Guest post by Chad
It was an unhappy day when I threw out my first pair of Vibram Five Fingers KSO shoes. I had gotten them for Christmas in 2008 and they served me faithfully throughout many miles of running in 2009, including the Hatfield & McCoy Marathon. By fall the soles had gotten thin to the point where a hole developed in the left one. I tried patching it with a bicycle tube repair kit, but that fell off after only a few miles of running.
When my next pair of KSOs showed signs of wearing out I resolved to come up with a solution. While wandering through a local sporting goods store I picked up a tube of Shoe Goo adhesive. I had used Shoe Goo many years ago, when I played high school tennis to keep my shoes in usable condition.
The Process
It turns out that Shoe Goo works terrifically well in rebuilding the thin spots of Five Fingers’ soles. Application is as easy as spreading peanut butter onto a slice of bread.
- Read the directions. Clean the area before applying.
- Use a coffee stirrer or tongue depressor to spread the Shoe Goo.
- Apply over the area in a medium thickness.
If you want to apply an additional layer, wait a couple of hours or more then apply as before. The manufacturer’s website says to allow 24 to 72 hours to cure completely, but I’ve found that overnight will suffice.
I’m happy that I’ve found an inexpensive way to extend the life of my KSOs and will use Shoe Goo on my other Fivefinger models, including my Classics, KSO Treks, and Flows.
About the Author —
Chad is a long time contributor to BirthdayShoes.com. Here are some of his previous posts:
- Chad Runs his first Marathon in his Black Five Finger KSOs
- Running a 5K with Chad – this time in Classic Vibram Five Fingers
- Chad’s Thoughts and Review of the Vibram Five Fingers KSO Treks [Review]
- Chad’s Thunder Road Marathon in KSO Treks
Thanks for the “How To” Chad!
22 replies on “Vibram Five Fingers Sole Repair Using Shoe Goo”
I had a similar problem on the fourth toe of my VFF Sprints. I used Shoe Goo to stick down a small patch of fiberglass window screening. The screening reinforced the hole and allowed for thicker application of Goo.
wow, super helpful!
Don’t know about you guys, but when I have a high mileage pair of VFF’s fail on me, I look at it as an opportunity to pick up another pair. That is how I got my KSO Remixes.
I’ve done this and it’s worked too! Thanks for sharing the good news on an affordable way to get more miles out of those great KSO’s!
This is great info!!!! Thanks for sharing!
I’m currently experimenting with rubber cement and applying several layers to reinforce my big toes that have developed a small hole to the fabric. Seems to be adding a good thickness so far, but if it fails I will try out Shoe Goo.
I’ve also read that plumbers putty works well.
I started with rubber cement and a bike tube patch and then I put a layer of shoe goo over the top.
You do have to re-apply the shoe goo from time to time as is wears off, but this definitely does the trick
Any suggestions for re-attaching the rubber soles to the fabric foot part? I washed my Bikilas in HOT water after wearing them during a mud run and the soles are peeling away from the fabric now.
Thanks for the tip, I had a pair of KSOs that looked just like those, thankfully Travel Country took em back even though they were about 30 days past the warranty and I was close to throwing out my Bikilas before I read this, but hopefully this’ll give me a few more miles out of them!
As for my background, I got my Bikilas in June, walked around and did a few short runs in them, not really running in earnest until Sep 18th after I had ballooned to 274lbs, since then I’ve ran about 130mi and got down to 229, however my Bikilas look like they’ve only got about 10-20mi left in them, I figured my weight had something to do with it and put a new pair on my Xmas wishlist, however, I hope this Shoe Goo trick works so I won’t have to bust out the new pair until well into the new year 🙂
I too have prolonged the life of my Sprints with Shoe Goo. While running outside [end of Summer into Fall] I was applying it after every three runs. Now I’m fully inside I have gone 2 months without application [but will need to soon].
This really works! I have been running 40-50 miles a week in my Bikilas since late July and they were wearing thin by November. I tried the shoe goo trick and find that it works really well. After a month and a half of running on the repaired Bikilas I can honestly say they feel just the same. Plan to use a tube every few months and see how long the shoes can last. 8 months? 12? 18? 24? Why not?
i live out in redlands, CA and out here there is a rock-climbing company called 5.10 that offers different kinds of resole kits for their climbing shoes. along with vibram this company is know for it’s rubber compounds. after moving my first pair of sprints into the pottery studio for about a month i noticed i had worn a hole in the ball of my right foot. i use a potter’s wheel with a flywheel on the bottom, which is in essence a millstone connected by axle/spindle to a working wheelhead. to make the wheel go, i kick it up to speed and to slow it i use my feet as a braking surface. without knowing i was sanding down the surface on the balls of my vff sprints! 5.10 makes resole kits in varying thicknesses of rubber and with or without tread. i used one called the “5.10 Stealth Resole kit – Rand Patch” with great results and recommend it whole heartedly. i even learned they have a Stealth Paint which is bits of their recycled rubber mixed with an adhesive. i look forward to re-inforcing the toe boxes with this like i read here.
The wearing out of VFFs proves inefficient form. In order to wear rubber, there must be friction, and in order to have friction, you must not be landing and lifting properly. It may not be enough to cause injury, but I see a lot of people around here running in VFFs and you can tell they have never run barefoot by their form. OUCH!
It maybe that the shoes do not wear so fast with another form, but fact is i cannot by a new pair of bikilas every month until my form adapted.
I will try the shoe goo trick. My bikilas wear down quickly at the pinky toe after about 320 km.
Excellent tip! My Bikilas are starting to show some wear after 300 miles. I’m hoping the Shoe Goo will keep them going 200 or 300 more miles.
I’ve only had my sprints for a few weeks but some how i was able to break the join where the fabric body meets the sole. both are still in tact and i hope that shoe goo will work to fix the problem…assuming i can find shoe goo in Australia!
i have a pair of flows with the same sole as the kso’s above and I have painted the 5.10 stealth paint on the better portion of both soles and they are the most fun bouldering shoes ever. highly recommended from this guy.
In looking at the photos, it appears as though there’s not a through-hole, but rather a worn-down place that receives the application of shoe goo. Does the product come with a patch that goes on the inside of the shoe to which the goo is applied? What’s the word? Thanks!
As another side note – if you wear all the way through, make sure the inside is clean and use Kinesiotape (a rehab tool some folks care to use that happens to be made of high-quality cloth and have an acrylic adhesive on the back) to patch the hole with a broad piece over ~2×2 area.
Had holes in my work pair and running pair, and the K-tape alone patched the hole until I found shoe goo. The tape was yet to fail after 3 weeks (with the hole still there, and daily use).
Hopefully helpful.
Wes
Would it still work if the hole has already gone completely through the sole so that I could actually see a spot of my bare feet?
As an asian here, I can’t find any shoe Goo at my place.
(I have post the thread on forum here:
https://birthdayshoes.com/forum/mods-and-repairs/need-help-with-sole-repair/).
Wonder how will I fix my KSO now. 🙁
I tried this and it works on smaller holes but not bigger holes on vibrams. They say to also use bicycle tire patches.