Don’t under estimate the additional ability that shoes you like plus a strong fit gives 
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Sorry if I offended. Nothing personal. Just joking. You know I’ve done my fair share of mess ups in the past.
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I just feel safe with Accel slims, I know I can skate in them, I’m so picky with ones I can skate in that even shoes that should on paper work for me, they just don’t.
Actually, I have wondered about this for a while because I felt it was such a weird shame:
The es shoes they brought out for joint coloured Kelly/Wade/Tom a good few years ago, on paper should have been the best basic skateshoe ever. They looked so soft and flexible, perfect out of the box, I was pretty excited (apart from Kelly’s face on the tongue) I bought some and they were the most rigid bricks ever. It was so confusing. It felt like they were kinda brushed under the carpet after that, es didn’t really shout about them. How were they thought of there? were they a disspointment when they came from the factory? Of course you have to go with them, I understand the costs and early on in the reboot expensive test stages would be cut expecting a simple shoe just to work regardless.
The Contract reissue? I had the Kelly and Wade ones and I felt the same way you did. I skated the Swift 1 for ages, then Swift 1.5 (as @Garlicnaan said, the 1.5 just sagged out and didn’t feel as good after a while) and then Quattros until I found that the Spanky G6/Spanky Hi works best for me.
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Yeah, I remember that one. I think that was right around the time I started getting more involved. Honestly, there was a pretty rough patch over those years - a lot of production inconsistency and some corners being cut by the factory. That’s all been phased out now, and we’ve completely switched to a new facility.
The newer models - TJ, KSL III, Accel, etc. - are all from that new factory, and the difference is huge. I’ve been skating both the suede and leather KSL III and the leather especially is night and day compared to a few years back. Proper quality.
As for things being “brushed under the carpet,” I think it was more a case of constant turnover - new styles coming in before the previous ones even had a chance to find their footing. When you consider how long the design-to-shelf process is (18-24 months), that approach never really gave anything time to build momentum. The direction now is to back the product, refine it, and grow it season by season - not just move on.
Yeah. “Brush under the carpet” was the wrong phrase maybe, I assumed it was more about the product not meeting the vision and so it was a conscious decision to not push it and move on to something that would come out better. It was literally after coming back from the dead so you have to save pennies. You’d never assume ever that that shoe would come back as a totally unfunctional shoe, ever. So weird.
Yeah, I get what you mean. The intentions were good, but the timelines made it almost impossible to react properly once a shoe actually gets out there.
Roughly how it works:
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2 years out – design starts
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18 months out – you’re committing to it being in the line
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12 months out – shops are seeing samples and placing pre-orders
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9 months out – production kicks off
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0 months – the shoe finally lands in stores
So if a shoe only lasts two seasons (6 months), the call to drop it would’ve been made just after those first shop orders went in - way before anyone’s really even skating the thing. Which is kinda nuts when you think about it. And then add in that it usually takes two or three seasons for a shoe to really build momentum.
Wild, eh?
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Apparently the D3 wasn’t very popular when it was first around and that obviously changed later on.
That’s crazy, how do you even forecast production like that?
It’s mad you might have to pull something before you get like more than Q1 and Q2 figures to work off - that’s gnarly.
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So the key takeaway here is that shoes and humans take the same amount of time to produce.
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We’re overjoyed to announce the safe arrival of the KSL III. Pierre-Andre is now resting, both are doing well, the Sole Tech family thank you all for the kind messages.
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Does this explain the constant release of colourways, or very minimal changes an existing model to promote as another shoe?
Really interesting insight, in this day of everyone offering direct to consumer skate shops still having an influence. Guess that also explains the single season of Accel Fits? They looked interesting.
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it’s funny you say this because I had basically the same thing with the rowleys. probably many of us affected by them and the subsequent vulc supremacy.
don’t think I’ve skate a cup since. unless the emerica laced are cups hiding as vulcs?
might have to get a pair of something and see if I can bring back those switch inward heels 
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I just got a white pair and will be sending flowers to the happy family
Saw these Saucony Shadows - must be a nod to Hi-Tech Silver Shadows. Might have to get a pair out of pure nostalgia.
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Asking here because Google failed me. I’ve always seen shoes advertised with suffixes like “SE” and stuff, DC in particular with that one. But there’s a couple that I’ve seen that are used by multiple companies and outside of skating. “ox” and “SMU”. I’ve always assumed the latter is “Synthetic Materials Used”, perhaps to denote vegan construction but never had that proven. The “ox” I saw today on a Slam advert for Louis Lopez’s pro shoe in black, but I know I’ve seen it elsewhere too. No idea what it means. Anyone here know? It’s been bugging me for ages.
Smu could be special make up implying an exclusive colourway (or at least it did when I worked in sales)
that’s what Google says. they have it on their chucks usually when they’re low cut. both skate and not
That makes way more sense, nice one mate.
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