How long do you hang onto shoes for?

[radcunt]

I've got a bit of a shoe problem, and would have fuckin' millions of them if I had the money or space, but I wonder how people wear their shoes out?  Do you run them into the ground? Rotate a few and get years out of them? Bin them when they're toast? Stop wearing them before they wear out and have a closet full of half dead shoes?


I lean toward wearing them out and stopping at around the last 1/4 of their life, then hang onto them forever.  Still have a bunch of shoes from the late 90s that I definitely wore a good amount, but kept them from hitting the bin. 


Even skate shoes, when they're close to totally worn through, I can bring myself to throw them out which is what got me thinking about how other people treat their shoes.  I gotta bin a bunch, but that hoarding gene is a real vibe killer.

[DERBY]

until the tread becomes slippery. then them shits go straight to lawn work

[rocklobster]

I still Shoe Goo my shoes so I'll wear them until the soles are smooth, have holes or the shape gives way and becomes completely floppy.

[dunc]

It's rather rad giving a pair of shoes the full run through, from box to bin. . Ones I don't like so much get sent into the odd jobs pile. Similar to the post above. Ones I buy and hate go to second hand shops .
Got a bunch of 440s to get through because I buy them when they are cheap. They are the ones that go from box to bin. I usually wear through the sole on those.
Once a year I have a good clean out. I suggest you do the same.

[jimgrude]

I always have a fresh pair or two sitting around, waiting for their parents to die. I wear them casually a few times whenever I need to look fly, then start skating them when old grandpa is on ventilator. After 15 sessions or so when the thread is gone and they're 70% shoe goo, I'll start skating a new pair, but hang on to granny for one final session on a new deck so I don't tear through fresh shoes on day one. I don't like hanging on to shit I don't need, so never more than two old-timers.

[JugeL]

When i wear through them. Usually it's the kickflip spot. Never wore through soles.

[moonordie]

Until sole is not grippy and by that time that usually means that my feet start hurting. Depending of the shoe that could be 1-3 months unless if I'm skating eS, which I don't anymore, that sound be 2 weeks.

[Frank and Fred]

Up until the last few years, I'd wear them until there were holes in the soles or they were beyond shoe-going. I love worn out shoes. But I'm old and have broken a toe or two so try to be sensible now and move on once the ball of the foot area is completely bald on the sole.

[j....soy.....]

Depends on the shoe, but normally, skate new, then crazy glue the vulnerable spots…..skate until side blows out from heelflips…shoe goo…..skate till sole wears through…4 months…

[Lou Strux]

Used to blow out the ollie & flick areas, but I’m pretty far along now, so the ball of my leading foot usually wears thin before anything else these days. I get a couple/few months out of each pair now & then it’s on to the next sale pair & the neighborhood homies get a lickle come-up on some free, used kicks.

[Mean salto]

Prob keep skating proper skate shoes for way longer than an adult should.
 I have three pairs of shoes I only wear casually/ rare casual skate in that I pretty much have been wearing for 12 years straight. Reglued soles back on and worn thru multiple insoles one each (holes completely thru) but somehow the outsole is still going fine.
Worst is I have closets full of shoes I've gotten and they don't fit right that I'll never wear but also really isn't worth the effort to sell them either.

[rikki]

I run 'em to the ground. Skate 'em until there are critical holes or similar. I like to experience the whole life cycle of a shoe, how it performs from brand new to worn down.

[Skatebeard]

I skate them til i blow through the toe on kickflip tricks, usually by then the sole is pretty toasted at the front...then they're straight in the bin.

Typically get about 3 months out of a shoe, skating flatground most days.

[El Freegano]

I usually skate one pair until the end. Recently have done some rotation but it was more beacause i wanted to film something with a different color of shoes. I didn't like it coz i need some time to adapet to the different shoes.
As for the shoes life - it is around 2-4 months depending on the soles. I use ripcare and E6000 on the ollie/flip areas so they last some time until the soles are done.

[scab]

1. Get shoes
2. Wear shoes walking the dog for a week or two
3. Skate shoes until sole of leading foot loses grip, using shoe goo as necessary
4. Wear shoes when I expect to get dirty or wet
5. Throw shoes out once too worn out

I've been skating Lynx Zeros for the past 8 months or so and am only on my third pair, skating anywhere between 5-10 hours a week with a pretty big emphasis on flip tricks. Looking back I really don't know what made me skate vulcs, I never got more than a month or so out of them.

[Hyliannightmare]

I'm lik OP but eith my basketball shoes. I have some Tmacs,Dames, Lebrons and Kobes that are almost bald on the bottom but I keep em even though they are no longer viable to play any sort of ball in. My skate shoes go directly into the trash once I start getting holes however. Even with all that I counted the other day and I have almost 90 pairs of shoes floating around. Of which I'd say I wear about 3 pairs casually

[rawbertson.]

wear em ~3-6 months
skate em ~3-6 months
then i either give em away or use em for lawn work etc.

[radcunt]

I still Shoe Goo my shoes so I'll wear them until the soles are smooth, have holes or the shape gives way and becomes completely floppy.

Do you buy a new pair during this period or just run em into the ground then chuck them in the bin when you buy a new pair? 

