These shoes lasted 15 skate days

Rating: STYLE
Rating: COMFORT
Rating: BOARD FEEL
Rating: BREAK IN PERIOD (Good rating means quick break in period)
Rating: SOLE DURABILITY
Rating: UPPER DURABILITY
Rating: OVERALL

DC is as corporate as I will go with a shoe company. Wes Kremer rules though and it was about time I support my fine friends at Motive and get some shoes from them. I wish I could have tried them on as it seems DCs run smaller then other skate shoe brands and I would have liked a bigger size. Oh well, they are vulc so they stretched out and ended up fitting great. Other then the ugly brown/black colorway this is one of the best shoes I’ve had in awhile. The board feel was great, they were ready to skate pretty much right out of the box and they held up well. They should give up on the “Super Suede” saying though, I had to shoe goo the toe just as quickly as any other shoe brand with normal suede. All in all though a great shoe that I was really impressed with.

Rating: STYLE
Rating: COMFORT
Rating: BOARD FEEL
Rating: BREAK IN PERIOD (Good rating means quick break in period)
Rating: SOLE DURABILITY
Rating: UPPER DURABILITY
Rating: OVERALL

These shoes lasted 12 skate days

My first Sole Tech shoes in awhile. Man, they are comfy. That’s about all I have to say good about these shoes though. They took a long time to break in. The inside of the shoe on the heel tore out so my right achilles was rubbing on something hard. The tread pattern wore out quick. The soles still felt decent when I gave up on. They had a little hole starting in the sole. I would have kept skating them, but I didn’t feel like shoe goo’ing the toe area for the 4th time. The board feel wasn’t all that either. I think Emerica takes pride in making kind of bulkier shoes, so maybe they would be good for you.

Rating: STYLE
Rating: COMFORT
Rating: BOARD FEEL
Rating: BREAK IN PERIOD (Good rating means quick break in period)
Rating: SOLE DURABILITY
Rating: UPPER DURABILITY
Rating: OVERALL

These shoes lasted 10 skate days

Another couple weeks and another shoe review. I’ve been blowing through shoes like nobody’s business. Vox shoes run a little wide and the Class X is no exception. My feet aren’t that wide so I had some discomfort with my toes sliding around in them. They do have great board feel though and these shoes take almost no time to break in. The uppers help up pretty good and it was several sessions before I had to shoe goo the section where my razor toe sticks out. I superglued the stitching on the toe cap before skating them though which I think gave the upper a longer life. The soles didn’t hold up very well and I only skated them 10 days before the hole on the sole appeared which is my signal to move on to new shoes. If you have wide feet and want a slim, stylee shoe the Class X might be perfect for you.

Rating: STYLE
Rating: COMFORT
Rating: BOARD FEEL
Rating: BREAK IN PERIOD (Good rating means it doesn’t take long to break in)
Rating: SOLE DURABILITY
Rating: UPPER DURABILITY
Rating: OVERALL

These shoes lasted 6 skate days

I’ve had a few pairs of these. The first pair seemed like the best shoe ever made. The second didn’t last so long. This pair pretty much set the low bar on sole durability. They only lasted six days! Most of which were short sessions on Rampy. This is really bad. The shoe is a comfy and stylish shoe, but a sole that wears out this quick is not acceptable. I hope Lakai puts the thicker tread on this shoe. It’s experiences like this that make me consider large corporate company shoes. Shame on you Lakai.

Rating: STYLE
Rating: COMFORT
Rating: BOARD FEEL
Rating: BREAK IN PERIOD (Good rating means it doesn’t take long to break in)
Rating: SOLE DURABILITY
Rating: UPPER DURABILITY
Rating: OVERALL

These shoes lasted 11 skate days.

