The eS Kellen James pro model that we'll never have.

As you might've read or completely ignored, we suggested not to skate The Edgar out of the box and to give it a 1-2 day breaking in period. Now, because we're completely impatient and have no sense of direction, we went ahead and skated the Edgar right out of the box. The Edgar is so tempting that we caved and tested it out for 4 hours to let you know what potential battle you'd be facing. Here are some of the our conclusions.

The Edgar can be skated out the box but you'll have a difficult time. We strictly did it because we're insanely impatient and wanted to test them out asap. As stated before, it's a stiff shoe and despite it's wide appearance, it feels somewhat narrow. This is all attributed to the hidden rubber toe cap that lays beneath the suede. It's added layer is ultimately what makes the shoe in itself stiff. For those with larger and wider feet, I'd suggest to carefully decide whether you want The Edgar that bad. For myself personally, speaking from a wider foot point of view, I can say that the pain is worth it. During the 1st and 2nd hour of skating, you'll feel slight discomfort on the sides of your foot. It isn't overwhelming enough to add any blistering to your foot or toes but nevertheless it's something that cannot go unnoticed. During the 3rd and 4th hour of skating the shoe, I felt it loosening up a bit and making my skating a little easier. It's one of those shoes that pay off in the long run after dealing with some minor setbacks. The hidden rubber toe cap is a bitch at first but overall adds to the durability and takes an extreme amount of damage like nothing. Skating them out the box felt uncomfortable but was awesome in retrospect. The height and placement of the toe cap is in perfect position to do any flip trick with ease. Normally, with a shoe like this, you wouldn't even attempt any flip tricks on the first day because you'd end up annoyed and flustered. But again, we went against the grain and broke the rules to see how far our boundaries stretched. I did try some flip tricks at the very beginning of skating The Edgar and I'd say about 75% to 80% of them were successful. Now, I'm no Cory Kennedy but because of the positioning of the toe cap and it's height, with a simple flick of the ankle, all flips tricks seemed plausible.

We're going to continue to face the Edgar and give you a full month review in the future. Look out for it and see how well we really did against The eS Edgar.
Peace.

A staple in any house hold kitchen

Before every review, we place careful consideration into effect so that each review is as appealing as the next. The shoe & brand should represent a quality that we would love to recognize, a unique design and offer some form of new technology during the process.

When we reviewed the eS First Blood awhile back, we threw all those thoughts to the side. They were still our guidelines but we strictly just wanted to skate the fuck out of that shoes. It was the best and most organic way to skate them. Normally, after reviewing more than a dozen of shoes, reviews can potentially become more of a "job" than actually skating. Sure, you get to skate free shoes but you have to make sure you're on top of how many hours have gone by, record the data and then publish it before you get blacked out wasted. On top of this, schedule each review carefully to make sure everyone of them remain relevant. This can all be very tedious and at times annoying. You're starting to see what I'm talking about, right? But I'll save my bitching for a later time and wipe my pussy now so we can continue on with this post.

Luckily, every so often their is a shoe that I would actually love to skate, even if I had to pay for them. This was the feeling I got when we were approached to review the eS Edgar. It's a shoe that brought back all these feelings of nostalgia from the First Blood review. Sure, it wasn't long ago but it did in a sense reminded me why I started doing these reviews. When we first started out, we paid for every single shoe out of pocket up until the C1RCA Gallant review. Since then, shoes have been piling up and everything has been getting crazy. Regardless of that fact, we still push on to let you know what shoes are durable and worth your hard earned money.

This post is titled "Ripped Laces v.s. The Edgar." Why? I don't know, it sounds cool but also, it's about showing the initial test we put it through and our "breaking in process."

1st Test of The Edgar

In order to make this article work, we had to get into the "Bobby Worrest" state of mind. Which leads us to our first two photos. Before doing that, we had to figure out the blueprint of the shoe to make sure it could clench our ice cold beverages.

2nd Test

At first, we tested it with an Australian beer to see if it could hold it's extra large bee-ear. We then moved onto a Heineken. This was possibly the best review I've ever done.

Our Blueprint

Our testing isn't at all complete. This was just sort of a cock tease of whats to come. Check back in tomorrow to see the first day of skating The Edgar.

California, Why are Arizona's more than a $1 in your state?

 Since our eS appreciation post from 2 weeks ago, a lot has happened.
I've gotten a great amount of emails from you, the reader, telling me your thoughts on the latest skateboarding tragedy. Scuba Steve has created a blog to commemorate the memory of eS skateboarding and last but not least, eS has been announced in Thrasher's KOTR 2011. Granted, this is all great news but will any of it be enough to bring back the brand we love? If eS is actually in KOTR and win, will we be seeing eS making it's monumental comeback or prolonging it's inevitable fall?

eS appreciation

I think that the overall concept of another skater moving from team to team or a board company dying out is a little more easy to swallow than a deeply rooted shoe company fading out of existence. When it comes down to it, the end of eS comes off more like a end of an era. The era when skateboarding was much more simple, tricks weren't as complicated and style was more appreciated and valued.

