A quick trip to LA for the Vans AVE 2.0 shoe release plus a review of the shoe. 00:00 LA Trip & Vans AVE 2.0 Launch Recap 04:15 Vans AVE 2.0 Shoe Review
I fully agree. I think one unfortunate side affect of the bigger brands coming into skateboarding (Nike, Adidas, NB) is this price inflation being transferred to brands like Etnies and Vans. When I was not injured and skating daily I could not afford to spend more than 75 dollars on a shoe, and it needed to last.
@@robertblackmore703 Vans _is_ one of those big brands though. You can’t blame inflation for eS charging $150 for Muska reissues. Take a look at an old CCS catalog online, skate shoes were $85 even in the late 90’s. Catch me in the clearance section
Nah endorsing a bad product is just shitty. A need for money shouldn’t come before moral values. Get a real fucking job if this is what you have to do.
These shoes suck so hard, but it’s nice of companies like vans and Nike to drop some ugly shoes recently to give core brands a change again. These will sit on shelves for ages and ages
The shoe is pretty nice but it crushes the top of your toes when bending and it's so painful! The plastic/coating reinforcements on the sock's toe, crush into the top of your toes and the side pinches when bending too. I dont know if this breaks in over time and how much, but it's so uncomfortable that I can't believe Van's released the shoe like this. I'm glad Ben reviewed these and did address this issue with the shoe but I'm not sure I want to gamble $130 on it. Out of the box, it's painful. It may break in over time but I dont know how I feel about hoping it gets better down the road because if it doesn't, it's an expensive shoe I'll never end up using. So I think I'm returning my pair . Otherwise I kind of like them. I want to like them too but no shoe should hurt this much when bending. I havent skated in them because obviously I couldn't return them if I did.
I’ve been looking forward to a review of these (from a skater at my age like yourself). Just started the video, but I appreciate you traveling and taking the time to make a video about the whole experience. 👍
Thanks for another one for us old guys that actually care about the way you do your thing Ben. Can’t wait to try any easy rider shape when they hit a shop in my area. ❤❤❤ Big love Ben !!!
Glad you’re still making videos, Ben. I thought you made a very fair review esp considering you didn’t buy these. Too narrow for my wide ass feet, but I’m always interested to hear about new products with different features. Thanks, brother. See you next one.
There are some things we can learn from these shoes for sure. I love the soles. I would be stoked to try a shoe with this sole and a more substantial upper.
I am happy that you're more and more solicited. I had the old version of this shoe and can second what you said with regard to losing less energy popping as compared with a soft sluggish shoe. However, I got rid of them because they slid like crazy on very polished high quality slick bowls and parks. I have no idea why this happened and whether the sole was a different material than other vans.
Good to know these are narrow. Any suggestion for a shoe that works for someone with collapsed arches? All the shoes i've bought recently (Hours is Yours Code V2, Last Resort AB VM002/VM001/CM001, New Balance 808 and 306 and Vans Sk8 Low) hurt my feet so bad after skating because my arch always spills out of the sole and isn't well supported. Or if my arch is supported by the midfoot of the shoe, it crushes my arch and hurts so bad no matter what insole i use. I just need something with a super wide midfoot area and straight line shape from heel to toe like a Brooks stability shoe. But there's no skateable shoe i've seen with this kind of shape. It's really depressing and I can't even size up with shoes because i'm a size 12 so a whole size is way too big for me in any brand.
They look great on your feet with jeans covering the tops and very modern the shoes look better than a lot of futurist nike skate shoes. But no one can comment until try them really. The shoes look better than a lot of other brands doing future tech skate shoes.
Very good, once more! Ben. IMO the unballanced hardness of upper and tennis sole is the main problem of vans. however its a high quality product. but it kills my tools and upper gets loose... too much retails. anyway, have you heard about a brazillian shoes called Ous? its very nice and quick responsive
I think you nailed it, they're soccer shoes reinforced for skateboarding. You definitely need to break in every new pair of shoes but that doesn't mean its ok for the shoe to hurt your foot. I wonder how these would skate compared to the Nike SB Koston sock shoe from a while ago. Did Vans really make anything new or groundbreaking with these? The tech has been around for a long time.
pretty interesting for a vans shoe, esp the big molded plastic pieces. i wonder how they hold up, it's really hard to see the stitching, or maybe it's using a lot of glue
It’s certainly an interesting looking shoe, especially with the football boot inspired sections. Although, at that price point, the least you can ask is comfortable right out of the box and not pinching your foot when you bend the toe box. I think vans problem is they don’t change the designs enough to make any of their pro models super recognisable, apart from the half cab. I can barely tell the difference between a blacked out pair of kyle walkers, rowly, rowans and wayvee.
