Anyone know where I can buy Vans Gravel – seem to be easier to get rocking horse ****?

i bought some from germany.

they fell apart three weeks later.

I got a refund.

i used to really like vans, now they’re made out of paper im not so keen.

Been looking for some for months. Contacted Vans UK online and their response was “we may have some somewhere in stock in one of our stores, so why not give them a call”. They didn’t even offer to check for me. Let me know if you find any, I need a size 10 🙂

I bought mine last year from blue tomato. Been very happy with them for 14 months now.

I really wanted to like them. looked good, fitted well, gripped well.

its just the soles didn’t seem to like the rest of the shoe.

Grew up with Vans shoes Skateboarding and BMX as a kid. Always used to buy them well into my twenties as they were so comfortable, relatively cheap and lasted ages.

I don’t know what happened but around 2008/09 the quality went downhill. The last two pairs I bought cut up the back of my ankles something rotten. I still have the scars. My ankles are ‘branded’ for life.

They also fell apart within a month, and cost about twice as much as I used to pay (even taking into account inflation). The soles were also hard as hell.

Wouldn’t bother with them again in all fairness.

i bought some from germany.

they fell apart three weeks later.

I got a refund.

Same over here…

Same experience here, shame as I rather like some of their designs but the quality went through the floor at some point in the 2000’s.

Pity.

Yeah, I had a set of Bricks that lasted 10 years, just recently got a set of I think TNTs that aren’t going to last 10 months.

Similar experience, was just getting to liek my Gravels when the sole separated form them,. CRC refunded me in an impressively no-nonsense style, I’d have taken a replacement pair happily but they had dropped them from the site at that point, sounds like I’m not alone.

expensive and last no longer than regular skate shoes

Might explain why they are bloody hard to find. Back to 5-10s then

Interesting to hear all the feedback, perhaps I won’t bother looking out for a pair! Next option to replace my 5:10 Impacts are Freerider Elements. Nothing wrong with the performance of the Impacts, they are just old, bulky and hold water like the Hoover Dam

When vans discontinued the rowley xlt range I gave up on them. I had some gravels they were ok, but my five tens have easily outlasted them.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Vans-GRAVEL-BLACK-Trainers-Schwarz/dp/B004E8MPWU/ref=sr_1_cc_1?s=aps&ie=UTF8&qid=1393949970&sr=1-1-catcorr&keywords=vans+gravel

£90+ that’s insane!

Excellent article on the history of Vans here.

I only bought my first pair last year at 44.
Comfiest shoes I’ve ever worn.

If you’re ever near York, the Vans outlet is great.

it all went downhill after the Rowley XLT
I rode a pair until the soles went through and I could feel the pins scraping my feet…
so light, so comfy, so grippy

[vans nerd] Mostly I ride in those special-looking 5:10s but I also have three pairs of rowley xlt/xlt elites in various states of disrepair. I look like an old man trying to look young in them nowadays but they were/still are pretty ace for flat pedals if don’t want to be as glued to the pins as you would be with sticky rubber, and you can still find any! Compound not nearly as grippy as proper mountain bike shoes eg five tens but for bike purposes they are quite unlike most vans in that they are pretty stiff midsole and there is no vulcanised rand to start ungluing if you walk like i do and wear out the outer heel part first. YMMV but I wouldn’t be terribly comfy in flat pedals on any of my other (counts on fingers) 8 pairs of vans, save maybe the baxters but they are a bit flexy for my tastes.

I don’t think vans do a stiff-ish cupsole or not-vulcanised shoe apart from the Gravel these days.

Have a pair of Gravels and while they seem to be quite good they aren’t as good as my old Rowley XLT’s, which recently died. Think it will be 5:10’s next.

as you would be with sticky rubber, and you can still find any!

are you saying you can still get XLTs?

are you saying you can still get XLTs?

sorry i meant to type “and if you can still find any.” 😳

FWIW, within the last year or two i got me and the wife a pair each of barely-worn xlt elites on ebay from private sellers. Set up a saved sarch/emal notification thingy.