Sciencemadness Discussion Board

more durable shoe soles

xxxxx - 8-2-2009 at 07:27

i do a lot of mountain biking in actual mountains. i wear skateboard shoes because there are suitable for walking and are not too bulky on the pedals. also they look normal for the public. however the soles wear out too fast. supposedly vibram is the most durable shoe sole, and i had a pair of salomons that lasted a long time. i like the salomon exeltrek in autobahn grey but can't find these in stock anywhere. i was wondering what substance is used for skateboard shoe soles and if the manufactures could be persuded to use vibram or some other more durable material.

not_important - 8-2-2009 at 20:15

Vibram is a company name, not a specific material. There are a number of different compositions of Vibram made soles around. The best way to get what you want made be to have the shoes resoled with the specific type of Vibram sole you want, as Vibram makes soles specifically for the repair market.

Sedit - 8-2-2009 at 20:35

They make specific soles for street lughs riders that are suppose to be some of the strongest. I cant remeber off hand what they where but its worth looking into. Wouldnt expect them to be the lightest of the bunch though.

~Sedit

Panache - 24-2-2009 at 16:49

Grip is generally a wear mechanism, so you trade off good wear characteristics for good 'grip'. Independent of this is the tread pattern which can make a huge difference in relation to specific circumstances.
A rubber called linatex is about the most wear resistant rubber in relation to crushed ore, being used for the material for the ore conveyer belts in mines. Again linatex is a trade name.

[Edited on 24-2-2009 by Panache]