I have two pairs, which I haven't skated yet - Huf Pros and 1984s.
The Huf Pros have a wide heel with basically no padding around the ankle, so they don't lock in your heel very well. I also don't like the fact that the shoes aren't roomy enough for an FP insole. The stock insole is thin Eva foam. With lace locks I can minimize the heel slippage but I shouldn't have to do that. Working on getting some thin custom orthotics to fit in the shoes and will try them that way. Overall the shoe seems pretty minimalist and more aesthetic oriented than anything else. The leather is has some kind of toecap underlay but no reinforcement in the ollie area.
The 1984s feel like a shoe Etnies would have done in 1994, but with much less puffiness/padding. The gel insert in the heel is the same as the one DC was using in the Dompierre shoes a couple years back. These feel more like a real skate shoe than the Huf Pros to me. The suede on the shoes themselves is about average for a shoe today - that is, on the thin side. It's definitely not like the thick oiled/treated suede you get on better made shoes. The padding around the ankle collar is very thin, but there is some padding, not like the Huf Pros. Tongue is very thin though. The shoes have enough room for your insole of choice, and the heel locks in a bit better than the Huf Pros, but this could still be improved substantially. Some padding around the ankle like Adidas uses in their shoes to lock in the heel could go a long way toward making the shoes better.
Re: the Peppers, they look great aesthetically, but definitely don't look like something that will hold up for a long time. The ankle is cut so low that I know I would have heel slippage problems with them so I didn't even bother to try them on.
Overall, Huf seems like a company that still needs to work on getting some of the small details right on their shoes. There is no point to nice looking shoe if the fit is off because small details were ignored. I know they're a small company, but at the price point Huf is catering to, they really have no excuse. I'll probably pass on Huf in the future unless they make noticeable improvements.
Topic: HUF shoes (Read 2132 times)