So, what is it and are there better material available? By “better” I’m referring to resistance to wear, cracking, and wide temperature ranges.
Second question, is there a way to mechanize the main parts of the Goodyear welt construction? I’m referring to the part where you first sew the upper and the insole to the inner edge of the welt, and then sew the outsole to the outer edge?
Vibram’s a brand name. The material used is just vulcanized rubber. And if there was something better, I’m sure that would already be replacing rubber, but it hasn’t, so I doubt it.
It’s hard to mechanize, because it’s a complex curved shape that has to be done in a range of sizes and designs, so harder and more expensive to custom-tool for. Generally, complex sewing tasks still involve humans for this reason - it might be possible, but people are cheaper. Note that it is already highly mechanized, with sewing machines used in all except very high-end shoes. But not completely automated.
Thanks. So I suppose welt-stitched shoes will stay expensive. Even the Chinese-made Red Wings (done Goodyear-style) are somewhat pricey. I’m doing a business study, actually, looking at traditionally hand-crafted products with a large market base in the US. Whereas American craftsmanship died as a central stock to its industries, there’s still a sizable market. Americans are looking for well-made hand-crafted items that remind them of US-made products before the 70s. Foreigners find venerable old brands (and even the steep price) somewhat “cool.”
I’d always assumed the trade name “Vibram” was related in some way to the shock-absorbing (=vibration reducing?) properties of the rubber. But it turns out it’s just an abbreviation for the founder’s name, Vitale Bramani. Huh.
There are different types of rubber, I had a pair of hiking shoes that had rubber normally used on rock climbing shoes and approach shoes. They gripped like nothing else, I was able to walk confidently where no one else could.
So it depends on what you mean by better.
And they wore out extremely quickly. In general there’s a tradeoff between stickiness and longevity, similar to snow tires. There’s no single “best” material unless you’ve completely specified your requirements.
Beyond that, Mr. Bramani’s real innovation was in using a rubber sole with deep lugs, instead of the hobnails common at the time.
There are multiple different rubber compounds used in Vibram soles as well.
My Merrell Moab boots have the Vibram “Multi Sport Plus” soles made from TC5+ rubber, and they seem to grip like crazy and wear like iron so far.
There is still a somewhat large market for high quality American made work boots.