vivobarefoot sole durability

I am considering these http://www.planetshoes.com/item/viv...9QgodJDcARA&vsp=HR1212O15&source=hoverrecover for street shoes

but am leery of that steep a price for 3mm soles. I've got nearly identical shoes that I would just keep if there were a way to resole them which there's not.

Anyone know how durable their rubber is?
I got Vivobarefoot Jays six months ago or so and they've become my go-to casual shoe. So far, no durability issues, but it's hard to be sure after just six months. My sense is that Vivobarefoot makes pretty good quality soles/shoes.

If you have the right shoe size you can get the Jays cheap: http://www.6pm.com/vivobarefoot-jay-black. Otherwise, Planet shoes and other places have them for $130 retail: http://www.planetshoes.com/item/viv...dwords&pla=t&gclid=CICagaj1ubwCFY1cMgodgwwA_A

The nice thing about the Jays is that they're easy to slip on and off, and look like a normal shoe.
 
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I have the Gobi, but I don't wear them often enough to comment on wear. I do wear the Dharma, which are similarly constructed in terms of the soles. I wear them to weekdays work, rotating between 2 pairs. The soles look fine and would probably last several years with my wear habits. However, I like to wear them without the removable insole (a feature stated on Vivobarefoot.com). Unfortunately, the midsole is cover by extremely thin fabric, and with my wear habits I tend to wear through the thin fabric, such that rotating two pairs lasts me about a year. I usually get several pairs on closeout or on ebay, so I'm not shy about tossing them. The Gobi has the same thin fabric over the midsole. If an insole is used, they may last longer.

As seen in photos, the Gobi and Dharma soles are stitched on, making them much more difficult to resole. Looking at photos, it might appear that the Patagonia shoe would be a better candidate for resoling.
www.6pm.com/patagonia-advocate-chukka-smooth-espresso

Or you could try to make your own shoes, as I'll be doing. :D
http://www.thebarefootrunners.org/index.php?posts/148358
 
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I have a pair of Vivo Aqua's in rotation of work shoes...wear them on average once a week plus about 70 miles running in them over 1 year+. When I saw this thread I took a close look at the soles...still almost no detectable wear but I'm pretty easy on shoes with several lasting 4 years or more.
 
i just picked up some Oaks on Leftlane for $63 with shipping. they may still have some selection left but the popular sizes are gone before i even get an email. my shoes will be here in a few days. i needed something to wear for the clinic when i get in there.
 
the Patagonia shoe would be a better candidate for resoling.

Too thick. If there were soles available I'd resole the 4mm shoes I've already got.

So far the only other genuinely thin-soled sneaker I can find is this

http://feelmax-barefootshoes.com/feelmax-products/aapa-black/

and they don't seem to be selling them just yet, nor do I like the pink logo.

It is aggravating how few "minimalist" shoe companies make street shoes with thin soles. The 9mm outsoles on Lems are a joke. Lems company, if you make an ordinary high-top street shoe with thin soles for cheaper than Vivo's ripoff price, I will buy it, if I can't get those shoes from Finland first.
 
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Too thick. If there were soles available I'd resole the 4mm shoes I've already got.
Vibram does sell soling sheets as thin as the 1mm Pro Tania. One can also buy the same Barge cement that cobblers use.
Lems company, if you make an ordinary high-top street shoe with thin soles for cheaper than Vivo's ripoff price, I will buy it
During the process of making my own shoes, I've realized that the materials, tools, and supplies for shoemaking all add up to really quite a bit. Sadly, it seems that most people are content to buy thick soled shoes. Even, Vivobarefoot is unable to leverage the Clark family's shoemaking empire to create interest in minshoes and has had to cut many of their product lines.

Edit: I assume that you're referring to the shoes in your previous post.
http://www.thebarefootrunners.org/index.php?posts/148316

It looks like the shoe would need to be deconstructed by detaching the old sole, then attaching the upper and insole to a welt, before resoling. Challenging indeed.