[radcunt]

I'm lik OP but eith my basketball shoes. I have some Tmacs,Dames, Lebrons and Kobes that are almost bald on the bottom but I keep em even though they are no longer viable to play any sort of ball in. My skate shoes go directly into the trash once I start getting holes however. Even with all that I counted the other day and I have almost 90 pairs of shoes floating around. Of which I'd say I wear about 3 pairs casually

Wow, I don't buy many shoes, but hang onto what I do.  I probably max out at 20 pairs.  I still have some Converse ERX-150s my buddy used to wear for basketball in 1988.

[SupremePizza]

I usually wear mine for a few months before skating them. I skate two shoes at a time, one pair of dunks and another random, right now ishod. Dunks I can get a solid 4-6 months out of with a little bit of shoe goo. Ishods are more durable than I expected in some spots but the rubber and grip went fast.

[Pastasash]

Now a days it takes me a while, I have 6-7 shoes that Im “skating in” in my trunk now. But even then I can’t retire a shoe until it’s got holes all through the upper on my flick/ollie area. Hardly ever blow thru the outsoles anymore

I only do one super glue after the first sesh along the stitching and stopped using shoe goo cus I need to go thru shoes faster at this point.

I’ve been into shoes since before I started skating so I can’t help but want to switch it up for each sesh, have no problems going from a clocker 2 one day, to a GT blazer the next, and then a pro model the following, only have gear madness with hardgoods fortunately 

[dj nipslip]

I skate them until the kickflip area is done. Switch isn't a thing for me, so I'm trying to save the soles of all my Lynx OG's so when some unwearable Kalis pops up on Ebay I can make some custom Kalynx. Saw the other day on IG someone sole swapped some Jordan 4's onto some old DC plugs, it looked tight.

[OhioGuy]

I was a minimalist for a few years. Loved it. Skating has turned me into a consumerist again. There are six pairs of gently used shoes in my car, and this morning I was looking at Dunks on StockX.

Get rid of the shoes you'll never wear again. This is how hoarders start. I'll be tossing some in a donation box later today.

My skating is below the average user on this site. I basically cruise twice a week so a pair of shoes could last me a year. But I now have a taste for fresh shoes and boards thanks to the Sales Gear Thread. So like an animal that has tasted blood, I fear that it's already too late for me 🥴

[disclosed]

skate em till im through the soles.
if anything i hate new shoes. never feel nice to my feet. too stiff, heelslip. bad board feel. too grippy. so i do anything to postpone skating new shoes.

usually skate one pair till i can see the sole is getting thin. then i buy a new pair and start walking everywhere on those.
keep skating the old ones for a fiew more weeks. till its just impossible to continue like holes in the rubber and almost or already through the foam.
then i start skating the new shoes. hate them. complain about it for weeks.
untill theyre finally good. and the cycle continues.

[fs1/2cab]

skate em till im through the soles.
if anything i hate new shoes. never feel nice to my feet. too stiff, heelslip. bad board feel. too grippy. so i do anything to postpone skating new shoes.

usually skate one pair till i can see the sole is getting thin. then i buy a new pair and start walking everywhere on those.
keep skating the old ones for a fiew more weeks. till its just impossible to continue like holes in the rubber and almost or already through the foam.
then i start skating the new shoes. hate them. complain about it for weeks.
untill theyre finally good. and the cycle continues.

I know exactly what you are talking about, I can relate to everything you mentioned. And I think the reason for all that is, the shoes we usually wear aren't the correct ones for our feet. In my case, it was all because of being lazy and rather wearing the shoes I knew instead of looking for other models that fit my feet better.

[rocklobster]

Expand Quote

I still Shoe Goo my shoes so I'll wear them until the soles are smooth, have holes or the shape gives way and becomes completely floppy.

[close]

Do you buy a new pair during this period or just run em into the ground then chuck them in the bin when you buy a new pair?

I've got way too many shoes on ice, I'll line up the next pair and spend the next week or so breaking them in by wearing them to work or for grocery runs. By then the pair that has been skated has a hole in the sole, I salvage the laces and toss them.

[yourbreakfsat]

Usually a shoe is done for me when they become really uncomfortable to wear and affects my feet/legs. This sucks because usually the exterior of the shoe is still fine.

[Made In China]

I'll usually skate shoes until a hole starts wearing through the sole. At that point they also become a little too thin and floppy for my liking. I don't do the most flip tricks, so I usually don't wear through the upper. I tend to hoard shoes when I find them on sale, so I'll usually have another pair ready to go that I've worn around for a week or two already.

[Pbn_jake]

I normally throw them away after I’ve stepped on at least 6, maybe 12 pizzas.

[frontsideNECKTIE]

Skate em until something fails. Generally, for me, its the sole that goes first (transition skating), sometimes its the ollie hole. But I'll usually split my skating between two pairs of the same model to give em a bit more life, I'd say maybe 5-6 pairs in a year.

Don't really see the point in holding on to completely tattered shoes, but I've definitely kept some in the closet with hopes I might skate em again. I also don't stock any extra pairs really.

Buy em, skate em, toss or donate em.