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Five Ten Sole Repair: Anyone found any rubber to resole?

35K views 49 replies 17 participants last post by  PHeller  
#1 ·
Now that Adidas took over 5/10 and quit producing the 5/10 Stealth Rubber Resole Kits, does anyone have any alternatives to replacing the sole on worn out 5/10s other than a crappy liquid rubber science paint on project?

Can't seem to find anything scouring the net regarding the attempt to resole perfectly good 5/10 shoes that just have a worn out sole.
 
#4 ·
I think the days of resoling with dotty rubber are behind us. I found an aqua stealth resole kit on closeout a few years ago. Good luck finding anything now. I still have it but my cobbler who did one resole for me went out of business. I tired to resole myself which was a miserable failure. My cobbler told me the glues available to the public suck. Because I cut the sole kit just to replace the section that was chunked out, the last climbing cobbler I called said they didn't want to do my shoes unless it was with the resole kits they sell. He was pretty knowledgeable and honest when he told me they didn't have access to anything as sticky as 5.10 dotty. Anyway, good luck. We live in a throw away society, and companies like adidas encourage that. I've still never worn out uppers. Resoling should be the norm.
 
#5 ·
Maybe we should just return the shoes to Adidas.
 
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#6 ·
I'd second calling around at for anyone who resoles climbing shoes. You might be able to find someone who will resole with Vibram. Climbing rubber is a lot firmer but I imagine Vibram XS Grip2 would have plenty of grip. I had La Sportiva Testarossa's for climbing and it's unreal how much grip that XS Grip2 rubber has. 5.10 Mi6 is the softest by a pretty big margin though.
 
#8 ·
Thanks everyone for the great responses. I get that we live in a throw away society. But man I'm bummed b/c my 5 year old 5/10 Freeriders have withstood a beating and elements over the years, and after a good cleaning, look and perform like new....especially in regards to support/water resistant. Unfortunately the bottom is worn through in a small area at the pedal contact point to the point where dirt/water will start entering. The rest of the rubber still looks good. I can't bring myself to thow them out just because the bottom rubber is eat up.

Its just mind blowing to think that I couldn't find a replacement rubber sole out there. I may go the route of climbing shoe rubber. But you guys are right in that once you pay $85 to have them resoled by one of the few people out there that provides that service....and with shipping...I could have bought a brand new pair of Ride Concepts or 5/10.
 
#9 ·
Was able to find a list of cobblers w/ access to Vibram among others. May be worthwhile for me to call around and see if any of these carry or have old stock in stealth rubber....or a similar alternative.

 
#11 · (Edited)
If the Vibram compound is for climbing shoes, it will be close enough to Stealth to not make a difference on a flat pedal IMO. Honestly you could look for climbing shoe resole kits from any reputable mfr (Evolv, La Sportiva, Scarpa, Boreal, etc) and the rubber will be, practically, as sticky as Stealth on a pedal.

Good luck wringing the life out of your shoes. Love the idea, but my riding shoes seem to get broken down throughout by the time the soles are toast. Shoe Goo for a stopgap but otherwise, they get chucked.
 
#10 ·
I contacted the place I posted. They will do flat shoes with aqua stealth for cheaper than wadding boots. I didn't ask but maybe adidas is continuing to supply cobblers that do wadding boots? That would be a great loop hole for us. Here's their response if you're interested in using them. I'll likely use them when the time comes.

We can resole them for $65 return shipping included Please remove your
laces Turn around time is about 6 to 8 weeks You may pay with check or
card over the phone
Thanks
RMR
211 Oak
Salida CO 81201
719 680 1632
 
#12 ·
I contacted the place I posted. They will do flat shoes with aqua stealth for cheaper than wadding boots. I didn't ask but maybe adidas is continuing to supply cobblers that do wadding boots? That would be a great loop hole for us. Here's their response if you're interested in using them. I'll likely use them when the time comes.

We can resole them for $65 return shipping included Please remove your
laces Turn around time is about 6 to 8 weeks You may pay with check or
card over the phone
Thanks
RMR
211 Oak
Salida CO 81201
719 680 1632
Man thats awesome. Thanks for the insight! I'll be contacting them to ship off. I'll take the chance and post here once I get them back.
 
#15 ·
You never know these days...things change so fast and frequent. They may have still had old stock at the time you contacted them. Regardless I figured I would pass along the info I came away with. I'll post pics of before after. Hopefully the Vibram will be decent. Crossing fingers! ;)
 
#20 ·
I have a pair of regular freeriders with uppers in GREAT shape still. but using the wrong pedals for a bit resulted in torn holes in the soles. this happened right around the time that 5.10 got rid of the resole kits, so I remember seeing them available and then a short time later when I was ready to order one, they were gone. I've held onto the shoes because they're in such good shape otherwise, I'm loathe to just toss them.

if the vibram dotty resole turns out nice, I might look into this myself so I can put those shoes back into rotation.
 
#21 ·
Just wonder if you guys think a dedicated flat shoe cobbler would do well? We've never seen a cobbler market specifically to us. Even when 5.10 offered kits all the marketing was for climbing, but flat pedal use was a fraction of what it is today. Personally I'm not sure how well such a business would do considering we are a demographic that's willing to overpay for everything associated with our sport, and we want the latest and greatest. That makes me think resoling wouldn't become very popular. On the other hand flat shoes are going for 140 to 160 these days. A resole for roughly 70 starts to look pretty good, and as we all know, our soles chunk out before the uppers break a sweet. People are becoming more conscience of ocean landfill too.

A big factor for anyone that would consider such a business is compound availability. The Jury is still out on whether the approach compounds available are good enough to become popular in such a competitive flat shoe market. Vibram has been in the flat market for years with little fan fair.
 
