Spira Men's Classic Leather Walking Shoe

I've worn the other "spring coil shoe's for over 7 years, and that's all I wore.Little did I know until to late that they were the cause of my feet going completely flat,to include the ball of the foot. ( You end up with "spook toes and quite painful). With these it has taken weeks to adjust my walking gait,etc.With that some soreness, back, shins. Break in time about2 weeks. Have had them now over a month. And will more then likely buy another pair.One quality control point, the left heel pocket just below the top roll of foam has worn a hole to the the plastic heel cup. Now I'am not going to go thru the hassle to get a new pair. Over all they work for me. I have bad knees and a bad back. Follow that up with 8 hours a day on my feet @ lowes not standing still for more then 2 minuites. Yeah they work fine. Update: I've worn these shoe's every day for 5 months and now for the hind site. No I would not buy these again, the heel springs have failed. The soles are fine but again the heel cup fabric started wareing theu before 30 days and in short order the entire heel cups plastic was exposed. Not what I expected form a shoe that cost this much. Again I wouldn't buy these shoe's.

Facts: At least 6 pairs of these shoes purchased. Used for bartendering, catering, and parking lot security patrol work in the summer heat.Simply...this is the best shoe out there for standing in place, standing/working on concrete floors, or anything high impact. The walker is acceptable in many workplaces. The springs make you feel 10 years younger.Now, I gave them 5 stars and I will always buy this shoe...(gotta get my axe), but the quality of the shoe gets a big 2 out of 5. The soles wear through way too fast, the inner lining always rips, and the shoe shape deforms too fast. I am willing to buy a new pair every 6 months, but are you? If you wear these shoes for truly walking on sidewalks and/or pavement they will not last! I wore through a pair in less than 3 months doing security work. Walking parking lots in the summer heat. The company says that the shoe's slip resistant soles are softer and therefore not able to handle that condition. It's called a WALKER! Where do most of you walk? Sidewalks and trails? No, you walk on roads. Do you walk in fair weather more? Of course you do and that means sun and hot pavement. It's a work shoe and not a walker, but they will not tell you that point. The faster they wear through the sooner you will buy a new pair. If they wear through that fast call them and complain. You will get a new pair discounted. When my Nike Air Max sneakers blew through in 2 months and then the replacement pair blew through in 3 months both replacement pairs were FREE! (see customer service below)The lining tears before anything else goes wrong consistently. I have Nike and ASIC sneakers and those linings never tear. Poor workmanship again.The shape of the shoe deforms fast. By 6 months they look like sneakers. The boarding is just too soft and the upper is not made to hold it's shape. Poor workmanship again.The slip resistant soles get 3 stars out of 5. The slip resistant soles slip. They are not slippery, but nothing out of the ordinary as far as the average sneaker or shoe. I'd prefer longer sole life and skip the slip resistance.The price gets 2 stars out of 5 and that's up from 1. I got this pair for $68 and tax because of some mysterious, automatic coupon. These shoes cost usually $150.00, but I managed to find them for less online over the past two years. Previously, even online, they were $150.00. They are sneakers, nothing more. When they design a real dress shoe then $150.00 will be a reasonable price tag.Customer service gets a low rating as well. 2 stars out of 5. Where were the free replacements? All I got were excuses.In conclusion, the spring technology is why I buy this shoe and ONLY the spring technology. When another company uses the same tech with any promise of better quality I am switching. For now, hands down, this shoe saves your back, legs, and feet far better than any other shoe on the market. Add some custom orthotics to prevent pressure points (like Foot Solutions make) and you can work 17 hours straight at 42 years old. Your mind, that's another issue. All you bartenders, waiters, bus, dishwashers, cooks, chefs, assembly line, machine shop, retail sales, movie theater, food service, wall street trading floor, Wal-Mart, Target, supermarket, daycare, and teaching people it's your shoe. Walkers with money to burn go for it. It's still the best. Other walkers, maybe that new Spira Walker D something sole's will hold up better.

Received the shoes right away from Amazon, and had very high expectations. After reading other reviews, bought a half size larger than normal, plus wide width. Shoes fit great, and no break in required, no blisters right out of the box. Price great from Amazon, but price jumped $20.00 a week later on same site, so must have been a mistake for what I got them for,: $71.00 with Free Shipping, now ( 4/28/11) up to $92.00 for same shoe at same Amazon Market site. Shoes feel real good, as far as soft heals and front, as I walk 3 miles per day on black top with a bad knee. BUT, downside is, the sole material is VERY soft, and after 8 weeks has worn right down to the inner material on the heals, and the front bottom has almost no thread left, and looks like the front spring is about to break thru. I bought a tube of shoe Goo, and plan to patch the areas worn to try and get some more miles. I was hoping for 6 months which would have given me 500 miles, but would be still short of the 1000 miles the Ads say the springs are tested for. Over all, I like the shoe, but the Jury is still out as to buying another pair at the increased price. At $71.00,...Maybe, but at $92.00, my New Balance training shoes last me 18 months for less money.

2015 Update: Unfortunately I have to update my previous review. Over the past 8 years I've worn out about 20 pairs of these shoes. Eight years ago they lasted 6 months. Then it went down to 4 months. My last pair lasted 2 months and the springs are broken and make a horrible noise when I walk. The price has been going up and the quality has been going down. I can't afford to pay $140 for shoes that last only two months. Don't bother buying these shoes.My job requires me to stand and walk most of the time. I have some foot problems and I wear custom insoles. It's essential that I wear great shoes so I can keep working, and making a living. I tried many brands that just didn't do it for me. I donated them to Goodwill. About six years ago I was desperate to find good shoes so I paid the high price to try a pair of Spira Walking Shoes with the springs inside. Wow, what a difference ! I've been wearing Spira's ever since. The only shoes I wear. I go through 3 pairs a year so that's expensive, but well worth it since they allowed me to keep working. I recently found the price reduced on Amazon so I ordered 3 pair to cover me for the next year. I was a little worried that they wouldn't be the same quality that I buy from the specialized shoe store for almost twice as much. They're the same shoes so I'm going to order a stockpile of them. I can honestly sat that Spira shoes saved my career ! I can't work without them.

These shoes are very heavy for walking shoes and do not provide the arch support that they were supposed to. Very disappointed with these shoes.