The death and reincarnation of the Puma Mostros: Unglued Soles
These Puma Mostros have been my go to shoes for some years. I've worn them for long hikes, wading in a river, for home construction projects, to work, you name it. And they have been slowly disintegrating for years. The original outersoles hardened, crumbled and have been flaking off since shortly after I got them. For the last few years the glue holding the uppers to the now super thin soles has been slowly failing. I've resisted repairs, although a year ago I reglued the tip of the toe on the left shoe back as the sole was flopping and I was tripping over it.
Several weeks ago, the tip of the right sole came unglued, but not so much, so it didn't cause a problem walking. So I left it like that, in the earlier pictures here you can see how nice and flexible the very thin soles are. My toes would comfortably hang over the unglued edges.
One day, just as I finished shopping, the rest of the adhesive on the right shoe failed, the sole was dangling, held on by the strap on the inside. But if I walked carefully, I could still wear them. Within a couple of hours, the left sole came unglued also, but did not dangle because it was still glued at the toe where I had earlier repaired it.
Now I still wore them around the house, but the sole flopped too much to wear outside. So I did a temporary repair, a rubber band around the flopping right sole. I could, and did, wear them shopping now, but the rubber band would slip off, and even on the left shoe, my toes would slide off the sole. So more permanent repairs were in order.
I first used a small amount of double back tape at the instep to stick the sole back on. That initially worked, but came loose. So I glued the instep back on. For now, I didn't glue the toe of the right shoe, or the heels, or the rest of the sides, I like them just repaired enough to stay on my feet. My toes comfortably hang over the edges of the very thin soles, which fold up nicely if I push my toes down to the ground.
I think I'll keep wearing them just like they are, minimally repaired.
The death and reincarnation of the Puma Mostros: Unglued Soles
These Puma Mostros have been my go to shoes for some years. I've worn them for long hikes, wading in a river, for home construction projects, to work, you name it. And they have been slowly disintegrating for years. The original outersoles hardened, crumbled and have been flaking off since shortly after I got them. For the last few years the glue holding the uppers to the now super thin soles has been slowly failing. I've resisted repairs, although a year ago I reglued the tip of the toe on the left shoe back as the sole was flopping and I was tripping over it.
Several weeks ago, the tip of the right sole came unglued, but not so much, so it didn't cause a problem walking. So I left it like that, in the earlier pictures here you can see how nice and flexible the very thin soles are. My toes would comfortably hang over the unglued edges.
One day, just as I finished shopping, the rest of the adhesive on the right shoe failed, the sole was dangling, held on by the strap on the inside. But if I walked carefully, I could still wear them. Within a couple of hours, the left sole came unglued also, but did not dangle because it was still glued at the toe where I had earlier repaired it.
Now I still wore them around the house, but the sole flopped too much to wear outside. So I did a temporary repair, a rubber band around the flopping right sole. I could, and did, wear them shopping now, but the rubber band would slip off, and even on the left shoe, my toes would slide off the sole. So more permanent repairs were in order.
I first used a small amount of double back tape at the instep to stick the sole back on. That initially worked, but came loose. So I glued the instep back on. For now, I didn't glue the toe of the right shoe, or the heels, or the rest of the sides, I like them just repaired enough to stay on my feet. My toes comfortably hang over the edges of the very thin soles, which fold up nicely if I push my toes down to the ground.
I think I'll keep wearing them just like they are, minimally repaired.