Resoling shoes Vibram Factor Tour

[Ben H.]

Not “make your own gear”, but “have someone repair the gear you already have”….

I went to a Vibram Sole Factor Tour today at my local REI.  As we speak they are resoling a pair of Salomon XA Pro 3d shoes for a $20 donation to a local charity.  First, I wanted to get the word out about this event (many events all over the country):

http://us.vibram.com/sole-factor-tour-2017.html

Second, I wonder if anyone here has gone to one and how happy they were with the work.  From what I can tell, they do not truly resole the shoe.  They grind down the remaining sole to a flat surface and glue on a new grip.  They have many to choose from.  I brought 3 pairs of shoes with me.  They didn’t take a pair that had a crack in the soles and they didn’t take a pair that had localized wear on the balls of the feet (the cobbler said he would grind through there before he could get the rest of the sole ground down.)  If you can’t make the event or have a need sooner you can send in a pair of shoes.  I thought the price was $40, but the things I am looking at now say $75.  I also noticed they have a search function for cobblers that stock vibram soles: http://us.vibram.com/cobblers.html

I will update this thread when I get my shoes back.

[Ben H.]

I got my shoes back and I’m pretty happy with the results. The sole they added is a bit thicker than what they ground off . Other than that it looks really nice .

 

[Ben H.]

Here is a closeup of where they glued on the new sole

[Nick Gatel]

Thanks. Good information. I used get new soles on my leather boots and they would last decades.

Most people wear out the uppers before the soles with trail runners. I have the same Salomon shoes as you and the uppers will probably last through another new sole.

[Ben H.]

Yup, I already have a hole on the upper, but the grips on those Solomon’s wore off pretty quick.  It seemed worth it for $20, but not so much for $75.  I think I will put a little shoe goo on the upper to see if it will fall apart a little slower.

[Author]

Posts