Club Obi Wan

Just had a new sole put on my Aldens. I've heard folks here say they've gone years without having to have this done, but I think there's a difference between the two of us that gets lost in translation. Most folks who have gone that long without getting any work done on their Aldens probably have a car, and probably doesn't walk more than a mile or so a day.

I put 5 miles + every day on any pair of shoes I've owned for the last several years. As such, I have to get my Aldens re-heeled and re-soled once in a while. This was the first re-sole they've ever had in the 8 1/2 months I've owned them. They've been re-heeled twice.

With the amount of slipping and sliding I did during the first few months I owned these boots (they come with a sole that has no tread), I notice that doesn't happen anymore after the re-sole, as the cobbler I went to put on a sole with tread.

Here's a pic of how my soles look now.

Does that new sole change the look of the boot in profile any? Got a side shot of it ?

Doug C

No, it doesn't change it. I don't have a photo, but trust me, it looks like it did when it was new from the factory.

Nice. Looks like the Redwing sole. I'd still advise you to watch out of large patches of ice, however.

Ice. Very dangerous. You slip first.

Was the sole originally leather or rubber? I just bought a pair of Aldens and the soles are this rubbery material already and I don't get much slippage.

Rubber of some kind. I never got any slippage on concrete or carpet, but there were times when I was walking on certain surfaces that I would slip because I had absolutely no tread. Again, this all goes under the fact that I wasn't aware that the Aldens really aren't made for Indy activities, they just happened to be the boots they used.

I was on hikes and things, and places where it might be slippery, and really had to worry about my feet going out from under me whilst wearing the Aldens in this kind of environment.

Before my trip to the Big Apple, I had to resole my Alden's because they had worn down to a dangerously thin level. The cobbler put Vibrams on them and I didn't slip a step even in the freak rainshower I was caught in on my way back from Times Square. Lucky for me in the 112 degree weather the soaking I got was a blessing even with my Herbert Johnson...