Club Obi Wan

Has anyone ever sent their Aldens back to Alden to be resoled? How long did it take? Do they give you a new welt? Also, can they replace the stitching along the moc-toe?

Alden reports it takes about 2 weeks for turn around, and they will completely rebuild your shoe to like new condition. Contact them at 800-451-2320. They will send you a box/mailer to ship your boot in, and last I heard it cost $120 for the rebuild. Regards. Michaelson

THat's good information and should be included on the IndyGear Main site.

It used to be. Not sure why it isn't there anymore. Regards. Michaelson

What exactly can they do in a re-condition Michaelson? As you know I am now the proud owner of a very special pair of 1989s - they have survived this long and I am sure they will survive a lot longer but in places the leather is cracked. I assume the leather isnt touched, just resoled and resititched?

Ken

Indiana Ken wrote:What exactly can they do in a re-condition Michaelson? As you know I am now the proud owner of a very special pair of 1989s - they have survived this long and I am sure they will survive a lot longer but in places the leather is cracked. I assume the leather isnt touched, just resoled and resititched?

Ken

Well this is from their website:
Alden restoration consists of an entire re-soling of your Alden shoes, a refinishing of the upper leather, and minor repairs to the shoes. Also, new shoe trees are included. All for $125.

This restoration service and price is fairly typical for this kind of shoe. I have Allen Edmond shoes as well and they have the same "restoration" service for the same amount of money.

-Sergei

Shoe trees are new. They didn't used to offer them with the restoration. Good deal! Regards. Michaelson

Steep? Seemingly so, for those of us who spend well less than $125 on most pairs of our shoes (probably many of us) . However, I for one, think that this is well worth the price to maintain a fine footwear investment (and Aldens are a fine investment!). And a shoe tree to boot (pardon the lame pun)? Yeah, that'll work just fine.

Regards,

Henry Jones Sr.

P.S.: Any word about Alden resoling with a treaded sole?

OK a reconditioning is definitly going to be in order sometime in the not too distant future - the 10 yr+ Alden's I got from Lee are begining to fall apart. The peice of leather with the eyelets for the laces is detaching from where it is joined to the toecap producing a hole. However am I better trying to get a local cobbler to repair the damage for under $20 or let the professionals at it for $125? It appears just to be the stitching.

Ken

PS - Will Aldens recondition the boot(s) even though I didn't buy it from them? I did buy a different pair from them about a year ago, although those have subsequently been sold after aquiring these ones.

Try your local cobbler first, Ken. That's what I usually do myself for standard repairs, but yet, Aldens with recondition ANY of their boots, regardless of when or where you purchased them. It's a service offered on their product to the customer. Regards. Michaelson

WOW !

That is amazing.

Best cash I ever laid out on a casual boot.

Ken "JJ"

I sent my Aldens in to get resoled/refurbish a month ago. When I called to request refurbishing my shoes they sent me a plastic bag to mail my shoes in and then just dropped them in a mailbox outside my company building. The postage was paid for by Aldens.

I just received them today and, if I didn't know better, I'd swear they're new. They did an excellent job both resoling and in refinishing the uppers. However, since the first soles lasted only about 16 months I'm contemplating getting zipsoles put on them to help slow down the wear and tear. When you considering a new pair would have set me back over twice what the restoring costs (and that this pair are the ones I bought from Fritz), the $125.00 is a good deal.

BTW, the shoe tree Alden send are made from cedar wood. Best Regards.

I.J.

Unless you're a mailman or do a lot of walking, doesn't 16 months seem like very little to wear out the soles of a boot. The main problem I've heard with the Aldens is with chuncks coming off the heel after even less time than that. Oh, and what are zipsoles anyway?

I wonder if rotating Aldens would work as well as rotating fedoras, assuming you could afford two pairs at one time.

I guess it's just the way folks walk, and how much impact the shoes take that determine the wear and tear. My old pair of Aldens (4 years old now, as I recall) have had 3 new pairs of heels installed in that amount of time, and yet I'm still on the original soles, and according to my shoe repairman, have a LOT more miles to go before he's going to need to replace them. I guess I come down hard on my heels as I walk, pretty much wearing out the rear edge of the heels over a period of time. I think the zip heels are those plugs that Pyroxene has told us about in the past that help build up the heel from the kind of controlled 'destruction' I do to mine, but I'm not absolutely positive about that. I mentioned installing them to my repairman, and he said ' why do that? You don't go through your heels that quickly'. I think he just didn't want them to last so long as it would keep me from going to see him for work as often. Regards. Michaelson

Rixter, I did end up buying a second pair before I sent them it, so I wouldn't have to go back to some other pair of shoes. So, I now have two pair of Aldens that I can alternate with. Unless I'm on an extended motorcycle trip, in which case I wear my steel toed motorcycle boots (just in case I get in a wreck, I don't want my aldens to get trashed) I wear my Aldens exclusively. My dogs are totally spoiled now (and my wallet it completely empty).

I wear down heals very quickly. The soles are in good shape its just the tips of the soles that have needed guards.

Henry Jones Sr. wrote:
P.S.: Any word about Alden resoling with a treaded sole?

I'm curious about this too. I'd be interested in putting a sole with more traction on my Aldens if I were to ge them resoled.

Has anyone done this, or know if it CAN be done?

Found this site, thanks to some archive searching, and Sergies recommendation of Vibram soles.

http://www.vibram.us/

Looks like some great options for the Alden soles. The even have some very low profile treads, so as not to alter the look.

EDIT: I also just got this email response from AldenShop:

Alden does offer a factory restoration service for your "old friends".
The current charge is $125.00 and the turn around is 4-5 weeks. The
service includes replacing soles and heels (using original factory
components), refinishing the uppers, lasting, minor repairs, etc. The Neoprene sole
that came with the boots would be used unless otherwise requested.


Alden does not use a "treaded sole", but you could request the lug rubber sole as used in other styles --
http://www.aldenshop.com/DrawOneShoe.asp?CategoryID=66


If of interest, we can forward a prepaid mailing pouch and order form
for sending the shoes to the factory.

The soles can be purchased separately for your own installation -- soles $24.00, heel caps $9.00. You might find a sole design more to your liking at a local shoe repair shop. Any type of sole can be put on the boots.

Sounds like some pretty good options.

I would NOT recommend sending Aldens back to be re-conditioned except as a last resort. I sent mine back only to receive an email from them refusing to repair them and asking if I wanted the shoes DESTROYED to save me return postage. Obviously I freaked out and sent them instantly an email back in block capitals saying I certainly did not want them destroyed and to return them to me asap.

When I got them back I took them to a local cobbler who repaired them for £30.

Basically you just have to shop around your local cobblers until you find one willing to take them on.

Ken

I know this post is 5 years old, but I couldn't find anything new to this, so:

My Aldens have been repaird a few times in the last 5 years, partly by local shoe makers, partly by myself. Now I'm thinking of sending them back to Aldens to get them total worked over by provessionals.
How are your experiences with doing so? Do you have befoe and after pictures of your boots?

My appologize if there is an existing younger thread on this subject.

I had my 405's refurbished back in 2000 because a local cobbler put the wrong heels on them and scratched the leather in the process. I phoned Alden and explained the situation, then sent them back to the factory. A couple weeks later I got them back, good as new, except for the scratch, which was too deep to remove. New soles, heels, welt, and a free pair of cedar shoe trees. They didn't come in a cloth Alden bag, as promised. But I was a happy camper, so I let it slide.