulcanize soled skate shoes all of a sudden?

[eastcoastrider27]

It seems like lately every company that makes skate shoes has come out with a shoe featuring a vulcanized sole.

Examples:

And of course, the most 'G' of 'OG's'...

Don't get me wrong, I think vulcanized soles make for the best skate shoes. But why now? And why so many companies?

It's not like this is new technology. Vulcanized soles have been around for years!

What were these shoe companies doing when they saw shoes like Dukes, Duffs and Vans, yet still released clunkers like the [shudder] Osiris D3?

I'll still keep rocking Half Cabs, but it's nice to know that skateboarding seems to be returning to the early to mid 90's hey day. At least in terms of product.

I smile when I see a young kid skating a Deluxe board, with Indy's and some proper sized Spitfires. As opposed to those skatepark rodents that are decked out in Element gear from their helmet to their shoes to their trucks. (Yeah, they make trucks now.)

It's nice to know that as skateboarding continues to expand to the mainstream, some things are staying true to the original.

[cheapmuthafukr]

now all we need is 8 1/2" boards and 60mm wheels, matt reason to come back, and wallies in and out of tricks...

ahhh.... the days of my youth

If you've lost your faith in superfuture, Oh the end won't be long

Because if it's gone for you then I too may lose it, And that would be wrong

I've tried so hard to keep myself from falling

Back into my bad old ways

And it chars my heart to always hear you calling

Calling for the good old days

Because there were no good old days

These are the good old days

[TragicBliss]

You can thank the growing popularity of Vans for that. As well as the obviously better grip vulcanized soles provide.

http://www.tragicbliss.com

[Loop]

Missed the Circa AL50;

I noticed that shoe as soon as it came out since it really reminded me of Vans Rowley Classics, soon as the classics weren't available anywhere (here anyway) those circa's popped up then more and more of them....

Rowley classics were released a while back about the time I started seeing the Emerica and DC efforts arriving.

I was a bit gutted when the Reynolds 2 got replaced by the 3 since it's a very different shoe but then a few months back, Emerica rereleased the 2 as well as the 3 (though plenty of people still want the Reynolds 1 to go back into production...).

I'll be honest I don't really skate anymore, just ride bmx so I'm not so much as fan of vulcanised soles but I do fancy a pair of the newstyle skate shoes out there purely for chilling.

I think skate shoes have become more accepted in general especially since they've lost a lot of the generic bulky look. Hence the success of Vans Vault but also, has anyone else seen the new Etnies Plus line? They're trying to keep it seperate from the main line (apparently) it's aimed purely at a fashion market rather than skatekids I guess (or maybe just at grown-up skatekids...)

http://www.etniesplus.com/

[eastcoastrider27]

Quote: I think skate shoes have become more accepted in general

I was just thinking about this the other day.

10 years ago, if you saw someone wearing a pair of eS, DC, Duffs, etc. you knew they skated. You could throw 'em a head nod, they were down.

Now that skateboarding has become so mainstream, everyone and their grandmother wears DC's.

[UsVersusThem]

these companies are just chasing sales. its funny cuz es had a legitimate image that was uniquely theirs in the late nineties but abandoned it for sales...now they just put out copycat shoes.

[Loop]

The thing with copycat shoes is its not like there's a few companies doing original designs and a load of copycats. It seems more that everytime a company puts an original shoe out (with it's copycats of other brands) the other brands make a copycat shoe (and at the same time release their own original). So every companies range become their take on exactly the same ideas. Like the DC Kaizen is so blatently a copy of the Es Koston 6 but I'm sure Es have DC copies in their range.

Does that make sense to anyone but me?

It's interesting how the new Tony Trujillo TNT shoe is so clearly influenced by all the shoes above which themselves are all so heavily influenced by original Vans styles.

What comes around goes around...

[doctorgnar]

Quote:

these companies are just chasing sales. its funny cuz es had a legitimate image that was uniquely theirs in the late nineties but abandoned it for sales...now they just put out copycat shoes.

--- Original message by UsVersusThem on May 8, 2006 04:09 PM

I'm gonna have to go ahead and disagree with you there, to the contrary, I think, especially with the Sole Tech companies, they are making superior skate shoes.

Not sure what you mean by copycat, but most of these shoes are better than their predescessors. Definitely thanks to the surge in popularity of the all time greats, like the Half-Cab, which are still killing it.

I went from skating eS Accels to the Reynold's 3 and the change was great. That's why eS started making the Square One, using the same upper as one of their best shoes ever and stepping it up with the vulc sole, because they know what's up.

