What are your personal favorite cupsoles and vulcs?

[skateboardingenthusiast]

I’ll start off.

Cupsoles

1. Adidas Tyshawn Low

The suede on these last forever. The grip still has no signs of balding on them even after months of rotating them in my lineup. I particularly like how I can fully spread/spay my toes inside of the shoe, making for much better balance. The cushion on them is perfect, really. They’re certainly cupsoles, but actually deliver on the promise of having vulc-like boardfeel. Lockdown and fit on them is great, as well. I can just slip them right off and slip them right back on again and have no need to re-tie them. No body soreness after a sesh in these. In my humble opinion, these are a perfect skate shoe. It checks all of the boxes. The suede ones, atleast.

2. Lakai Mike Mo

This one brings me back. I had the black/white and grey/green pairs of these. As far as I remember, these things were tanks. Took me ages to retire them.

3. DC Legacy Slim 98

I wish they still made these. They were quite durable, for DC standards. They had a long canoe like aesthetic to them, which was weird. Nonetheless, they got the job done, and then some. Grip was good, materials were good. My only gripe on them was the inconsistent fit.

Vulcs

1. Nike SB Blazer Low

The Blazer Low’s feel like a sock on your feet, but with a sole and laces. They fit that good. They got even better as they broke down. I consider them a no nonsense vulc. Put them on and just go. The suede doesn’t tear through, the sole is decently durable. The way they form to your individual foot shape is incomparable to any of the vulcs I’ve skated.

2. Converse One Star Pro

These are everything you expect from a vulc. I just wish these were more durable in terms of the sole and flick. Over time, its almost as if you “run out” of flick and have to try considerably harder to get the rubber to drag and make contact with the griptape. The break in process for these was a bit of a pain, literally, as the back of my heel kept getting cut up because of the rigid back heel panel. It went away as they softened up. Very aesthetically pleasing shoe. One thing that never really went away with them though is how I could not fully spread my toes out. Converses generally squish your toes in together.

3. Converse Louie Lopez Low

These are more or less the same as the One Stars, but lighter. Actually, they’re quite lighter than the One Stars. Same story here with the toes: they get squished in. But because of how much less material there is, they soften up much easier than the One Stars, making it easier to spread my little piggies out.