For the gore Tex not being able to bead water anymore might be because you need to re treat them with some DWR spray. It will clean and treat the gore Tex to make it bead water again!
Curious to know how the sizing compares to normal AJ1’s? Trying to decide if I should go TTS in the goretex element 1’s (normal AJ1’s are always a bit snug for my mildly wide foot) orrr go up to a US11 for the first time ever. Just got my 85 Neutral Grey lows and they are snug as all hail out of the box. Great review dude, hoping for a response here! Thanks