I've been paying attention to skateboarding for the larger half of my life. It's literally consumed every living part of me, as I'm sure it has you. Skateboarding isn't like your fathers beloved football, baseball or any other sport you can think of. Regardless of the "leagues" and "tours" competitions sprouting from skateboardings growing popularity, skateboarding will always continue to be something original, organic and unique. I say this with the intentions of paying tribute to one of the premier skateboarding brands in the business, eS footwear. Their mission was clear since the beginning of their existence, to provide comfortable, durable and the best footwear by skateboarders, for skateboarders. Obviously staying true has it's downfalls, as seen in the Epicly Laterd Oyola series, but it is to be respected and admired. eS sacrificed fashion popularity for durable designs and continued to stay true to their skateboarding roots to the last days of their demise. Nowadays, skateboarding is probably, in my opinion, one of the most popular activities to date; it has the similar appeal and boom as the hula-hoop had back in the 50's. I can only hope that, following in the hula-hoops foot steps, that skateboarding popularity eventually dies. As stated in many people opinions, not just mine, skateboarding must fade out in order to bring back order to it's original roots. After all, skateboarding is just so saturated nowadays. I know that some of you may completely disagree with what I'm saying but for those of you who don't know, eS was solely skater owed and operated unlike some companies today. This only allows the company to do so much as a small brand without bringing in outside investors, such as Adio did when they were taken over. Adio footwear, after dealing with financial hard times, eventually caved and brought in a bottled water entrepreneur to help stay afloat during their troubled times. Obviously, that didn't help so much after the company's betrayal of their dedicated team. In the end these investors want to cut out those unmarketable skaters, looking to be out of the lime light, to save a buck. So in the end, should we be mad at outside investors, who have never even stepped on a skateboard or do we embrace them in hopes that they'll keep our beloved and troubled companies alive? I don't know, I clearly only know so much of what goes on behind closed doors of "corporate" skateboarding.

The 1st pair of shoes I ever bought my girlfriend were Koston 7's.

What I do know is this…Rather than pouting and being upset at the end of eS, we should all take this as a lesson to never forget the brands that molded skateboarding into what it is today. With each dollar you have a vote, all I'm saying is be conscious of what you're supporting and always remember to give back to skateboarding as much as it's given you.

Thank you to everyone that ever contributed to eS.
For additional information concerning the eS hiatus click here.

Also, My good friend Bobby Spero of Vu and Durkl sent me some photos of his beloved eS shoes (above).

Feel free to send your pictures to RippedLaces@gmail.com and I'll be sure to put all of your photos in one of our next posts.
Peace.

As promised and on time, here is your Agenda: eS sneak peek. Our DVS sneak peek was our most viewed Agenda article to date so lets see what you guys think of what eS has to offer.

We're going to start things off with a bang. Some photos have already been leaked on SLAP by yours truly but here are some official photos of the new eS Mike Anderson pro model shoe. Below you have our overview of all the colourways that are scheduled to hit shelves throughout February 2012. From left to right is as follows: Black/Gum in Canvas, Black/White/Gum in Suede, Dark Grey in Suede and the Navy/Grey colourway in Suede/Canvas. I'm fucking hyped for all of them and even more excited that the shoe is dubbed The "Manderson". It's your low profile skate shoe with just enough cushioning. The Manderson has a small bumper ollie area that is becoming so popular nowadays. We'll wait and see if the final touches are going to include fabric over the ollie area or if the Manderson will just stick it out with some stylish stitching. Check out the photos below & click to enlarge.

The Manderson from eS, Dropping Feb 2012

Click to enlarge, Mustache detail on the tongue.

Next to be featured is the new eS Square Two with fusion technology. I know that the Square Two's have hit shelves already and have become a big favorite for anyone who's skating a pair. What I wanted to show you is the new colourways that are coming out for Spring 2012. I have yet to test the fusion technology but do intend on getting around to it.

The styles of the Square Two fusion are as followed: (left to right) Black/Blue with Synthetic Nubuck, Red/White/Black in Suede, and Dark Grey/Black with eSuede/Suede.

All three of these models offer something completely new and different to the eS catalog, let alone skateboarding. eS continues to push the envelope with their technology and awesome collaborations. The red model is a Enjoi collaboration; it's Ben Raemers personal colourway for the Square Two and it features the Enjoi panda on the heel of the shoe. Keep an eye out for these babies to drop.

Square Two fusion, Spring 2012

The next and last shoe to be shown in our Agenda: eS sneak peek is a new model from eS called the "Bedford". As I stated before, eS isn't the shoe company to fuck with when it comes to this technology shit. The Bedford is the next generation of light weight shoes from eS. Now, I do not know how light weight this shoe actually is but when I picked it up, I was like "Dammmmn!" It's actually quite remarkable. I don't know what evil communist scientist eS has shackled up in their lab but he's working his ass off. If you're looking forward to this light weight shoe but aren't feeling the low profile style, no worries, the Bedford is also being released as a Mid during Spring 2012 as well. In my eyes, what makes this shoe stick out more than anything, even more than it's light weight features, is the eS OG Logo. I can't tell you how excited I was when I saw this. If they fully bring it back, Imma slap my momma, .......two times.

