Vans Half Cab Pro
Official Site: www.vans.com
Price: $65-$70
Difference Between Pros and Regular Halfcabs:http://www.buyskateshoes.com/catalog/detail/QXZRy
There you can see views of the regular half cabs, notice how the sole goes up higher than the pros in the first picture and how they have no insole.
http://www.buyskateshoes.com/catalog/detail/WAAC9
There’s the pros, a lot of people think these look better than the originals, these have a very thick insole, and the sole doesn’t go up as high as on the original halfcabs.
But beside the visual differences I’ve heard that the originals break in faster, are more durable, and just made a lot better. I can’t clarify this since I haven’t had them.
First Impressions: I got these for $65 since they are the Cab Editions, and they were really stiff at first. So to try and make them break in faster I bent the sole back and forth. And what I realized while doing this is that the sole was starting to detatch from the shoes, I used super glue to glue it back on. These did take a while to break in especially for vulks but it wasn’t too bad. I just walked in them for a few days then skated them once and they were fine.
Boardfeel: After they broke in the boardfeel was great. Not rediculously good, but good enough, had a thick-vulc feel to it, mostly caused by how thick the insole is. Which I personally liked since I hate when shoes are too thin. Either way I thought the boardfeel was perfect, but on how good you can actually feel the board I’d give them an 8/10.
Grip: Another good thing about vulcs is grip, these were no different. They started off extremely grippy, too grippy, but after a shortwhile they were fine. The soles are very grippy and lasted a very long time to flatten out, which is what the Vans Waffle Sole is known for. But the outsole didn’t really last as long, is almost started to just peel after a little while, it took a long time till there was nothing left in the area but my sock though. I’d give grip a 9/10.
Comfort Impact Support: Like I said a few times before, these have a very thick insole. But these still don’t provide good impact support, I’ve actually felt pain in my foot on a 2 set, that’s saying something. They are comfortable though, a little uncomfortable at first but I haven’t had problems with them after that, just not in a very padded way. I’d give them a 7/10 in comfort/impact support.
Durability: Alright, in the the Grip section I said that the outsole peeled out, this happened with both shoes, all the way around the shoe, I ended up ripping them almost completely off. But as I said before, the sole lasts a very long time, the only place that got flattened was right where the ball of your foot is. The suede was very durable compared to what I’m used to, and the outsole was okay. But on this shoe the stitching is far up of the toebox, which is amazing, and I never ripping any of the stitching. The lace protection is also great because of how high up the laces are, I skated these for around 2 months and used two pairs of laces, not because on of them ripped just the aglets ripped off because I was careless. Overall I would give the durability a 9/10
Overall: These shoes are fantastic and I definitely reccomend them, the only downfall was the impact support, so basically if you don’t skate anything big these are perfect. If you like a a grippy shoe that lasts long and has a lot of boardfeel, while still isn’t incredibly thin then get these. Overall I would give them a 9/10. One of my favorite pairs of shoes.
-windust.
