r/AskACobbler

I’m considering a pair of A1923 Luke High Biker Boots from the FW26 collection ($1,675), but I’m having trouble determining how they’re constructed.

The AW24 version was explicitly advertised as Goodyear welted, with a stitched sidewall rand and rubber lug outsole. However, the newer model is described by SSENSE only as having “topstitching at welt,” with a stacked rubber heel and lugged rubber sole.

​Comparing the photos, the newer model appears to have much finer, less prominent stitching around the welt, and the heel construction looks different. Someone suggested that the newer version might use a molded rubber unit sole with decorative stitching rather than a genuine welt. I’m skeptical, but I can’t tell.

A few questions:

1. Does the stitching on the newer model appear functional or decorative?
2. Is there any visual evidence suggesting Goodyear, hand-welted, Blake, or cemented construction?
3. Could the stacked rubber heel and outsole still be compatible with traditional Goodyear construction?
4. Would the newer boots be reasonably straightforward to resole?

I’m willing to spend the money on quality footwear, but long-term repairability matters to me. I’d rather not spend nearly $1,700 on boots that can’t be properly resoled.

FW26 Luke (new - unknown welt)

AW24 Luke (confirmed Goodyear)

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Edit:

Why repairability matters: I spent $2000+ on shoes that ended up falling apart… https://www.reddit.com/r/Rickowens/s/Nghxg9W93Y (after a battle, Rick Owens refunded me entirely)

Thoughts on this scuff repair

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I did a much more involved repair that wasn’t just the heels this time on my boots. I did add new heels and was whiffing with the nails to see how it’d look with added brass nails and found out the heel stack is a leatherboard. The glue was failing and only held together by the stitching so my teacher had me cut and remove the stitches and glue everything back down along with the foam inside that was also loose. Was expecting cork instead of foam so that was also a surprise. The toes were a bit worn away so I glued down a scrap piece of veg tan and trimmed it away and sanded it, could have tapered it a bit more but it seems more or less fine. There is a left over cut mark on one boot as I was trying to cut it while the glue wasn’t set properly and it shifted inwards but still only a minor blemish. Glued on the topy and trimmed it and then went on to the sole stitcher after sanding, which i definitely should’ve sanded after stitching but that’s a mental note for next time. The pedal is really sensitive and I was trying to gauge how far to set it and that’s where I messed up on the curve of the toe and went off course by 2 or three stitches. My teacher corrected it though and that’s really the only missed holes. I think it turned out pretty decent and I still need to work on my finishing a bit (mainly trimming in some areas and taping off the inside of the heel), but sanding I got pretty down now