It isn’t any mystery that Lakai is one of my favorite shoe brands. And for good reason. They are skater owned, their shoes are simple, their team is amazing, they make videos and the colorways are always on point. I’ve had a couple of the Brea’s and decided it’s time to get my shoe reviews going again. I am not a fan of the thick insole Lakai has been putting in their vulcanized shoes. I take them out and use some old sole tech insoles along with my orthodic insoles. I have never cared about insoles in shoes though. If I don’t like them I will just use some old ones that I do like (although I should note that my wife probably cares considering some insoles I’ve used for like six months straight). I always wear my shoes for awhile before skating too. I have never thought shoes should be perfect for skating right out of the box. With that said, I may have put these in the work rotation a little longer then most meaning they took awhile to break in. But it was worth it. It’s a great skate shoe. The upper never needed shoe goo which is incredible by my standards. The sole was not so durable though. The tread pattern wore off pretty quick and as you can see I eventually wore through it. I am pretty well known for blowing through shoes quickly though. I do a lot of flip tricks, clean my griptape and weigh almost two hundred bills.

Overall I like this shoe.

Rating: STYLE
Rating: COMFORT
Rating: BOARD FEEL
Rating: DURABILITY
Rating: OVERALL

I’ve had a few of these shoes. They blow out real quick. I’ve worn through the suede on the ollie toe in under three days. The soles blow out quicker than most shoes. Well, the colored soles anyways, the gum ones seem to last longer. But they are super comfy, skate great right out of the box and look good. If you don’t mind doing some shoe repair like me (super glue in some old suede in the hole or shoe goo it) then it’s a decent shoe.

Rating: STYLE
Rating: COMFORT
Rating: BOARD FEEL
Rating: DURABILITY
Rating: OVERALL

It’s been a REALLY long time since I’ve done a shoe review. I guess it must be summer and I have more time at work, but I have a couple for you. First is the I-Path Kenny Reed Low with “waxed suede”. This shoe lasted a long time. That’s probably it’s best quality. It didn’t have the best board feel, and the waxed suede may have made them last longer, but it made the flick weird. Something about IPath vulcanized soles kind of hurts my foot too. Not bad, just a little. I’ve had the non-waxed suede version of this shoe too and liked it a bit more. Overall, it’s a good shoe for sure, not my favorite though.

Liz and I went to the early showing of this video. We met up with Fuzz and Carleigh after some dinner with Darin and posted up next to one of the stars of the night, Shad. It was rad. Lots of teasers including a new Null one. The video itself was awesome. Not a hammer video with lots of raw street skating that can be viewed over and over. I can’t wait to get a copy of it. Liz and I bailed as soon as the credits started to get to the J Mascis show.

We said a quick hello to friends then posted right up front. I laughed as J’s guitars were brought to the front with the airplane tags still on them. Kinda hard to see in my cell phone photo above, but we shared a laugh with the guy next to us who might even be a bigger J Mascis nerd than me (not possible). The fire alarm at the Hi-Dive was going off which was pretty annoying.

J was walked up front looking frail and awkward and after a quick “Hello” busted right into The Wagon. Pretty much my favorite song ever. Although I’ll admit that’s one of those songs that benefits from the added noise of the whole band. Next up was Listen To Me off the new album and then Several Shades Of Why. Several Shades may have been my favorite song of the night. Then he went on to play mostly oldies including classics like Alone, Get Me, Ammarring, Quest. Oceans In The Way had one of the loudest crowd responses which kind of surprised Liz and I, but is just more evidence that Farm is one of their finest. I was surprised and excited to hear Not The Same. Not Enough went off. Flying Cloud is another runner up for my favorite song of the night. The encore was Raisons then Repulsion I think. The show was great. The only thing that takes away from it to me is this was the Several Shades Of Why tour and he only played four songs from it. A couple more would have made this show beyond epic to me. That being said, it was still a totally awesome show and J Mascis cannot be touched. After the show I went to get a t-shirt, but they had all sold out except one size large and a bunch of XXL (I’m not Mikey). Doh. Read a better review and see better photos at heyreverb.com.

