seems like vans is going through an identity crisis. i think i'm pretty much unable to skate in their vulcs anymore. tried some basically brand new half cabs, my feet were aching for hours after. I'm really old though.
You know, nobody asked me to do so, but I kind of want to rant about this for a little bit.
In the last three years I've probably bought at least one of each Vans model. I've bought from every line they've made (regular, vault, skate). There's a few things I've figured out about Vans Skate:
Popcush is possibly the best and the worst thing that ever happened to Vans. A lot of shoes use this but many of the models use a poorer quality version of popcush that doesn't have the same density or firmness. How vans put pop cush in their shoes is part of the issue, because there is still not enough underfoot support from the waffle outsole due to how thin it is, and the rubber compound that Vans is using for their shoes is nowadays extremely soft, wears super quickly. My shoes from like five years ago are still in good condition with no visible wear, while my crockett quasi have already started to ball at the heel despite having only bought them in mid January. For me (I'm in my mid twenties), the shoes are comfortable enough for an everyday wear, but it feels like you're walking through sand or mud because of how mushy the insole is, and I can tell it sometimes actually negatively impacts my gait. The interior elastic strap placement is also never consistent. I've had shoes where one side was an inch higher than the other and I just end up cutting them. I don't know if the quality has dipped, but the QC is absolutely horrible nowadays for Vans. I've probably gotten four warranty claims approved in the last two years because of defective shoes (one shoe being a half size smaller than the other on the upper). I could spend five hours just ranting about Vans business model, it's unsustainability, their terrible marketing, but I think I'll just spare everyone anymore of that lmao. Almost shit my pants laughing
at the fact they put alva and geering on their front page for absolutely no reason.
Topic: new Vans models (Read 122083 times)