The AVEs are so close to being a perfect Van's shoe for me. The sole is good (performance-wise, looks with the translucent thing aside) and they look good/feel comfortable. Flick is good and consistent. However, the mesh is in some stupid spots and is stupid thin (hurts if something hits you there), the heel/ankle collar has almost no padding so it feels flimsy and not as supportive back there as I'd like. Basically, the shoes feel kinda dainty for what I thought they were going to be.