The Emerica Herman 2
Official Site: www.emericaskate.com
Price: About 75.00
Features:Get a grip! With its softer rubber, Non-Slip Desert Grip™ and herringbone tread pattern, Bryan Herman’s second pro model shoe is grippier than a spoon full of peanut butter stuck to the roof of your mouth. The B.Herman 2 also features a narrower, lower profile, a high-abrasion seamless toe panel with no stitches to blow out, a pair of rifle and snake art insoles and a rubber cactus hang tag.
Sizes: 5-14
* Designed by Bryan Herman
* Suede or leather upper materials
* Padded tongue and collar
* Elastic tongue-centering straps
* Cross-stitch accent details
* Full-length internal EVA midsole
* Molded STI Foam™ footbed cushioning
* System G2™ Six Shooter heel cushion
* 400 NBS natural gum rubber cupsole
* Zigzag tread pattern with flex grooves
From the Emerica site.
Colorways: http://emericaskate.com/shoes/fall-2008/bherman-2-2/black-black-white/
Boardfeel:[/b] Well this is a cupsole with a vulc-style sole, but I wouldn’t say this was a thin shoe. Either way the boardfeel was great! They break in really quickly and you get that boardfeel almost immediately, it’s one of, if not the best I’ve gotten from a cupsole shoe. And the best part is is that these shoes do not let down a lot when it comes to impact support either. The perfect mix, 8/10.
Grip: As advertised, the grip is fantastic. I could feel it right as I started skating them, not once did I have a problem with my shoe just slipping off the griptape. Another is is that it lasted, for the majority of the time I skated them it there was barely any wear until after I bought new griptape. This has happened before, basically once it wear down a little it starts to wear down a ton. This shoe’s up is also made of a nice, grippy suede. I wasn’t disappointed, I don’t think you’d be. 8/10.
Comfort/Impact Support:: As said before, this shoe was not a let down when it comes to impact support. But besides that, right when I put the shoes on I could feel how comfortable the shoe was, as it should with a Full Length Eternal EVA Midsole, System G2 Six shooter heel cushion, and Molded STI Foam footbed cushioning. Although, after a while I threw in an extra insole because my feet were starting to hurt, and then it was perfect. I’d give it a 8/10.
Durability: As mentioned before, the sole lasted a good while, and the insole wore down an average amount while I was skating them, but also, I loved the seamless toecap. I had no worries about the stitching coming apart and the shoe falling apart from that, which was great. I did ended up ripping through it though, under the suede layer is a rubber like layer though, which is good. The ollie area on the other hand was weak, I stopped skating them because of a quarter sized hole that formed, and since there is only one layer in the ollie area, the entire hole went to my sock. There is stitching in that area too, which is good to keep in mind. There is also no lace protection either, and my laces ripped incredibly fast, and since I only had the two that came with the shoe a there was a big rip on the tounge where the laces would normally be, and almost all of the laces ripped besides the top two. The strangest thing to me was that, like shown in the picture, there is a stitched on layer around the laces, which completely fell apart. Overall I would give the durability a 7/10.
Comparison with the first herman’s: The boardfeel was pretty similar, but I thought the first ones were a little more comfortable. But then again these were more durable in my opinion. These have noticeably better, and longer lasting grip. I also thought the first ones looked better, but obviously that’s just and opinion. I’d say I like them equally, they are both better in their own ways.
Overall: Despite the fact that the rating’s I gave weren’t phenomenal, I thought this was a great shoe and can easily be called on of the best I had. The durability section made it seem like I wasn’t satisfied but I actually was, the durability was fine I just pointed out the bad things. I didn’t put a style section mostly because that’s not for me to decide, anyway, I think if you’re look for an all around great shoe then these are for you. 9/10.