People are giving Ben a hard time for this review especially Joa aka Gifted Hater but I actually think Ben was very reasonable & honest in his assessment call me crazy but I actually have come to trust Ben he seems very genuine to me anyway!!!
If you like them thats all that matters. They are almost $300 here in aussie so its hard to justify getting them when I can get 3-4 pairs of other shoes on sale for that. Hope you had a fun trip dude!
I actually think the shoe looks pretty good! Its definitely different but it kinda works for some reason. Totally going for that more sporty shoe like you said but i'd prefer this to the nyjah look. Maybe not the tennis ball one though hahah! good review Ben!
Walmart carries some wrangler loose fit/relaxed fit jeans that look exactly like that for $20. That’s what I buy and they haven’t ripped at all, pretty budget and skate friendly. Just make sure you buy the thick feeling ones. The carpenter wranglers rip easily
People in the comments are hilarious 😂.. whining about someone taking an opportunity they are given and running with it.. in reality your sad comments help this man get paid more 😂.. awesome video Ben.. not my style but as always you give your honest opinion.. i look forward to what comes next
I appreciate it. And I’m glad you can see that it was still honest. I love the way this shoe skates. It’s not necessarily my cup of tea aesthetically which keeps me trying other things but I keep coming back to the AVE’s because they skate better.
I loved how comfortable the first AVE was, and they looked okay. The only thing is that the mesh had an ollie hole w the first session and kept eatong away at my socks. Ao my expensive ass shredders became just comfy work shoes smh
I guess you might be able to call these a Center Court Shoe? *taxxxxiiiiii!* Sick you got invited on this, well deserved but man....that color way....need to calm my eyes and stare at my Half Cabs for half an hour....
I get a giant cardboard box of soletech shoes every six months from the warehouse sales in burnaby. Ten pairs of brand new shoes first the same price as two pairs of these.
i really like the wafflecup soles. the only ones i've had so far were the wayvees, but i really like them. not a fan of vulcs and they seem to be a perfect middle ground between vulcs and cupsoles.
One thing I noticed about the previous generation AVEs is that they feel super comfy with no socks, but they feel tight as shit w/ socks on. So, if you're a sockless aficionado, I think these are really primed for that. They're also very well ventilated, which also points in that direction.
Truly don’t understand how anyone can hate on this video?? It’s just Ben getting a paid trip to LA. Hey slap pals keep crying about useless wooden banter
These are the THIRD version of the Aves. I had 1 & 2. Here is a 2016 photo of me in the 1s (had to send in an Instagram message to you). These slipper-socks look like trash. They will fall apart fast My big-toes are permanently bending towards the baby toes now, from them having too pointy of a toe-area, & from me wearing half size smaller than I should have been, of AVE2s for 2 or 3 years straight. This throws off my overall balance/board-feel a tiny/noticeable amount. As a result, I now have to put 1 toe-spacers in-between my big-toe and the next toe beside it. I'm aware & cautious now about strictly-only picking shoes that don't have too pointy of toe-areas, and don't look like they will bend my big-toe inwards. Skate shoes are the worst for this, cause they usually have pointier toe-areas than normal shoes.
also i think people are tripping, its not like this shoe is gonna change the game id be surprised if people still talked about it in 3 months get that bag
$130 is an extremely hefty price to carry for a pair of skate shoes, I'd hope they last at least 1.5X as long as the average $70 cupsole. I'd have to pass on these, for several reasons - The most practical and unbiased one being that I have extremely flat feet anyway, so the slim profile and small toe box would not suit me well.
These go for 800 here in Brazil, Dunks (on retail) go for 1000 brazillian reais, still quite expensive for Vans, the new shoes are getting quite ludicrous on the price. The Rowan 2 is at 700 Reais and to be honest, the Rowans just for the appearance look like they are a little more worthy of the pricetag, anyway, havent skated either two so yeah. The good part about these big brands setting up these prices is that the national brands get more recognition.
