Has anyone ever resoled their Grand Prix tall boots. I have a pair of the older style that are English made rather than from Asia so they are so soft and built so well. The soles are starting to fall apart the boot itself is in pretty great shape.
I can get new boots but not sure on brands, I have never been a fan of zippers mainly because they tend to break easy in my experience.
I love this question! My answer… YES!!!
I have a pair of 30 year (+/-) old Grand Prix boots (English made) that have the leather soles (versus grooved). I REFUSE to replace them because they fit like a glove and I have never found anything that feels as wonderful. Like you, I’m not much of a fan of zippers either. That being said, I have had them resoled close to 6 times (just guessing). I have also had them dyed when the color fades.
Until the cobbler tells me the boots are hopeless and no longer repairable, I will continue to do so. I have a newer pair of GP pull on boots as well but they have the ridged soles. I have actually thought about bringing those to the cobbler and having the older leather soles put on them.
I have friends that tease me about my “vintage” boots, but I do not fret. They are wonderful. I take good care of them and firmly believe they have plenty of life left!
Resole!! I haven’t resoled field (or dress) boots, but I’ve certainly resoled regular shoes/boots.
My boots have the ridged soles and they are starting to crumble. I only wear them if I show but I just have not found a pair of boots as nice as these and new boots just don’t stay as nice anymore. What has it cost to resole boots? I have never done it and thought about having the ankles reinforced as well. I don’t worry about having to redye boots now that I found Urad boot cleaner, it has black dye in it so no need to worry about color fading when I clean my boots.
I bought these used so i have no idea how old they are but they are in wonderful shaped other than the soles.
It has been several years since I did mine, but if i recall correctly, it was about $30 for the leather soles. I have not done my ridge soled boots yets (probably because I live in my other pair).
What is the benefit to leather soles? Are they slick soles? I prefer a little extra grip mainly because I am clumsy and a slick patch of grass would cause me to bust my rear end.
The last time I resoled boots they were an old pair of Vogels that I had gotten to use as schooling boots. I resoled them 50% because they were wearing out and 50% because they were leather soled and SLIPPERY as hell. I got them redone with a ridged plastic sole. Much better!
I wouldn’t put flat leather soles on riding boots for anything!
Definitely get them resoled. Find a reputable cobbler, though. You can even mail them in to a specialist if you don’t have one local.
I would resole. My old Vogels had holes in the soles and I would have gotten them resoled except for the fact that they also had holes in the top of the foot where the crease is, so they would leak no matter what. If the rest of the boot is still in good shape, why not resole? It’s fairly hard for a reputable cobbler to screw that up.
Looking into places now to take them to. I am picky about who I send thigs like this to, I have seen some really bad repair jobs in the past. But since the boot tales is still in great shape I don’t see the point in buying a $200-$400 pair of boots that might hold up for a year or two. The only problem I have had with these is tha the back of the ankle is worn and needs to be reinforced and the toe is to tight but I just don’t wear them enough to break them in to my foot shape.
For me, the leather soles happens to be what I’m used to. No other reason at all. I will PM you a pic so you can see them.
I go to Alex’s Shoe Repair in Virginia Beach, VA. He has repaired my chaps, my boots, my girths, etc. He is amazing.
Now, my question for you. What is this Urad cleaner that has dye in it? You have sparked my curiousity!
I will attach a link to the site. I had seen the boot cleaner/polish in my local tack store and never paid much attention to it and the store clerks never said anythign about it. But I went to an expo and there was a station there where the guy would clean and polish shoes and boots and I hadn’t cleaned mine adn figured why the heck not. THe stuff is amazing. The regular cream clean and conditions leather and you can get it with or without dye in it. I have started to use it on my tack as well and have seen huge results, my Kincade bridle that has been stiff as a board for the last years is now soft. They sell the all in one cream and the Grasso conditioner makes it even better and waterproofs. At the expo the guy cleaned the boots then added the Grasso and asked me to stick my boot in a pan and he poured water on the top of the boot and it beaded right up and rolled right off my boot. I will not use another cleaner/conditioner again.
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