Club Obi Wan

Got my first pair of (used) Aldens in the mail today. They were made for Need Supply and are 8.5 D in calf leather. I got them used for $175 on eBay.
I was worried buying used, especially on the sizing, but they fit perfectly! I wear 9D in dress shoes, and the 8.5D is great. The condition is wonderful for the price and they already looked worn in, which is a plus for me.

Good deal. I'd say you scored. You should look into getting the rubber heel sole replaced. Anyone know a supplier for that particular trubalance heel sole? I need them too!

Alden is the only place to get the authentic Trubalance heels. You have to contact them via e-mail to order extra heels, since they are not listed on the website.

I order mine by calling Alden of SF. Great customer service and quick shipping. I get the waxed flat laces and
the heels there.
Alden of San Francisco
Phone: (415) 421-6691
jim

Great. Thanks!

Great boots, congrats!

THREE MONTH UPDATE:

The boots are been great so far. Although they were scuffed, they really are nice boots. I cleaned and moisturized them when I got them in the mail in December and have not since, but haven't even needed it.

I use shoe trees in these and try not to wear them every day, but, to be honest, I would wear these every day, all day if I wasn't afraid of wearing them out. Not to say these would ever wear out, but I'm still afraid to do it (probably from my experience with bad quality shoes).

If you haven't bought a pair, do it now and never buy another pair of shoes again.

Look great and trust me. You won’t wear these out. The heels and soles Maybe.

FYI current update on Alden Trubalance heels: I ordered 2 pairs last month from Alden of SF ($16.00/pair), but now they only send the rubber heel bottoms, not the entire heel stack assembly, like they did previously. So, you only get the rubber bottom now, for the same cost as the original complete boot heel, which was manufactured by Montello Heel Co. of Brockton, MA. And just to add insult to injury, the inside of the rubber heels are stamped with that universal mark of quality: Made in China. So our beloved Alden Shoes, fine custom bootmaker since 1884, now installs cheap Chinese heels on their proudly (and very expensive) American-made shoes.

I contacted both Alden and Montello concerning the issue, and learned that while Alden's heel stacks are still made by Montello, the actual rubber portion is supplied by a vendor in Florida which outsources their manufacturing to a company in the far east. Alden basically admitted that it is out of their hands. Montello, meanwhile, confirmed that while they still manufacture all heels for Alden, they only fabricate the heel stacks, and do not make the rubber bottoms. They will make stacks for private orders (minimum 50-pair run in a single size) without the bottoms, for about $250. To obtain 100% genuine American-made Trubalance heels, you'd have to source and purchase the proper grade of sheet rubber, template the heel shape, cut them out & drill holes for attachment to the stack, then assemble the whole thing yourself.

I can't say whether the original Indy heel stacks had American-made rubber bottoms, since they were pre-assembled with only the embossed Montello Mfg. stamp visible on the top, or when Alden decided to cheap-out and just offer the imported rubber bottoms for the same price as the entire kit, but the situation is very disappointing, to say the least.

Wow, thanks for the detailed info. Not surprised about the outsourced rubber heels. Crummy you have to order so many heel stacks. Will they still repair boots if you send them in?

Yes, but it costs $175: http://www.aldenshop.com/DrawOnePage.aspx?PageID=1000" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I paid $175 for the whole shoe lol

Honestly, I don't care where they're made. I like to think Indy wore a lot of stuff that wasn't American, as he was a world traveler. Obviously, as modern shoppers, we have to be wary of other countries and their quality. And I'm the biggest "Made in USA" around my area, but other countries can do a decent job most of the time. It is odd that Alden gets so much money for their shoes and has no say in some of the production.

My advice would be to shop locally. There are experienced and (way cheaper) cobblers that can give you an even better heel than Alden.

The very first time I took my Alden boots to a local repair shop for re-heeling, I naively assumed that any cobbler would stock the genuine Trubalance rubber Thomas heel. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that not only did they install generic (and very wrong-looking) rubber heels, but they also put a nasty scar on the inner edge of one boot in the process of repairing them. I left the shop chewing nails, sped away in a livid rage, and very nearly hydroplaned my car on the way home that rainy day. I shipped off my boots to Alden for proper refurbishment to the tune of $125, and got them back a month later. From that day on, I’ve only bought original heels direct from Alden, and found a different shoe repair shop to install them. And now this foreign heel manufacturing fiasco is the latest slap in the face.

I dropped off my used Aldens last week for a cleaning, polish, and re-soling/heeling. The guy who did it is Anthony Yang, a 51-year-old from South Korea and seemed to be very knowledgeable. His shop was very organized except for all his tools and supplies. I've found you can always tell a good craftsman by his hands. This particular fellas hands were muscular, miscolored, and beat up. All the perfect combination for a good cobbler.



I got to know Yang a bit more, too, from a newspaper article: He emigrated in 2000 to our area. He's done lots of different jobs, from x-ray technician to truck driver. His wife does hair and he has two kids. In 2009, he received his citizenship. "Tony" learned repairs from his brother, who owns a shoe repair shop in another town. Tony does hand stitching and machine stitching, and as well as every sort of repair and alteration. Overall and great guy and immigrant success story. You can read more of his story here: http://www.journalnow.com/journal_west/ ... l?mode=jqm

You'll notice my soles are glued, which he recommended and I agreed based on price but also on trying them out to see if the glued soles last versus the stitched.

Here are some pics of my "new" Aldens (you can see how they looked previously in the first post):

I see he eliminated the 'tru-balance' system 's' heel.

Wish we had a good cobbler in my immediate area. We USED to, but they've all either retired or passed away in the past 20 years.

Regards! Michaelson