UKH

Minor moan incoming:

I bought a pair of TX4s a year ago. They fit me well & have been great on scrambles & hill walks.

Last weekend, both shoes completely ended themselves around the upper 'canvas' section. One doesn't conceal my toes anymore and is the perfect heather stalk collector. 

I didn't use them at all over winter so this is really from 7-8 months of use. The soles are good still which are usually the first things to go on shoes for me. 

Am I right to be cheesed off that they've not lasted a little longer? I'm a weekend warrior, not working in them or anything.

Have tried contacting La Sportiva & the seller to ask for a replacement pair, but haven't had any luck persuading them to do this so far! 

Will take any recommendations for any longer lasting approach shoes since I've accepted these ones are done in - maybe scarpa is the way to go in the future? 

My buddy has had a similar experience with TX boots. My boulder X Mids on the other hand have had 2 years of almost daily use. I just had them resoled and they are good to go... 

I'm sitting here in my 4yo, battered (but fully intact) TX4s and can't see any canvas on them, they're pretty much all leather. Photo?

Soles almost gone and not v waterproof anymore but my abused tx4 mids have lasted super well, the uppers don’t have holes or damage.

My tx4s have lasted about 6 years of abuse. There's not much tread any more and I just made a hole in the upper so it's time to let them go but I've got no complaints. Are you sure you mean the tx4? They're all leather.

I think I'm the TX4s biggest fan 😂

I wear them all the time as they seem to be the only shoes that fit my feet. Once my "good" pairs sole wears, I get them resoled with a harder rubber and use them as my work pair and get another pair for my good pair. At work I walk between 10 and 15 miles a day, on pavements though. 

Out of all the pairs I've had (must be close to double figures now), I've had one pair that ended up with a hole above the toes. I seem to remember that it happened pretty quickly too. I'm sure I actually still have them as my gardening pair though.

They dud ones were the carbon/flame colour, the blue/papaya colour seem to last longer, anecdotally obviously.

So I'd say the quality seems to be pretty good overall as I only seem to have had one dud pair. 

A few years ago there definitely were  longevity issues with TX4’s, but I think they’re gone now. I had a pair from back then and the leather broke after a few months use. I got a new pair and they lasted years. I then switched to leather TX2’s and they are solid. 

This is the worst one below, other one has a slightly smaller hole.. sounds like I might have gotten a Friday afternoon job. 

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I'm still wearing the original pair I bought in 2019, resoled once.

I wear my TX4s daily, first pair soles knackered after about 3 or 4 years, uppers still good, gtx not working any more. Still wear them and keep my new pair for 'best'.

I know a lot of people who use and abuse TX4s and have never seen wear anything like that photo.

In my experience approach shoes last alot less than people think they should especially given the cost these days. Unless an obvious manufacturering fault that has shortened the lifetime of the product most bands would look at the sole of the shoes to determine wear and tear before going any further. This can't be see on the photo you have posted above. They also would look at the way you have kept them... although it is hard to tell from the photo but the leather on your shoes looks like it hasn't been treated to keep soft and flexible and this may have excellerated the wear and tear at the flex point at the front of the trainer.

I have to agree, I am on my 2nd pair in 8 years and i have them on everyday 

I'm on my third pair of TX4s (since Aug 2017). They have lasted better than any other approach shoes I have owned. The uppers have only cracked along the usual flex point way after the Vibram sole had worn down to the blue EVA midsole. Even then, the inner is still in good condition. I conditioned the suede upper maybe once every six months, and have worn them pretty much every day.

Previous shoes have been Salomon, Merrell, Quechua, Regatta, Hi-Tec. The sole units on all are barely touched, but the uppers have disintegrated.

I suspect the TX4's flex point is perfectly sited for my feet. Fit is important in more ways than comfort, I suspect.

Ah so my experience sounds like a bit of an outlier then.

This is the sole, which obviously has a way to go still. 

I can't say I've ever treated them with leather nourishing stuff to be fair, maybe something to learn from here. Have been careful to keep them clean & away from heat sources though.

Thanks all for the anecdotes, I will start searching for the next victims. 

Looking at the disproportionate failure of the upper compared to the sole I'd approach the UK Sportiva distributor fit their opinion.

That's barely used. Something very wrong, considering the upper has entirely disintegrated.

Ooh, did you get these done in the UK? didn't know you could get these done. If i can then i would like to get mine resoled.

I’ve had holes form in my first pair of tx4 gtx uppers but that was from getting them sodden all the time and not treating them so the leather got brittle. If that doesn’t sound familiar to you then I reckon that particular hide was sub par. 

Current second pair of tx4 gtx are due a resole but the uppers are unscathed. I do find that the gtx lining doesn’t stay waterproof beyond a good year of abuse though. 
 

Probably because the OP isn't wearing socks

It looks like the 'leather' has rotted from being wet.

TX4s? BoulderXs? I'm on a re-soled pair of B5s I got secondhand 😁

To be honest, this is probably the case here. It's the opinion of la sportiva too.

Too many boggy camping trips & not enough leather moisturising.

If you're looking for another second hand pair I'll sell you these for a good price! 😅

Could be also something wrong with your feet

No offence, seriously – I have had some shoes destroy themselves more quickly because even though I thought they were a good fit, it turned out they weren't (for me).

Combine the pressure from your foot on a critical point (where the leather is presumably stitched or glued to the sole and rand) and not enough care or too many boggy trips, and they could be breaking apart at that point much more quickly. Maybe you had a bit wider feet and that repeatedly stretched out the leather at the rand part? The rand is glued to the leather, giving it less flex, while the free leather above can stretch more easily. Makes for a possible failure point with bad fit.

Thanks, planning to head to my local gooutdoors in the next week or two so will bear this in mind when trying other options. 

I don't have particularly wide feet but they are quite long.. maybe that increases the leverage on the weak points? 

These were my first pair of approach shoes, I'd always used decathlon trail running shoes & waterproof socks previously. May go back to that set up if my next pair of approaches go the same way. Might even consider getting a proper pair of boots for the non climbing days! Approach shoes probably aren't designed for much bog tromping. 

I used Clifton Cobbler in Bristol. He ground of the bottom and replaced but said he could also do midsole replacememt too. If anything they're even better than they were. Also splashed out on some superfeet active insoles... pretty damned comfy. Excuse the mud...