Rebuilt 315's

My second pair or Roclite 315s had collapsed within the midsole and yet the uppers were in good condition. I had bought some new ones some months before and rotated between them so as not to become accustomed to one particular heel shape but now this pair seemed too sloping to be sensible to wear. With only 600km of use this is quite costly. Although the third pair could be rotated with a potential fourth pair it seemed more eco-friendly to see if I could get the mid and outersoles repaired. Inov-8 don't sell replacement sole units nowadays although I know that they did in their early days. It is of note that Inov-8 suggested that I might be better off with Trailroc 255 shoes and maybe I'll give those a go when my current 315s nead replacing.

From various online forums it appeared that LSR have a good reputation in resoling fell shoes and after exchanging a few emails I decided to try their service. I sent the shoes from a local convenience store via Hermes which was very good value, far cheaper than the FedEx service offered by LSR. Today the shoes arrived (a turnaround of a couple of weeks as advertised) and they look good.

Freshly repaired

The fell sole looked as though it would wear rapidly on stony trails and tarmac so I asked for the Vibram 'road sole', which has a  hiking shoe like pattern but fairly shallow tread. They cut away visibly damaged EVA and replaced it with a dense material. This might give the soles an uneven compressibility and cushioning but I think that's the least of my worries as it has restored the sole contour. Comparing them to a newish pair of shoes the height and planes look similar so the drop is probably similar to new.

The job was expensive and didn't feel financially sensible as it is around half the cost of a new pair of shoes but it does keep a local company in business and avoid shoe waste. I'm sure that Inov-8 won't approve.

I'll try a run in the shoes but I'm also thinking that I may use to do quick fast trail walk. I'll post agin when I've had the chance to try them out, Hopefully it won't have been a waste of money.