#25 · (Edited)
I had a big bike trip this past weekend to Pisgah in Brevard, NC. I recently received a pair of Ride Concept Powerlines as gift, but the higher side walls of the shoe hurt my ankles and was uncomfortable so I had to send them back and needed a quick fix to get me through the weekend.

I used Yzedf's idea above and bought some Shoe Goo from the local hardware store. Used a putty knife to work lots of it under the loose rubber layer and massaged it to get everything to stick really good. Continued to fill in several big holes with the putty knife and smoothing it out. I will say the stuff held the bottom together really well and bought me an extra weekend of heavy hitting rides (Bennet Gap, Farlow Gap, Buckhorn Gap, Avery Creek, Black Mtn, etc). I'll post some pics of the results.

So for those of you that need a temporary fix, the Shoe Goo did work really good. Yes some of the thin areas started to peel just a bit after a weekend trip, but it held everything together nicely over the weekend. Not to mention no water was leaking into my foot bottom. :) Heres some pics. I wish I had before pics. There were gaping holes and tears.
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:p

Sending the 5/10s off today. 6-8 week turnaround so it will be a bit before I can post before/after pictures....stay tuned!
 
#26 ·
I've used shoe goo to fill in worn spots in the soles of my Freerider Contacts (same sole as what you have) and it worked well enough. Though at this point, while the soles are still intact enough to keep water out, there's shreds of sole starting to tear off.

I'm hoping to grab a new pair of riding shoes shortly, and that should give me the opportunity to pull the worn ones out of rotation and send them off for repair. A friend gave me some 661 shoes last year that had been given to him (but didn't fit) when I forgot my shoes for a ride. Those are replacing my uncomfortable old clipless shoes. They "worked" for platform pedals, but they didn't stick to the pedals well enough for my taste.

My original freeriders, I'd probably just start wearing as casual shoes. The soles are just too flexy for rides with fast pounding hits like in Pisgah (my local stuff). The Contacts are better in that regard, so if the repair this cobbler does looks good and works well, then those I'd put back into riding duties.
 
#28 ·
Would you mind elaborating on this with some details. Don't see any way to email them on their website. They replace stuff only up to 30 days after purchase. I'm not sure how I see they would repair/replace old worn out shoes.
 
#29 ·
You can fill the holes with Aquaseal SR. It's not as soft as S1, but it's pretty durable and it sticks really well. Other than that, repairing is too much money comparing to the cost of the shoes. There is also significant wear in the foam above the sole that makes the shoe softer over time.
 
#30 ·
5 years old wow. I'm cheap with my shoes, but geez;)

If you watch, you can usually find a 10-15% off sale, then I donate my old ones so hopefully they don't end up in the trash

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk
 
#32 ·
My bother a “hippie”still uses a sole sized cutouts from discarded auto tires (last tire from a creek clean up project) and Shoe Goo. Some of his resoles are pretty good. Low $.
 
#33 ·
Just to clarify, I have a new set of Ride Concepts. Not being "cheap or hippiesh" here...just wanted to see if I could extend the life on a perfectly good set of 5/10s that have proven themselves worthy rather than toss them and thought it would be a good experiment. :)
 
#36 · (Edited)
DIY resoling is super unscripted, and truly a bit funky. But...worth extending the life of some great shoes.

Look around for some sole material. My brother [old hippie]uses old car tires (yikes) but I think he is on to something. I just grabbed some old shoe bottoms that I will try out on my Olukai street shoes. That may be not work out, but fun to try.

Shoe Goo works great. I have some clamps I will use in the process.

Patience and being meticulous will be great assets. The repair may look odd but who's looking at your shoes on the trail speeding by?
 
#37 ·
Wife at home took a pic. Olukais with heel built up before I do my DIY repair.

She also suggested the sole material from some discarded Keds as a maybe for 5-10s
Image
 
#41 ·
Hey everyone...got the shoes back from Rocky Mtn Resole and wanted to provide an update:

  • Overall I am happy with the results. Vibram dotty rubber is very sticky....same as stealth IMO. Initially they will have a slick sheen to them that wears off by walking around in the driveway for a few min.
  • Although you can probably go out and buy a brand new pair for $20-$30 more, this is an option if you have perfectly good shoes w/ just worn out soles and don't want to go the route of breaking in another pair. Or if you bought a new pair and don't want to throw a perfectly good pair of shoes away, use them as a backup.
  • Mine are original 5/10s...not Adidas...and they are broken in....so my thought was I'd like to get them re-treaded if they are perfectly fine.
  • They did a really nice job considering the wear and tear.
  • Shipped these off 7/14/2021. Received back yesterday on 10/4/2021. So roughly a 10 week turnaround.
**I do have a new pair of Ride Concepts Hellion Elites. Needed new shoes while these went off to the shop, and didn't want to lose my old 5/10s. But I will say, RC's customer service is stellar. I even had the owner reach out to me after I returned the high top Powerlines for the lower cut. Highly recommend checking them out if you're in the market for new flat pedal shoes. Freeriders are proven. These will never get old for me...but RC is a great company.

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#50 ·
Hey everyone...got the shoes back from Rocky Mtn Resole and wanted to provide an update:
  • Although you can probably go out and buy a brand new pair for $20-$30 more, this is an option if you have perfectly good shoes w/ just worn out soles and don't want to go the route of breaking in another pair. Or if you bought a new pair and don't want to throw a perfectly good pair of shoes away, use them as a backup.
How much did you end up paying in total? Did they replace the toe rand, or just the outsole?

Anyone know if UnParallel pricing stays consistent for MTB shoe resoles? Some climbing resolers charge more for Approach Shoe resoles. Getting a half resole for $27 would be a deal.