Are my shoes okay?

PostedFeb 20, 2012 at 7:57 pm

I bought these Salomon XA Pro 3D Mid GTX Ultra Hiking Boots from another member on Gear Swap. He said he only wore them a couple of times. If you look at the picture you can see wrinkles in the rubber/foam sole material. Compared to the picture of new shoes it seems to me it's compressed. Since I haven't worn these new I don't know how they're supposed to feel.

Can you guys tell by looking at the picture if the rubber/foam has been compressed? Are these still any good?

Here you can see the wrinkles:

Shoes wrinkles

Here is a shot of a new shoe:

New shoe

Ken Thompson BPL Member

PostedFeb 20, 2012 at 8:15 pm

My New Balance shoes do the same thing after one walk with the dogs.

Konrad . BPL Member

PostedFeb 20, 2012 at 8:15 pm

My shoes get those compression wrinkles after only 15 or so miles. After 200+ miles, they also look like that. Look at the tread, as that will be the best indicator of usage. If the tread looks good, I wouldn't worry about it. In general, the stock insoles collapse long before the eva foam midsole your pointing to. This usually accounts for the stiffer ride you start to feel after 120 miles or so. Nice gelly inserts will also extend your shoes life after the stock cushioning fails.

Dustin Short BPL Member

PostedFeb 20, 2012 at 8:16 pm

When I bought a pair of Vasque Blurs the eva foam wrinkled within the first hike or so. I was pretty disappointed at first but never really noticed an lack of cushioning before the soles started losing cleats.

So they should be fine. I think the wrinkling forms because in the pictures/new the shoes have never been worn so the midsole has never been compressed at all. After that first mile though they been subjected to enough compress/expand cycles that the wrinkles show up.

If you're still worried though maybe you can a find a pair in the store to compare.

a b

PostedFeb 20, 2012 at 8:18 pm

I would say this is normal based on my experience with foam midsoles in trail runners. I used 16 pairs of New Balance 479's over the past 3 years to cover 7,500 miles worth of trail.
Typically the shoes look pretty good on the outside after about 500 miles but the foam midsoles are crushed.
What begins to happen is mild foot pain at the end of a long hiking day.
Replacing the shoes alleviates the pain for another 500 miles or so.
But back to your pictures: I just checked my latest pair of New Balance 479 shoes with only 50 miles on them.
They show a similar amount of foam wrinkling. This happens initially but it does not mean the foam mid sole is bad… yet.
Here is a picture of my New Balance 479's
. EVA mid sole compression
. EVA mid sole compression after 50 miles
.
.
Granted these are not the same shoes.
They do have a similar construction and similar materials.
In my opinion, if the shoes fit, feel good, and have some midsole cushion left, you have between 50 and 500 miles wear left in them.