The image thing just get's passed around, the consumer is fickle. It was eS and DC, and Etnies and Airwalk before that, now it's Lakai and Nike. The saga continues...

And they look better.

Edited by doctorgnar on May 8, 2006 at 06:44 PM

[Loop]

I would agree that the shoes do perform much better now, but, I think it is also fair to think that aesthetics-wise, things have regressed rather than progressed.

Personally I'm all for the more old school designs but I can understand why some people might be pissed when companies just appear to be remaking old shoes.

I wonder if it might be fair to say that the shoe companies are now making the shoes they would have made 10 years ago (and even earlier) if they'd had the technology that they have now?

doctorgnar: how do the Reynolds 3's feel? I was never a fan of the Accels since it felt like my foot was 'in the shoe' rather than like I was wearing the shoe..if that makes sense...

Edited by Loop on May 9, 2006 at 04:48 AM

Edited by Loop on May 9, 2006 at 04:48 AM

Edited by Loop on May 10, 2006 at 07:27 AM

[doctorgnar]

Quote:

I would agree that the sjoes do perform much better now, but, I think it is also fair to think that aesthetics-wise, things have regressed rather than progressed.

Personally I'm all for the more old school designs but I can understand why some people might be pissed when companies just appear to be remaking old shoes.

I wonder if it might be fair to say that the shoe companies are now making the shoes they would have made 10 years ago (and even earlier) if they'd had the technology that they have now?

doctorgnar: how do the Reynolds 3's feel? I was never a fan of the Accels since it felt like my foot was 'in the shoe' rather than like I was wearing the shoe..if that makes sense...

Edited by Loop on May 9, 2006 at 04:48 AM

Edited by Loop on May 9, 2006 at 04:48 AM

--- Original message by Loop on May 9, 2006 04:47 AM

I like the Reynolds 3 a lot, it's super soft, you get really good feel of your board.

I'm skating in the Emerica Francis now -- a complete Half-Cab knock-off, but I was saying that the R3 was the first vulc soled shoe I went back to.

I hear you on the Accels, that's exactly how I feel when I put them on now. I got some P Rods recently and they feel that way as well -- They look pretty, but it's way too much shoe.

[thomas_highstreet]

coz the youth are on vans cock

[UsVersusThem]

im not knocking soletech or any company as far as quality of build is concerned. but lets face facts. half cabs have been around for a LONG time. you would have been hard pressed to find a kid skating in those in the late 90's. i worked for active for 5 years and sold shoes for a good number of those years. the sales of skate shoes are not driven by skaters. its driven by sales of the market at whole, of which skaters are only about a third of the buyers. the design of skate shoes is 80 percent style 20 percent function. on a whole, the general design of skate shoes is going back to a core design, low profile, thin sole, etc. but vulcanized soles are NOTHING NEW. any company that was concerned with getting a vulc grip could have done so years ago. why didnt they? cuz kids were buying puffy shoes with molded rubber soles. thats what sold and STILL sells (youd be surprised at the D3 resellers market....100 bucks a pair to france). the style is changing, and as such, the skaters are changing....since they are sponsored by their respective companies, they cant go wear a dunk or vans, so they have their company make a knockoff so they can have that style to skate in. its not a movement purely of function.

[doctorgnar]

I'm sure it's not a movement purely of function -- it never is. But whatever drives the movement, be it sales or marketing, if the end product is of superior function, then what's the difference.

Vulcanized soles are certainly nothing new, but the rest of the shoe is. Even Half-cabs today are constructed differently, with better insoles and more padding/cushioning. What is new is having a vulcanized sole on a more technically advanced shoe, and I am in full support of that movement.

[cheapmuthafukr]

now if we could only get half-cabs with the padding and the mid 90s sole.... perfection

wait... its called the mike caroll

If you've lost your faith in superfuture, Oh the end won't be long

Because if it's gone for you then I too may lose it, And that would be wrong

I've tried so hard to keep myself from falling

Back into my bad old ways

And it chars my heart to always hear you calling

Calling for the good old days

Because there were no good old days

These are the good old days

[denimdestroyedmylife]

I had the opposite experience when I was visiting North Carolina as a youngster. Some other kids saw I was wearing the same [ugly] Airwalks as someone in their crew and they were going to kick my ass-----until I charmed them.

Using chain stitch, your train of jeans is fading wind.

[UsVersusThem]

wait... its called the mike caroll

yes, and damn vans for not putting those back out already.

[angrypork]

Yeah Vulcanized is basically the way to go for skate shoes. I have the Emerica Francis right now and they're holding up well.

[Guest Airjamie]

Reynolds 3 are basically the dopest shit ive skated. I have yet to try supra but i hear everyone creaming over them.