Rating: STYLE
Rating: COMFORT
Rating: BOARD FEEL
Rating: DURABILITY
Rating: OVERALL

Been awhile since I’ve done a shoe review. Mainly because it’s been awhile since I’ve been so impressed with a shoe. This is perhaps the best shoe I’ve ever had. Seriously. My feet never hurt, I skated great in them, the flick was great, good grip, everything. My only complaint is the stitching on the side of the foot will blow out pretty quick. Since this is the second pair I’ve had in a row though I knew to super glue the stitching. These are the first shoes in years to last me almost two months and I skated a ton in them. They are even comfy to walk in. So congrats DC for making such a good shoe and not putting your logo all over it like most of your mall shoes.DC shoes

I’m way more productive when I’m injured.  My rolled ankle isn’t going to take long, but here’s a review of the latest Transworld video.For some reason there are a lot of Transworld video haters out there. Personally I’ve always thought their videos featured top notch filming, editing and skating. And Now could easily be one of the best Transworld videos to date. The line up is sick and the intro starts it off pretty well.Having the pleasure of seeing Gravette skate some bowls in Denver on the Independent tour made me gain even more respect for the dude. He skates hard. Really hard. Somehow he even makes handrails look fun. Not sure about the “Freedom Rock” song for his part though and as much as he rips his part doesn’t do that much to get me off my couch. He’s one of those skaters I think I’d rather watch in person. That huge front 50 with his arms at his side is pretty darn ridiculous.I had never heard of Matt Miller before this video. He definitely has the surprise part of the video for me. The first three tricks alone are incredible. How do you do tech tricks that perfect? The 360 flip over the handicap bar is retarded. I still don’t know what the last trick is, but I totally dig this part.Richie Jackson. Oh god. The first couple times I watched this part I wanted to go outside and wax everything I could and just powerslide it. But after a couple more viewings I just can’t handle the dudes wardrobe. Sorry, I can’t relate to looking like a gypsy. I like the skating a lot, but the gear is just too much for me. Call me a fashion Nazi if you want, but seriously, style has a lot to do with your garb and this is just too much. Skip.The friends section intro is hilarious. Some jock soccer dude gets served. It’s funny. TNT skates faster than anyone. I swear I never gave a shit about that dude until I saw him skate in Denver and he blew me away. The whole montage is pretty good. Lots of variety, good filming, editing and the music works well for a montage. Andrew Allen is one of my faves. Chima goes huge. Slash is good at Smiths. Some dude on a Creature board goes huge in a bowl. Chad Bartie should get rid of the mullet. Silas is skater of the year. I want to see more of Chris Pfanner.I expected much more of Kenny Hoyle, but it’s weird, every viewing of his part gets better. Perhaps it’s because his style is so damn amazing. He has by far my favorite line of the entire video. The heelflip up the stair, push, nollie cab down the gap. It’s so damn perfect. Even the push. I can’t explain it, but I can seriously just watch that and want to go skate. Part of my love for this dudes part might be due to how much he reminds me of how Riley skates. The last hardflip is so rad.Nick Trapasso’s intro, while edited amazing, bums me out. Seriously dude, try a trick right into a dude busting you? Lame. Gotta give it up to the John Lennon song though, it goes perfect with his part and the kickflip into the puddle is rad. Dude has some serious moves and a rad style. For whatever reason though his part doesn’t do much for me. If you were to say it’s your favorite part I wouldn’t think less of you. I think it’s just a weird judgment thing and for whatever reason the dude doesn’t get me amped to skate. The story behind his ender 5-0 is pretty rad.Sean Malto gets props from Rick Howard in his part. That’s just how good his part is. His skating is the future. Everything and everywhere, fast, bolts, clean, no gypsy gear, no flare, Why does he have so many blank decks though? Come on Girl, send the dude his own board for crying out loud. This part easily has my favorite song in the video too. It’s a Bob Dylan cover and it rules. The switch flip switch front crooks in a run is retarded. The back to back noseblunts down rails in a run is retarded. The hardflip ender is filmed horribly, but luckily I’ve been there, seen those stairs, and their huge. Best part of the video by far and he pretty much has a smile thoughout the whole part. Rad.The credits I’m not so sure about. It’s pretty rad and all until the end when they show everyone enders again. Same angles and all. Ends the video on a totally cheesey note. Although it’s pretty funny that Kenny Hoyle totally disses Richie Jackson on the high 5.People that think the Lakai video is edited better than this video are whack. There is plenty of setup footage and HD artsy shots, but it normally actually has to do with the trick that follows so it makes since to me.  Plus there isn’t a complete over abuse of slow motion.   I could do without the complete Freedom Rock soundtrack, but all in all it’s a pretty great video.