Save my sole!

Popped into town today - quite a few of these 'new/instant' cobblers about
wanting to charge me around £22-£28 to rubber re-sole and heel my ancient
but good for both cycling and walking leather touring shoes.

That doesn't make economical sense to me. So the question is can you think
of anywhere I could buy the sole/heels myself, I have an old cobblers lass
here, and can do it myself. I realise that we all in different towns but
would say Woolworths still do them?

The 'instant cobblers' did not want to sell me the materials - no surprises
there then.

"archierob" wrote in message
...
Popped into town today - quite a few of these 'new/instant' cobblers about
wanting to charge me around £22-£28 to rubber re-sole and heel my ancient
but good for both cycling and walking leather touring shoes.

That doesn't make economical sense to me. So the question is can you think
of anywhere I could buy the sole/heels myself, I have an old cobblers lass
here, and can do it myself. I realise that we all in different towns but
would say Woolworths still do them?


Sounds a reasonable price. What's a new pair cost: sixty quid say ?
Get another few years for less than half that; that's assuming there's
enough life left in them.

I worked out in a thoughtfull moment (walking back from the cobbler's
probably) that a pair of normal shoes costs about twice its purchase price
in repairs over its lifetime. If you replaced rather than repaired each
time, then each "repair" would be a hundred quid instead of £25-£30 (based
on a tidy pair of brogues say).

And you don't have the pain of breaking them in over again!

Doesn't work for mountain boots, since mine are stuffed by the time the
sole's had it.

Hywel

On 25/2/05 9:00 pm, in article , "Hywel
Davies" wrote:


"archierob" wrote in message
...
Popped into town today - quite a few of these 'new/instant' cobblers about
wanting to charge me around £22-£28 to rubber re-sole and heel my ancient
but good for both cycling and walking leather touring shoes.

That doesn't make economical sense to me. So the question is can you think
of anywhere I could buy the sole/heels myself, I have an old cobblers lass
here, and can do it myself. I realise that we all in different towns but
would say Woolworths still do them?


Sounds a reasonable price. What's a new pair cost: sixty quid say ?
Get another few years for less than half that; that's assuming there's
enough life left in them.

I worked out in a thoughtfull moment (walking back from the cobbler's
probably) that a pair of normal shoes costs about twice its purchase price
in repairs over its lifetime. If you replaced rather than repaired each
time, then each "repair" would be a hundred quid instead of £25-£30 (based
on a tidy pair of brogues say).

And you don't have the pain of breaking them in over again!

Doesn't work for mountain boots, since mine are stuffed by the time the
sole's had it.

Mine are currently on their third sole and going fine.. They do look a bit
tired but are still fully functional.

...d

in message , Hywel Davies
') wrote:

I worked out in a thoughtfull moment (walking back from the cobbler's
probably) that a pair of normal shoes costs about twice its purchase
price in repairs over its lifetime.

Wooh! What do you call 'normal shoes'? I used to live in cheap
lightweight hiking boots and got through about one pair every six
months. Then I changed to mid price lightweight hiking boots and got
through a pair a year. And by 'got through' I mean 'got through' in
every possible way - beyond any sort of repair. They didn't cost
anything in repair because they didn't get repaired - the welts, soles
and seams all just died.

Then about six years ago I bought a pair of handmade boots from my
friend Godfrey - like the pink ones in the top picture here
URL:http://www.clogandshoe.co.uk/boots.html except mine are blue and
purple. And, err, they have been back to him once for repair and new
soles already, and they do need a small stitching repair again now. And
they did cost at least twice as much as the mid-price hiking boots I
used to wear. But I don't see myself needing a new pair any time this
decade. And I have worn them for something over two thousand days,
everywhere from in the house to up mountains. So far they've cost all
of a tenner in repairs, and may cost another twenty or thirty over the
next ten years or so.

Oh, and did I mention they're comfortable? They're hand-lasted to my
feet. They're comfortable.

I've been thinking of talking Godfrey into making me a pair of cycling
shoes...

--
(Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/

[ This .sig subject to change without notice ]

In article , archierob wrote:
I have an old cobblers lass
here, and can do it myself.

I must say that seems very broadminded of your old cobbler.

You spotted that also! Posted in another forum and they picked up on it! It
should of course be last and not lass.

Apparently Woolworths still sell the repairs kits.