Caution!!! ASOLO sole degrades

[Alexander Yablonskiy]

Many customers reported reliability problem connected with the wear of the sole in FSN 95. However, my case is just shockingly bizarre – during the 1st day of the trekking in French Alps the sole of the left boot started to degrade in the heel area and next morning the whole sole totally collapsed. During the day the right boot also collapsed, so I had to descend almost barefoot in emergency conditions. I tried to address this problem (total physical degradation of the both soles within 2 days of trekking) to Asolo, but my detailed report (with attached quality photos of the problematic areas) was unanswered, which means that the customer support in the company is just absent!

I am shocked by the company inability to react as much as by the quality of the boots (the piece of extreme sport goods, which we expect to be extremely reliable, as we put our security and even life on the bet when we are in the mountains)

[Terry Trimble]

I thought I was the only one this happened to I had two pairs of Asolo boots self distruct.

The first on was their popular mid weight brown boot I was backpacking at Joshua tree national forest and the temperature was only 85 degrees, The sole of the boot the glue soften while hiking and it started flapping like a dog tongue and sand was getting in the soft glue. I chucked the boots in the garbage can and wore my flip flops for the drive home.

The second boot to bite the dust was a $250.00 pair of the Asolo expedition boots with the pulley eyelets. I stored them in dry place for about a year put them on in my house and the mid sole completely crumbled to dust.
I switched to Lowa and Vasque boots after that i was done with Asolo boots.
Terry

[Devon Cloud]

sorry to hear that. I have had a pair of expedition boots for years that I hardly use anymore after I learned to use lighter boots but that pair of boots were pretty indestructable. sorry to hear that they have lost their way.

[steven franchuk]

My brother had it happen a couple of years ago and then this year a friend had it happen. Both were during hiking trips. I have also seen comments about this on the REI web site and others. It would appear that the sole is not properly being glued together. It probably can be repaired with contact cement or possibly hot melt glue.

[Bob Gross]

Barge Cement used to be the standard glue to hold together boot soles.

Sometimes a user will have boots like that get wet. Then they dry the boots with some heat. Get a little too much heat, and the whole thing degrades. With some boots, it almost seems like the sealers degrade from water and heat.

I'm sure that some boot factory lets its process slip once in a while.

I would just change brands and chalk it up to Lessons Learned.

–B.G.–

[Eddy Walker]

I have been wearing Asolo boots for over 15 yrs and I have never had that problem on any on them.

[Jeffs Eleven]

Holy Blowout!

Are these newer boots? My wife, nor I, have ever had probs with Asolo. But ours are older.

[Kathy A Handyside]

I bought my Asolo boots back in the 80s, have used them so much and they show almost no wear. They've held up fantastically.

It's sad to see so many formerly good quality product manufacturers going the way of "cheap labor in poor countries". They may save on labor costs but if their products fall apart, who is going to buy them? How will that save them money? They will end up going out of business.

[Mark Andrews]

I don't own any Asolos…but…I had the same thing happen to a pair of Berghaus GTX lows I picked up in the UK…granted, they were about 10 years old.

They gave up the ghost while hiking from the GC North Rim this summer. It was a hot day and the trail is rather sandy. I flapped my way back to the top (day hike), flipping sand the whole way…not fun.

One of these days I'm going to attempt to barge cement them for the heck of it…

-Mark in St. Louis

[Alexander Yablonskiy]

To: Eddy Walker

That's why I was so shocked and caught unawared! I was 100% sure in the quality of such brand as Asolo. Even more surprised and humiliated was I when I reported the problem to the company and was accused in falsification of the evidences (((. What's the world coming to …

[James holden]

Even more surprised and humiliated was I when I reported the problem to the company and was accused in falsification of the evidences

thats why i buy from mec/rei/backcountry, etc … or from manufacturers known for their no questions asked warranties …

[David Hoyer]

A similar thing just happened to me. I’ve had Asolo TPS 520 boots for about three years and walked maybe 300 or 400 km in them. They have been great boots except today both soles separated within an hour of each other during a training walk around the neighborhood, ahead of an upcoming trip to New Zealand. First the heel on the right boot loosened so it flapped a bit. An hour of walking later the left boot sole separated almost completely, with only the toe still attached. I was about 15 minutes walk from home; it was quite difficult walking and it would have been catastrophic if I was in the wild with a couple of days walk ahead. By the time I got home the left sole had also completely separated except for an inch or so at the front. Examining it at home, the bonding material between the sole and the boot was perished and crumbling. Now I have just a week before leaving for NZ, so I have scrubbed away as much of the perished sole adhesive as I can, and re-bonded the soles with contact adhesive, and will try them out over the next few days to see if they look like holding up. Will also bring extra adhesive and duct tape on in case emergency repairs are required on the track.

[Franco Darioli]

There are threads (…)and articles of similar problems about several brands.

http://forums.outdoorsmagic.com/showthread.php/30717-meindl-boot-sole-disintegrating
http://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/fashion/iconic-aussie-boot-disintegrates/news-story/cdd8f6f2aaf29a0d3650d3098785e649
http://www.blokesontheblog.co.uk/why-you-should-avoid-shoes-with-molded-polyurethane-soles/
http://www.phlmetropolis.com/2011/11/the-case-of-the-crumbling-shoes.php
http://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/rocky-boots-or-the-amazing-case-of-the-disintegrating-soles.75410/
https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/rec.backcountry/VmSPrcZNx7Q

[Monty Montana]

Hi David!  I wouldn’t bother trying to rescue your boots, because the EVA midsole will continue to disintegrate.  I once owned a pair of Adidas and Merrells and they both prematurely fell apart; in fact the Adidas were a second pair stored in the closet for a couple of years and disintegrated within a few days of use.  I was distraught when the cobbler told me that nothing could be done to resurrect them…luckily they came from REI, who refunded the purchase price.

The problem with some synthetics is that they’re subject to degrading in the presence of UV light (tents), other synthetics degrade because of ozone (rubber bands, boot midsoles).  Tents can be treated with something like Granger’s Tent and Gear UV Waterproofing, but we’re all SOL when it comes to boots, since we can’t tell a good batch of EVA from a bad one.  Maybe the only solution is to resort to Old School all-leather boots!

Happy Trails

[David Hoyer]

Thanks for the info and advice Monty, ~sigh~

[Franco Darioli]

One pair that it happened to me were my beloved Garmont.
I did get some good use out of them but there was still some thread .
The point of my many links was to show that it isn’t an Asolo specific issue.

[JCH]

Happened to me with a pair of Merrells that had been in the closet for 3 or so years…totally came apart within 3 miles of walking (not even hiking)

[Matt Dirksen]

Send them to Dave Page.

http://www.davepagecobbler.com

If they can be resoled, Page will do an excellent job. And if they can’t be resoled, they will tell you. I sent my 555’s to him a few years back, and they came back good as new.

(fwiw, that’s who REI sends boots to… or at least used to back in the 90’s when I worked there.)

 

[David Hoyer]

Thanks for the links Franco, yes it seems more like a bit luck-of-the-draw on whether you get a bad batch of EVA rather than a specific brand issue.

[David Hoyer]

I tried scraping and rebonding them, and as Monty predicted the soles were off again after another couple of hours walking, so I will have to abandon them – this morning I bought a lighter pair of mid boots to try out, Keens Gypsum II.

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