VANS QUALITY

[Fasttimes]

Has anyone noticed Vans are put together as they used to be? I tend to buy odd models and one shoe is always off or crooked. My brother religiously buys skate classics and says there is no issue?

Wondering if anyone can see quality issues, one shoe too tight, etc. Any advice would be great.

[Sila]

They've always had quality issues imo. Whether it's soles wearing out incredibly fast, the upper separating from the sole, shoes bagging out etc. It's rare to get a pair that totally pass the quality check. My pair of Rowan 1's were great and the upper extremely durable but that's an outlier. Some people love the skate half cabs since they're built better, others still have issues though.

[manuduncan]

both the rowan 1s and rowan 2s are tanks, probably the best shoes they have in their line the ones i've had lasted 3 months of skating almost every day

right now i'm into high tops for more ankle protection but i'm def going back to the rowans if i go back to vans

[wax poetic]

What are two words that don't go together for $500

[dstrytruitt]

Skated Vans for 30 years on and off and the quality has never been any worse than the other shoe companies for me. I've had one pair of sk8-his with an upper that had actual quality issues but otherwise they were on par with Soletech, SB, Adidas, even NB for odd fitment, excess glue, occasional loose threads, etc. With Vans I always got what I assumed I would get because they were essentially the same shoes for more than 50 years.

[BeachChicken]

Ive worn Vans for close to 30 years and the quality has always sucked, but the skate shoes are worse now than many times in the past. The longest a Vans cup has lasted me is a month and I can get 440s to last twice that with more skating and no construction issues.

[ragdoll]

been unwearable since they switched from the "pro" line to the "skate" line

[WashingtonNECKTIE]

both the rowan 1s and rowan 2s are tanks, probably the best shoes they have in their line the ones i've had lasted 3 months of skating almost every day

right now i'm into high tops for more ankle protection but i'm def going back to the rowans if i go back to vans

I’ll sing praises to both Rowan’s models any time I can. The rest are meh at best

[turdtastic]

Skated Vans for 30 years on and off and the quality has never been any worse than the other shoe companies for me. I've had one pair of sk8-his with an upper that had actual quality issues but otherwise they were on par with Soletech, SB, Adidas, even NB for odd fitment, excess glue, occasional loose threads, etc. With Vans I always got what I assumed I would get because they were essentially the same shoes for more than 50 years.

+1

[smellsdead]

what is an oxymoron?

[roba]

i had pairs where one shoe fit slightly different than the other one but not to the point where it was actually irritating

all skate shoes suck, shell toe is probably the most durable and that’s not even a skate shoe

[IusedToSkateMore]

I feel like this questions should be broken down along a line asking, how long do they last and how well do they protect your feet?

For me, NB# does the job that vans doesnt- they last as skate, chill, and work shoes. I just walked 9 miles a day average over the past 10 days, across pavement, beach, trail, and rocks wearing a pair of 1010 that are skated to shit and my body still doesnt hurt. In vans, my body hurt after skating a parking lot, let alone walking even a couple miles.

[prof_oak]

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both the rowan 1s and rowan 2s are tanks, probably the best shoes they have in their line the ones i've had lasted 3 months of skating almost every day

right now i'm into high tops for more ankle protection but i'm def going back to the rowans if i go back to vans

[close]

I’ll sing praises to both Rowan’s models any time I can. The rest are meh at best

Wanna try the 2s so bad. Just waiting for a cool cw.
My favorite now are the burgandy and black one.
This shoes, with its amount of panneling, has great potencial for sick colorways.

The could make a (real) mid version.

[moonordie]

Vans quality has been always trash.
Before you'll be getting Vans knowing that they were comfy but after 2 weeks shoe would be destroyed so you were like "they last nothing but they're comfy and cheap". Now they got it backwards. They last a decent amount of time but not comfy not cheap anymore.

[diplodocus]

Vans quality has always been shit. I can only speak to the Vulcs. The difference between any vans vulc and a gt blazer is night and day

[Ourladyoftheflowers]

Vans quality has always been shit. I can only speak to the Vulcs. The difference between any vans vulc and a gt blazer is night and day

I can agree with this. Was doing almost all vans and they’d last about six weeks. Got a sale pair of blazers and they easily last me 2 and a half months. I still wear vans as my chillers (was doing slip on pros) but when they switched to the “skate” line they start falling apart even was chillers pretty quick

[Urtripping]

I also think they're really not much better or worse than other brands. The toe separation thing on half cabs sucks and I guess just go a half size up in slip on and they're solid. Been disappointed by plenty of pairs of sb's and even 440's. 1010s are the truth if ya like the chunky shit though.

