Vans shoes quality

I've been wearing Vans sneakers for the last 20 years or so because they are one of the only shoes brands that fit me well and they fit with the fixie skidder image I'd like to have.
But... I have the feeling the quality of the shoes has been really declining over the last years, I wear out a pair in a few months now.
Does anyone else have this experience or have they always been shit quality?

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Last pair I had lasted ages and are now being used for painting/gardening without disintegrating. Would buy again, but they're taking a time out on confirming their vegan stock with their supply chain. But that's a lot of wear for a few months, you must be doing much more fixie-skiddering than me (mile and a half each way on the school run)...

Definitely decline in quality in recent years, last pair of vans lasted half the time of the ones before. No serious abuse.

^ same experience (also Chuck Taylors have also become really, really bad for disintegrating at the heels after very little abuse). I switched to some Globe high tops instead from some random skate shop, after finding they suit my feet, and they've lasted ages.

shitflation. prices go up, quality goes down.

Had a similar experience but with Adidas, been wearing them for years but on the latest pair the insides wore down within a few months. Quite reluctant to buy again now.

They still make globes? We just gotta get circa back now.
Re. Vans they're basically all I wear and I haven't noticed much change recently. Apart from the pro skate models they've always been pretty cheaply made imo

I have been wearing Vans for decades and that wear looks totally typical of slip-ons, 95s, 36s &c to me. The quality of the product has been variable over time, but the wear seems pretty consistent!

They still make globes? We just gotta get circa back now.

Hahaha - yes, I was surprised. They aren't as mahooosive as they used to be either. I was going to try some DCs. (mini c00ps rocks around in DC manuals and she loves em)

The Vans I have / have had tend to get to that level of wear (in the photo) and then plateau and remain serviceable for years. I eventually push through the toe on the left shoe, owing to how I walk and a formerly broken toe which operates in a slightly weird manner.

They're not remotely expensive and - high quality leather formal shoes aside which will last forever - give the best bang for buck in my experience.

I've definitely noticed a drop off in the quality.

I was a hardcore Vans wearer for years but then I started noticing that the ones with the insoles like you've shown were getting real shite. I reckoned that Van's had realised that their market was now a lot larger than just skaters and they'd started doing these lower quality ones for the 'trainer' market and the ones with the 'Ultracush' insoles for actual skaters.

For a while I'm sure they were actually doing two versions of a lot of the models, a mass market one and the better quality if a bit more expensive skater one, was there a 'Pro' moniker? Not sure if that's still the case though as I haven't bought any in a while as I got a pair of the supposedly good ones that fell apart real quick. I've been buying Etnies recently and finding the build quality a lot better. Infact, I got married in a pair of Etnies!

I have kept a few pairs of the Ultracush insoles though and am using them inside my current pair of Etnies.

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