Who needs an old fashioned cobbler?

[Jayell]

I needed new soles for my moto boots. "Big bucks", he said. I didn't ask. He suggested doing half the soles, $50.

A pretty nice result, I think.







Fred is a really nice guy and a fine craftsman. He can repair shoes, boots, leather goods, zippers, etc.

Located at the back of the White Shield Plaza, Kennedy and Lawrence in Scarborough.

 

[GreyGhost]

A little disappointed this wasn't about food but glad to see some still exist.

 

[Evoex]

A little disappointed this wasn't about food but glad to see some still exist.

LOL same!!

 

[bigpoppa]

surprised in this day and age of 'throw it away and buy a new one' guys like this are still able to stay in business

 

[Jayell]

surprised in this day and age of 'throw it away and buy a new one' guys like this are still able to stay in business

He gets lots of business from folks with some very expensive shoes.

 

[TwistedKestrel]

Shopping mall cobblers have done wonders for me in the past on motorcycle boots that otherwise would have wound up in the trash... and also done a better job of cutting keys than any department store could. Not saying that I know they're *all* good, but sometimes it's a matter of low risk, high reward

 

[Baggsy]

See how well the glue holds up after a year or so.
When I was a kid, dilution was the solution to pollution, everyone went to the shoe repair place around the corner.
Same with appliances, furniture, cars, bikes etc.; everything had a nearby repair shop that was busy.
Now everything's considered disposable, but we're "worried" about the environment.
Thoughts and prayers.

 

[GreyGhost]

See how well the glue holds up after a year or so.
When I was a kid, dilution was the solution to pollution, everyone went to the shoe repair place around the corner.
Same with appliances, furniture, cars, bikes etc.; everything had a nearby repair shop that was busy.
Now everything's considered disposable, but we're "worried" about the environment.
Thoughts and prayers.

It's an interesting concept. Gov't says they have huge booze tax to make sure it isn't too cheap and easy to abuse. Apply the same theory to electronics and everything changes. If a TV is $5000 instead of $500, people buy fewer of them and it may be cost effective to repair them when they break. As it is, new ones are too cheap, there is no money to be made in fixing them.

 

[sburns]

Nicely done, looks brand new.

That place is in my old hood!

 

[Jayell]

See how well the glue holds up after a year or so.

Yup, I gave this consideration, of course. For fifty bucks it's worth it, I think.

 

[regder]

Good to know, good cobblers are hard to find.

My last pair of shoes I resoled at Coakley's Shoe Repair in London. Good result, just not convenient.

 

[Baggsy]

Here are mine:

Left is from my spare pair of BMW boots, right is the resoled with a vibram.

There's a couple of years wear on the old & new soles.

Also needed a patch on the left side. Looks like I'm still catching it on something.
Gap is from the inner part of the sole protruding more than the outer.

Just noticed I'm starting to walk like my old man.

 

[boyoboy]

doh


Im still waiting on pics for the/a reuben sandwich ...

 

[shanekingsley]

Thanks! I have two older pairs of Daytona Evo Sports outer boots in need of new soles - otherwise the boots are great. I was going to give them away but now I will get them fixed up!

I used to work in Thomson Memorial Park and this is also my old hood!

 

[shanekingsley]

Bump.
Yesterday I finally had time to make it over there to Expert Shoe Repair.

I brought him 3 pairs of boots to repair (2x Daytona Evo Sports and 1x Sidi Black Rain Evo). The Daytona's need the soles refreshed because they are done. One of the Sidi's has a tear just above the sole, so now it's a very leaky boot in the rain. To fix it he would need to remove the sole and a install a patch and then put the soles back on. He said he would also replace the heels.

He also asked me if he could give all the boots a proper refresh to make the outsides look good again. $400 is a little more than I wanted to spend, but he is doing a lot of work on 6 boots. I want to see what he can do with these boots to bring new life back into them and it's nice to support a shop like his. Just to buy new outer boots for 1 pair of Daytona's is around $400 alone.

He also has a product that he said could make regular boots and clothing very waterproof - better than the NikWax stuff I have been using. That would be amazing for some of my other clothing. He can also do repairs to motorcycle clothing, so I plan to have him repair some of my older gear that has cheap broken zippers, missing snap buttons, etc.

Will post up the repair work and before/after pics when he's done
Thanks again @Jayell for the recommendation to see him, because he was super helpful and uses really good products.

 

[mimico_polak]

My favourite safety boots have the bottom peeling from the leather…wonder if they’re salvageable with this type of service.

 

[GreyGhost]

My favourite safety boots have the bottom peeling from the leather…wonder if they’re salvageable with this type of service.

It's worth a shot. Saves the embarrassment of showing up on site looking like the useless office guy in your shiny boots. When I get new boots I beat them up a little before I put them in the car so I'm not that guy.

 

[shanekingsley]

My favourite safety boots have the bottom peeling from the leather…wonder if they’re salvageable with this type of service.

Although I'm no cobbler, I think so.
My boots will be ready in 7-10days for me to pick up. I can take your boots to him if you wanted to save yourself the initial drive over. Just tell me the max you are willing to spend on them and I'll see what he says. From everything I've seen and read about his services - seems like a reasonable professional.

 

[mimico_polak]

It's worth a shot. Saves the embarrassment of showing up on site looking like the useless office guy in your shiny boots. When I get new boots I beat them up a little before I put them in the car so I'm not that guy.

No issues there. New boots are already broken in. I love the Royers though….such a good and lightweight safety boot. I’m not a fan of them as they’re the ones with the metatarsal protection so much more heavy and stiff. Mining requires it.

Thanks @shanekingsley i need to get them as they’re relegated to cottage duty in their current form. I’ll check the address as my site is out on the east end and if it’s close I can make a quick detour.

 

[shanekingsley]

Got a call yesterday that all my boots were ready, which was 1/2 the time Fred originally said it would take. So that was really nice.

Overall I'm really happy with his work. He replaced just the heels on the Sidi's and on one of the boots he had to put a patch because of some damage to the boot. He told me that the patch he put on is a waterproof patch, which is great since that issue was the only reason these boots let in water and I wasn't wearing them anymore. Below are the Sidi boots (before and after) with heels replaced and patch on one of the boots. That's Fred in the background:

He also replaced the entire soles on each of the Daytona's, which is far cheaper than buying a whole new outer boot when the soles wear out.

I liked that he used good quality Vibram soles with excellent tread, that should last longer than the original Daytona's soles did. He also gave all the boots a shine and they look great. I think these Daytona's will be good for many years to come. I'll sell the middle pair because they are to big for me, but the others are keepers. Before (above) and after (below):

I brought my Olympia Ranger waterproof pants to him for a repair, but he said he didn't have the proper equipment to repair them without compromising the built in waterproof liner. He suggested I go to a tailor to repair this, which I will and I was thankful he didn't try to repair them and cause them to leak. Overall, he's a very nice guy who does quality work for a fair price - I would definitely go back to him in the future.