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Theses shoes are still good (picture have been removed), but the small missing part of the heel makes them painful to wear. I'm looking for the most efficient way to extend my shoes life (robust, cheapest, aesthetics and ecological). I'm looking for feed backs about what you tried: what work, and what doesn't.

The sole could be theoretically fixed in several ways:

● by adding the missing matter on the sole with a form-work That would be the easiest solution : filling the missing part with some rubber like matter that would solidify. And maybe a bunch of small screws that would be cover by the matter and increase the adhesion between the filling and the remaining part of the sole. That would be super, but since I haven't seen anything about it on the web, it's probably because it doesn't work... Did you try it?

● by cutting few centimeter of the heel and gluing a new heel sole: I'm tempted to use a piece of tire, that seems to work and that looks great. Did you try, which kind of glue did you use, which did last, which didn't? I know that theoretically many glue should fit but I also know by experience that resoling did failed most of the time (I spent my childhood running after my soles...). I'm tempted to use neoprene glue (contact adhesive) for the first adhesion to be completed by superglue for the tricky parts. What do you think?

ps: I would prefer practical feedback rather than theoretical advises (pictures of your experiments are warmly welcome!)

ps2: such worn out is cause by an "overpronation".

EDIT: shoe goo & heel are extremely expensive where I'm living. So we need to be creative. Any feedback about what did work for you, or not, (kind of glue or heel) would be extremely appreciated (don't hesitate to post pictures).

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  • Shoe Goo appears to be a Styrene Butadiene Rubber in Toluene glue. This is a very common formulation, so if Shoe Goo isn't available I'd have thought you would be able to find another which will do a similar job.
    – aucuparia
    Oct 9, 2015 at 9:40

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The go to shoe repair glue I've always used is Shoe Goo. I've used it mostly for when my soles started to separate from my uppers, and it's always done the job for me.

enter image description here

As far as resoling your shoes, you're right in your suspicion that the "easy solution" doesn't last, Shoe Goo advertises that it can be used to rebuild worn soles, and it will for minor repairs, but in my experience, it eventually just comes off in a messy clump if you try putting a substantial amount on. Best thing to do is to grind the sole down flat and glue a new heel block on with shoe goo and clamp it tight. You could probably get a way with only grinding it down mostly flat and fill in the rest of the void under your new sole with shoe goo. You can try using tire rubber for your sole (have fun cutting it), but a new heel block doesn't cost that much, you can get them for a couple bucks:

enter image description here

One tip about the shoe goo, make sure you apply it smoothly! gobs will dry as gobs and you will feel them when you walk.

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  • Yep - this is the only long term way to do it, and is the way professional cobblers approach the problem.
    – Rory Alsop ♦
    May 23, 2015 at 0:10
  • @ShemSeger thanks your advice! Unfortunately shoe goo has been forbidden here in France (some guys were sniffing it...), not anymore, but it cost 2 to 4 times its price —and when you can find it (only find in some skating shops, so + shipping cost...). Idem concerning the walking boot heels, they nearly cost the shoes price here (the shop you linked doesn't ship outside UK). That's why I posted this question, because we need to improvise around here, and it would be great to get some feedback of what kind of glue & heel are working or not.
    – JinSnow
    May 31, 2015 at 12:48
  • In Europe we have several good glue brands: Artiglio, Aquicol, Bindulin or Uberkoll. These are just some brands but there's a long list and they are used by professionals. Cobbler stores and hardware stores carry them and online. For sole material the poor man source is a scalped car tire and for rebuilding you could also try 3M 5200. These are systems that have worked for many for years. A cobbler can order full Vibram soles for u if u ask. I know that this is an old question but if someone stumbled on it...
    – Erik vanDoren
    Oct 4, 2017 at 12:43

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