The shoe took some wearing in initially, and due to its low-profile nature, they started off a bit tight around the ankles – after a bit of a pre-skate walking and a roll around they soon loosened up though and became much more comfortable.

Soles before.

The boardfeel with this shoe is good, though some people might find the Nike Zoom Air insoles to be a bit thin, if this is the case swapping them out for the Converse Lunarlon insoles found in most of their other shoes is definitely a good option, (especially if you’re more a ‘jump down stairs’ than a ‘bounce off things’ kind of skater). If you do decide to swap over to the thicker Converse insoles, this will mean that you’ll sacrifice a little of the overall boardfeel, but you’ll add what feels like a bit more support and heel protection. This is pretty much dependent on your chosen type of skating though so do what thou wilt on that one.

The Soles held up really well on these – even after a month – no noticeable wear pattern.

As with all skate shoes that sport rubber toe caps, it does take a little bit of time to get the Jack Purcells worn in, but once you’ve eroded away a bit of that rubber, you end up with a nice consistency with flip tricks, as well as the added protection that rubber toe cap gives the shoe (and your toes).
The grip of the sole however is perfect, no quibbles there at all.

Toe cap straight out of the box.

As we mentioned earlier the toe cap takes a little bit of wearing in, but due to the design of the shoe, it does also mean that the toe cap takes most of the heat when it comes to abrasion from your griptape. This gives the shoes a fair amount of longevity which is always a comforting thing to know. The suede upper also holds up well in the medium to long term so you can comfortably dish out plenty of abuse.
All in all, a well rounded, low profile shoe with good boardfeel and decent longevity.

Toe cap worn in perfectly.

Photography: Mike Brindley