The Bedford, Black/Grey colourway in Wax-off leather/Canvas. Dropping Spring 2012

Hope you like what you've been seeing so far, there is definitely more to come, including another DC Chris Cole pro model. No, I'm not talking about the ones that you see all of the dunnies rocking, I'm talking about a full on new pro model from Chris Cole. If you want to see more exclusive photos of shoes you ain't neva seen before, check back on Wednesday for our next Agenda sneak peek.

Thanks. 

With all the newest shoes and shoe companies dropping as of late,  I took a moment to step back and reevaluate what shoe I wanted to skate more than I wanted to review. Bobby Worrest has been one of my favorite skaters for a long time, actually since this video dropped. I also wanted to take a trip back to review a shoe or two that have been released long before Ripped Laces ever came along and started ruining my life. With that said reviewing the eS "First Bloods" was fairly easy, I kept a strict schedule of skating every other day for atleast 1 - 2 hours. Needless to say, my knee hurts and I haven't been this sore since I was 16 but nontheless it was the best and only way to skate this shoe.


Sizing:
This had to be one of the most true to size shoes I've skated in a long time. No small pockets of empty space in this shoe or any annoying heel slipping while walking. With a comfortable slip-on feel, which is credited to the elastic tongue centering straps, the First Bloods give you a snug feeling all around.



Comfort, Cushion and Support:
The eS "First Blood" is Bobby Worrest's first pro model (like you didn't know that already) and have features that eS are tapping into for the first time. This shoe specifically is the first of its kind in the eS catalog to have an extended, stretched (beak like) toe cap and rather unique shape. The shape is narrow but doesn't sacrifice comfort, especially for those with larger feet. I've skated Vans Chucka lows and loved them but after the day was done the side of my pinky would have blisters on it. The First Bloods have a larger footbed for the ball of the foot and in comparision to a Chucka low toe cap, rather than fabric going straight across the shoe, the eS First Bloods have a rubber cup material laying underneth suede for space, breathablity and durability. This allows for higher comfort level and less sweat on your feet when skating.

For the first 3 days the First Bloods felt heavy on my feet, they weighed in at 1 pound 10 ounces. Needless to say the breaking-in process wasn't easy but after the fourth day the shoe comes around. I only had to tie the shoes once and I could just slide them on and go skate. With STI providing the techonology for eS, Etnies & Emerica, one could expect the good old traditional features, all of this is added and yet tweaked with the First Blood. This shoe has a thin padded tongue and collar for comfort thats not too distracting when skating, so no need for tugging of the tongue or any readjusting. A staple of STI is the molded PU footbed and System G2 heel cushioning gel insert, these two features alone provide added support and comfort.



Boardfeel and Grip:
With a straight forward approach from eS designing the shoe, it took me a while to figure out why the shoe felt so heavy. After playing around with other eS models in skate shops, I realized that the Vulcanized Gum rubber sole was suprisingly heavy. This sole is commonly used with most STI shoes and has a much deeper Herring bone tread pattern for added grip.

The First Bloods start gaining some great boardfeel while losing some grip. I never had a problem with the grip, it wasn't ever overwhelming or less than par but it just burns out a little sooner than most shoes. I could only speculate that this is why the First Bloods sole is so heavy, with so much rubber making the tread/grip marks deeper, the grip lasts longer but adds weight to the shoe substancially.


Durability:
This shoe can last approximately 4 to 6 weeks depending on how much you skate. The rubber cup material laying underneth the suede/toe cap area stretches the life expectancy remarkably. Another noticeable feature in this shoe is probably the most slept on. eS avoided unneccessary technology to prevent abrasion on the laces, simply put they're just higher up on the shoe. As said earlier, the grip is great but the constancy of the herringbone tread pattern is ultimately what causes the rubber sole to burn out.



Summary:
This shoe has been one of my favorite reviews so far, I don't whether it was because the shoe was simply yet stratigically put together or what, but the eS First Blood are in my Top 5 favorite skate shoes. My skating was consistant, they're super comfortable and in the era of $80 to $100 skate shoes you really can't go wrong with these.



 
Grading: 1 thru 10
 
Comfort: 10
Cushion: 7
Boardfeel: 9
Grip: 8
Grip Durability: 6.5
Overall Durability: 9


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The eS "First Blood" is Bobby Worrest's first signature shoe. I don't know a better reason to review these than the fact that the Krooked "3D" video just dropped. I've done some skating in them so expect the full review sometime next week. In the mean while check out this interview with Bobby Worrest. He speaks on skating, talks about filming for the Krooked video & even spills the beans on his new shoe in the works.