A shoe that stands out among others I've skated are converse chuck 70s. I've posted about them before, but that's a very well built, consistent shoe. Far and away better than the "skate" cons models.

I just came up on a pair of the "pro" old skools that has the higher foxing tape and is all suede... can't wait to skate these things.

[pops]

Ive worn Vans for close to 30 years and the quality has always sucked, but the skate shoes are worse now than many times in the past. The longest a Vans cup has lasted me is a month and I can get 440s to last twice that with more skating and no construction issues.

My 440s bagged out in 3-4 weeks and I skate maybe twice a week. Skated a bunch of Vans skate slip ons and old skools and they lasted at least the same amount. The chunkier NB models last longer though.

[moonordie]

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Ive worn Vans for close to 30 years and the quality has always sucked, but the skate shoes are worse now than many times in the past. The longest a Vans cup has lasted me is a month and I can get 440s to last twice that with more skating and no construction issues.

[close]

My 440s bagged out in 3-4 weeks and I skate maybe twice a week. Skated a bunch of Vans skate slip ons and old skools and they lasted at least the same amount. The chunkier NB models last longer though.

Talking about the V2? None also started to feel crappy after 3 weeks, probably by the 4th week they will be ready to retire. My feet are pretty sensible/fucked up.
Great shoe if you're sponsored by NB# or if you find them for 50€

[pops]

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Ive worn Vans for close to 30 years and the quality has always sucked, but the skate shoes are worse now than many times in the past. The longest a Vans cup has lasted me is a month and I can get 440s to last twice that with more skating and no construction issues.

[close]

My 440s bagged out in 3-4 weeks and I skate maybe twice a week. Skated a bunch of Vans skate slip ons and old skools and they lasted at least the same amount. The chunkier NB models last longer though.

[close]

Talking about the V2? None also started to feel crappy after 3 weeks, probably by the 4th week they will be ready to retire. My feet are pretty sensible/fucked up.
Great shoe if you're sponsored by NB# or if you find them for 50€

Ive only skated the V1s so far. 4th week and they're done. My skate line oldskools lasted about the same but they're way floppier sooner. My feet are pretty bad too. Left ankle has anterior and posterior impingement , right ankle been through a few surgeries and have slightly higher arch due to tissue shortening.

[roba]

^^^thank you guys for this, the 440 is the only nb i'd consider buying and now i know not to

[Urtripping]

^^^thank you guys for this, the 440 is the only nb i'd consider buying and now i know not to

It's not terrible, but it's definitely not bulletproof. I enjoyed the pairs I skated, but the outsoles were done way quicker than vans in my experience.

[pops]

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^^^thank you guys for this, the 440 is the only nb i'd consider buying and now i know not to

[close]

It's not terrible, but it's definitely not bulletproof. I enjoyed the pairs I skated, but the outsoles were done way quicker than vans in my experience.

The outsole wears out rather quick under the ball of your foot (big toe). My current pair is starting to go bald from that spot after 7-8 sessions. I have a brand new griptape, though. I skated my oldskools three months and there's still pattern left on the sole. But like I said, they went pretty sloppy fast.

[Mbrimson88]

I also think they're really not much better or worse than other brands. The toe separation thing on half cabs sucks and I guess just go a half size up in slip on and they're solid. Been disappointed by plenty of pairs of sb's and even 440's. 1010s are the truth if ya like the chunky shit though.

A shoe that stands out among others I've skated are converse chuck 70s. I've posted about them before, but that's a very well built, consistent shoe. Far and away better than the "skate" cons models.

I just came up on a pair of the "pro" old skools that has the higher foxing tape and is all suede... can't wait to skate these things.

Yeah, thinking the same - but I don't buy and skate Vans shoes to have them last - it is all about how they feel and skate to me, so I am used to it.

Any that do blow out or the vulc part comes away, usually Vans will quickly credit / replace anyway unless people have been sitting on them for years and they are old stock.


Also seen some of those higher foxing, which hold up way better, for the people who really burn through that area of the shoe.

