Quick note - I've skated Lakai high tops, Adidas, Vans, and Nike SB Alleyoops. Out of all of them, Nike has felt the most supportive, even with low tops. I do like the additional support of high tops, but I found the lakai Telfords were really thin in all aspects. They exacerbated my plantar fasciitis in my pushing foot and also blew out the side wall when I highsided. The leather is also very thin & not as strong as suede, and resulted in me having to add replacement panels of leather and shoe goo. I think that from here on out, I'll be looking for nike high tops.
I haven't tried high tops yet but it's on my list to try. I've definitely noticed the slop from running too big shoes, definitely in fast freeride type riding but also in dancing and freestyle where the bigger sloppier shoes make being precise with steps a lot harder. I like to run wheels on the slightly grippier side for freeride (ie remember savanna slammas, s9 race forms) and the slop is really noticeable in affecting slide consistency
One thing I like to do before I skate a big run is tap my toes point first to push my toes farther into the toe box and tie the laces a bit tighter to kind of lock everything in. It feels like almost night and day vs the more casual looser everyday walking around shoe tightness
As someone who has owned a ton of vans in my day, it definitely fits my feet the best! Someday I’ll be convinced to try something else but the suede and leather combo has been lasting!! Brake soles really change the game tho! Can also speak to having tight shoes. Sucks to get on but beyond that I wouldn’t change the feel I get for the world!
Vans Half Cabs are my go-to for street and dowhill. I'm extremly picky about the amount of board feel a shoe has, to the point where I can't skate in cupsoles or with brakesloles. Half Cabs strike the perfect balance for me with the all suede construction, the mid-top, and the insoles; plus I've never had any loosening issues with them.
*Love my Supra Skytops,* their design was partially inspired by Air Jordans, etc. 🤙🏼👌🏼👌🏼🤙🏼 Another awesome video dude 👏🏼👏🏼 Your Shoe Goo repair on the red shoes looks so smooth, if you haven't done a video already I'd love to see how you did that so well, I thought it was an actual toe cap there.
Thanks! I have lots of practice with shoe goo. If you want it to look good, you gotta lay it on thick and be careful not to incorporate bubbles with whatever secondary application tool you use. I try to touch it as little as possible
I prefer low top skate shoes. I get more flexibility and mobility from my ankles that way. Hi top skate shoes are too restrictive. With the sock liner different manufacturers have, you can still get pretty great support from low top skate shoes. Vans, and Converse and all other brands have skateboard specific lineups that feature different technologies that make their stuff usable fro skating. The vans I've been using have duracap underneath the upper so they'ev been able to handle all the abuse. I will say even with the sock liner they were too mushy for me still so Im going back to SBs.
For me personally it's not necessarily the support I prefer from a high top, but the protection it provides my ankle bone during a fall. I've taken nasty ankle injuries while wearing low tops and sliding across the road during a fast crash.
