Vibram FiveFingers Repair using Shoe Goo - Further Enhancement

I was poking around my shoe cabinet when I came across my 4 yr old Nike Air Zoom Elite+ 4.
I did not run much with this shoes because this is a stability shoes whereas I was supposed to need a cushioned shoes. So this became my anything but running shoes.

This is when it is good....I forgot to take a photo of the terrible state before i dump it:

The shoes looks ok from the top but the outsole is terrible, the outsole rubber was "peeled off" from the midsole....common problem of the Nike Shoes whether the glue will dry up if you do not use it for a long time. I seriously never have this issue with other brands before.

So I happily teared off all the outsole rubber before I discard the shoes to the rubbish bin. Then an idea struck me! My last enhancement to my Vibram FiveFingers Classic Brown/Walnut does not seems to be able to last as Shoe Goo is just Rubber and can wear off easily and I will have to keep spreading new layers to keep the thickness intact.......

So......I took the 2 pieces of outsole from the Nikes:

An decided to do something about it......

Curing in process:

An I got "Nike" on my 2 pinky toes!

Let see if this pair can last till 1500km......

All FEET fall in!

Desperate Buy! Now or Never

It was when I am evaluating the scars on my VFF Classic Black that I decided I should get my next VFF Classic as standby. I really doubt that my VFF Classic Black can last another 6 months. The sole is already so thin that I believe is about half the original thickness because it felt at least 50% lighter than my repaired VFF Classic Walnut..maybe i should find a electronic kitchen scale to checkout the actual weight.

I started to scan through all the US online retailer that was listed in birthdayshoes.com and found that NONE of the retailers carries my size...and it seems that some of them are having clearance sale. So I decided to email Vibram USA and confirmed that VFF Classic has been DIS-CONTINUED!!! It was a shocked news for me and I guess I was slow to know since I did not track the birthdayshoes.com closely enough to know this.

So I started to search online even on other countries websites. Now that Vibram FiveFingers are popular worldwide, their website actually span across few regions including on for China and Europe. I searched the Europe website and found no stocks for VFF CLassic. Found in Australia but no way I can get it since the retailer do not ship outside Australia..

I found stocks in China website which leads to Tmall in Taobao. The price of RMB680 is not cheap after adding all the shipping and admin fee. Plus the Taobao site is very slow to load so decided that this will be the last option.

So locally, I decided to search thru all the available retailers that carries VFF and I visited Running Labs funan, novena and outdoor life in novena. Isetan Scotts and takashimaya. Only Outdoor Life at Novena carries VFF Classic but left only size 46 and 47...I am a 43.

So I remembered I got this voucher from the goodie bag for the RUN Singapore Magazine subscription and took it out to have a look:

And there I found Feder Sports at Peninsula Plaza. I went down the next day to try my luck. Stacked with layers of shoes and VFFs. I found Classics of different colours and found one blue white for size 44. The boss came and I checked with him for 43..Voila! He got it! He came back with a pair of 43 and it fits well. I decided to try my luck and ask for another pair and he said YES! One last pair of different colour and I decide to grab both and shown him the voucher. He said voucher is only for one pair but he decide to give me 15% for both!
$135 for a pair so I grab both for $270...OK...this price is expensive compared to my last 2 pairs but is cheaper for most of the "normal" running shoes in the market and these are the possibly LAST 2 PAIRS in Singapore for size 43!

Got home in the Feder Plastic bag:

Took them out from the bag:

beautiful colours! I like the grey/orange/black colours:

Close Up of the grey/orange/black:

Close up of the brown/walnut which is the same as the old pair i repaired:

These 2 pairs should last me for another 3-4 years. So what's next after that. I do not know. I might have to switch to another model or  even going bare totally,

For now....I can continue to VFFing in my Classic!!

Scars on Vibram FiveFingers Black

Mileage

929km

This has been a great pair that has survived 80km of Twilight UltraMarathon at East Coast Park this year, My longest on hard ground in VFF. Scars are showing up:

Surprisingly, no holes yet unlike my other pair:

The rubber sole has started to detach from the fabric:

At the heel counter:

Rubber sole tearing at the side:

Maybe due to the more abrasive surface I have been running this on and more frequently with shorter distance, my VFF Classic Black with about 100km less got thinner soles compared to my other Classic brown/walnut pair. The weight differences is significant when put together.

Hope it can still survive till and after 1000km.

Vibram FiveFingers Mileage

From left to Right:

VFF Classic Black

929km

VFF KSO TrekSports Black/Green

436km 

VFF Sprint Red/Black

593km 

VFF Brown/Walnut

1048km

Total VFF Mileage: 

3006km