[WashingtonNECKTIE]

I really don't mind how most Vans feel/fit, and the uppers on most models last decently enough.

But the fuckin soles, man. I can't keep the soles alive for anything. Even on the Rowan 2s, sole was the first real blowout.
I had Cons one-stars with a longer lasting sole.

Coming back to a pair with a perfectly broken-in upper and a sole like a ripped napkin fuckin kills me.

[BeachChicken]

Expand Quote

Ive worn Vans for close to 30 years and the quality has always sucked, but the skate shoes are worse now than many times in the past. The longest a Vans cup has lasted me is a month and I can get 440s to last twice that with more skating and no construction issues.

[close]

My 440s bagged out in 3-4 weeks and I skate maybe twice a week. Skated a bunch of Vans skate slip ons and old skools and they lasted at least the same amount. The chunkier NB models last longer though.

IDK what you're doing but I've had probably hundreds of pairs of Vans since ~1998 and over the last few years a dozen pairs of 440, even around the same time I've had other Vans. The difference in quality and longevity is night and day. In Crocketts the soles would separate from the uppers and I would wear through the flick area in <2 weeks. I've had 2 month old 440s that still flick great. Soles pretty worn and bald, but great grip. Not to mention if I replace the insole the impact protection is way better than anything in Vans as I can easily bottom the heel outta a Pop Cush insole

[TwisT]

The last sk8 hi pros I’ve had were absolute garbage. For years I’ve been annoyed by the heel of my casual wear vans just deteriorating. and I rotate multiple shoes. I have jordans and ASICS for years that did not wear out so badly.

I have ultra-ranges as my vacation shoe, and while the hell does fines the upper just rips in the Ollie area from walking. The happened to mine and my wives shoes.

I’m subscribed to the vans subreddit, and they routinely have post about the drop in quality. I’m not surprised seeing as VF hasn’t been doing well

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

I always thought Vans didn't own their factories and sourced the manufacturing out to so many different ones that the QC was all over the map.  I think alot of brand do this now too but the straight to outlet shit, which pretty much everyone does now but with Vans to alot of skaters, they all look the same and people think they all perform the same.  My general advice to people is to try them on, buy the higher end models. 

That said, Vans has always dumped tons of money into marketing and even though I'm not a fan of skating the shoes, culturally they are the GOAT skate shoe brand.  I always see beginner kids wearing random running shoes and I always tell their parents...'go buy your kid a pair of vans....'

[thehogsniper]

The last sk8 hi pros I’ve had were absolute garbage. For years I’ve been annoyed by the heel of my casual wear vans just deteriorating. and I rotate multiple shoes. I have jordans and ASICS for years that did not wear out so badly.

I have ultra-ranges as my vacation shoe, and while the hell does fines the upper just rips in the Ollie area from walking. The happened to mine and my wives shoes.

I’m subscribed to the vans subreddit, and they routinely have post about the drop in quality. I’m not surprised seeing as VF hasn’t been doing well

I subscribe to a guy who just got the Bape Vans OTW SK8-Hi's, he is typically the most upbeat and positive guy but didn't have anything nice to say about the quality. My last Sk8-hi's started falling apart as I was breaking them in, and had that same heel issue. I had a friend that sold me a shit-ton of Vault shoes, looks that it's better quality than whatever the hell is coming out now.

I always thought Vans didn't own their factories and sourced the manufacturing out to so many different ones that the QC was all over the map.  I think alot of brand do this now too but the straight to outlet shit, which pretty much everyone does now but with Vans to alot of skaters, they all look the same and people think they all perform the same.  My general advice to people is to try them on, buy the higher end models. 

That said, Vans has always dumped tons of money into marketing and even though I'm not a fan of skating the shoes, culturally they are the GOAT skate shoe brand.  I always see beginner kids wearing random running shoes and I always tell their parents...'go buy your kid a pair of vans....'

I've been buying exclusively higher-end models (Skate, Vault, OTW, ect) for years and the quality has really dipped across the board. OTW is really poor quality for the price, the Skate line keeps jumping up in price, Vault is dead. The last four years I've probably owned anywhere from 60-75 pairs of shoes, a good chunk of those being Vans. I had maybe five skate-line pairs on ice until my feet just couldn't take it, switched to something else and haven't looked back.

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

that sucks to hear and it's not that hard to go elsewhere.....