I can appreciate your situation. I'm making my own shoes because no commercial alternatives are available. I'll update my post as I've acquired the necessary materials and proceed with construction.
 
Heh, I apologize for not clarifying. Yes, shoemakers do use industrial sewing machines.

The 1mm leather and 2mm soles that I'm using could be sewn using a home sewing machine. However, I don't have very much faith in my entry level Singer to sew reliably and consistently.

Since all holes in leather and rubber are permanent, I'm carefully handsewing mine using a Speedy Stitcher Sewing Awl.
 
Too thick. If there were soles available I'd resole the 4mm shoes I've already got.

So far the only other genuinely thin-soled sneaker I can find is this

http://feelmax-barefootshoes.com/feelmax-products/aapa-black/

and they don't seem to be selling them just yet, nor do I like the pink logo.

It is aggravating how few "minimalist" shoe companies make street shoes with thin soles. The 9mm outsoles on Lems are a joke. Lems company, if you make an ordinary high-top street shoe with thin soles for cheaper than Vivo's ripoff price, I will buy it, if I can't get those shoes from Finland first.


That's some website they didn't ever finish with... This one is as far as I know the official feelmax shop (and it ships worldwide):
http://www.en.fastway.fi/category/2/footwear
 
Personally, I'm done buying shoes. :p
Ha, I feel the same way. I think I've settled on a few winners:

Running (winter): Sockwa G4s for compacted snow and dry conditions, Vivo Neo Trails in fresh snow.
Casual: Vivo Jays
Sandals: Lunas.

Losers: Merrell, Patagonia, Soft Star, Unshoes, VFF, most other Vivos, Lems. (I only paid for about half of the shoes I tried from these brands.)

Hopefully it'll take the winners many years to wear out. Although that Feelmax Niesa 2 looks good. I may pick it up when they get their web store up and running later in the year. Plus I like the idea of having Finnish shoes.

For me a minimalist shoe has to be 6mm or less stack height, preferably more like 1-3mm, along with zero drop, no arch support, wide toe box, etc.
 
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Hopefully it'll take the winners many years to wear out. Although that Feelmax Niesa 2 looks good. I may pick it up when they get their web store up and running later in the year. Plus I like the idea of having Finnish shoes.


That feelmax site has been there under construction for something over a year already(it's finnish version says that it will be opened at the spring of 2013, that is what "later this year" actually means..), I don't think that it will ever get finished and like I said, there is that other feelmax shop, which is feelmax's official webshop.

This is just wild guessing - perhaps they gave job of making webshop to some busy perfectionist and while he was busy doing something else, someone not so perfectionist made webshop faster (fastway.fi kinda implicates that) and since they now have working webshop there's no reason to make any effort on original webshop. But that was just wild guessing.

Anyways, feelmax shoes are not very wide. I tried new panka and it was not wide enough for me.. Vasko looks bit wider though, here is some width comparisons od several feelmax shoes.. http://nopoles.wordpress.com/2012/11/10/terasmieskengat-testissa-feelmax-vasko/
 
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The TPU soles in my VB Ra's are holding up quite well. They are slightly worn but still have plenty of life left. Think I've had em about two years now, and one year of somewhat light use (1 day per week averaged) and then last year every other day (I went back and fourth between the Ra and Soft Stars at work). The leather is wearing a bit though, I should have tried to treat it but I've never done anything with leather shoes before, and a lace is wearing out, but soles are good.

Now the Ultras... I burned through those soft foam EVA soles in a bit over half a year just using them for my walk at lunch time. I wouldn't recommend those for durability, but if you get em on sale they are cheap enough its no biggie.
 
Last week the sole of my beloved Vivobarefoot Ra tore - I'm not sure how but I'm guessing it was just general wear. I've had them for 2 and a half years and have worn them daily in the office.

5jfo08s


If you look closely, you can see that the little nubs on the 'tread' have all worn down to nothing, so I was starting to wonder if I was getting close to wearing through the sole. I don't think that's fixable, so I guess I'll have to pony up for another pair.