Supra Ellington Vulc

Christoph Dyckmans — Wed, 02 Sep 2015 16:38:27 +0000

Supra has had some mixed publicity lately, mostly because they, along with Kr3w, have recently been acquired by K-Swiss. While its not that uncommon amongst skate brands to have investors, it can be sensed that skaters are a bit wary. On the other hand, Supra has been pushing core-skateshops with their exclusive CrownCoalition program for quite some time now, which is a well-respected move on their part. The program basically consists of 250 core shops that get access to exclusive Supra special edition models.

The newest addition to this program is the Supra Ellington Vulc. While Erik Ellington’s regular pro-model is a athletic inspired cupsole, its designer took a rather blunt approach with this model: simply cutting off the cupsole and adding the Supra Cubas vulc sole. A rather interesting approach, and quite fitting for Ellington’s approach to skateboarding itself. But when it comes down to it, how does this modular concept actually skate? Lets find out.

Sizing

The Supra Ellington Vulc fits true to size, but a bit wider than most shoes. It’s best to try them on at your local skateshop first.

Durability

The Ellington Vulc follows suit with modern design-standards and features a one-piece toecap, with the thicker vulc sole offering some extra protection from griptape. Thanks to this design, most of the flick-abrasion didnt rip the usually occuring hole in the toecap but instead happened at the rather thick vulc portion of the outsole. Also, a little plastic layer under the toecap itself offered extra durability. Laces were well protected, no sign of wearing out here. However, with the mid-top design, the upper laces took some abuse and the shoelaces fraying was a bit more noticeable. If you laced them all the way to the top, theres a higher chance that the laces will rip there. The sole itself held up surprisingly good, especially since it was really soft (we expected a mid-top to be much stiffer) and grippy. Previous Supra model’s vulc soles go bald much faster, but their grippiness lasted til the end. One thing that might lead to some problems later on was that the mesh inside the heel area started to rip, which could lead to some pressure sores later on. Overall, durability was better than expected for such a rather soft vulc shoe.

Cushioning

The Supra Ellington Vulc features a rather simple sole construction, without any major cushioning technology. It protects you from weak impacts, but jumping down 15 stairs clearly wasnt the main intention of this shoe. The Suprafoam footbed kept its shape and did its job fine, but still, major impacts will be felt when skating this shoe (you might wanna check out the cupsole model for those giant stairs).

Shape

The Ellington features a classic shape, maybe a little bit wider than some shoes on the market. The shape of the toe-area makes controlling flip-tricks easy, even though it might take some flips to getting used to flicking with the sole instead of the actual toebox. But after a few flips you wont notice it anymore.

Boardfeel and grip

Boardfeel and grip, these are clearly the prime features of the Ellington Vulc. The flex of this shoe is much softer than expected for a midtop-model. This, in combination with the really grippy sole makes sure that the shoe molds perfectly to the shape of your board. The grip didnt take any break-in time and stayed pretty consistently grippy all throughout our testing time of 10h.

Comfort and stability

As already mentioned, the Supra Ellington Vulc features a rather soft construction. Maybe even a little too soft for a mid-top. Towards the end of our 10h test, the shoe didn’t lose its shape but started to get a bit too soft. This might be a problem if you have really slim feet. It seems that the upper, whose original design was to be supported by a cupsole, lacks a little support when comined with the super-soft Cuba vulc sole construction. This might be annoying, especially when jumping down bigger stuff. Stability also suffers a little due to this super soft design. The strangest part is that sometimes it kind of feels like your heel slips, even though it doesnt. With that said, that may be due to not lacing the shoe all the way to the top. It seems exactly like what is promised: simply combining 2 shoes into one without changing or adapting anything. We would have suggested to improve stability of the upper.

Summary

The Supra Ellington Vulc is a soft mid-top vulc shoe; strengths when it comes to boardfeel and grip, but could use a bit more stability. We suggest this shoe for low-impact skating, especially if you have a little wider feet.

The post Supra Ellington Vulc appeared first on Weartested - detailed skate shoe reviews.

Supra Avex

Christoph Dyckmans — Sun, 01 Mar 2015 16:31:16 +0000

Over the course of many years, Supra Footwear slowly found itself divert away from the skateboard scene and onto many other lucrative markets. They never forgot their skateboarding roots, but its undeniable that they somehow shifted their focus for some time, especially with the lack of any new skate models being developed. After Lil Wayne´s endeavors and other collaborations in the lifestyle segment, Supra realized that they neglected their past and decided to use 2015 as a chance to change that. The release of the Supra Avex is their step into the right direction, and the team will be more than happy to get a new fresh model to join the already established ones like the Hammer and Ellington.

Supra has always tried to balance their shoe collection with technical and basic models to cater all kinds of skater preferences. The Avex is influenced by the technical side, with a technical design and modern features. This is an exciting step and more than enough reason for us to test the Avex with all that we got.

Sizing

The Supra avex fits true to size.

Durability

The two-piece design has both advantages and disadvantages when it comes down to durability. The absence of material overlapping along the front half featuring durable suede is highly durable. The second part consists of mesh and reduces weight while also increases durability. Its placement in the mid-foot area, however, is some kind of a weak spot. Depending on your method of flipping and ollieing, this section might be prone to ripping, as such happened in one of our sample models. The shaft frayed rather easily, too. The sole on the other hand showed no weaknesses, after our 10h test not a single bald spot could be found. Overall, given the benefits and drawbacks of the design, durability can be described as average.

Cushioning

No matter what, cupsoles are still supreme to vulc when it comes down to cushioning. The Supra Avex featuring EVA foam all over its sole is another prime example for that, cushioning was good. The difference in thickness between heel and toes ensures solid cushioning in the heel area whilst maintaining great boardfeel in the toe area.

Shape

Despite the cushioning, the silhouette of the Avex is rather slim. It fits tightly and ends in a pointy toe. This shape ensures good control and flipping tricks is as easy as can be.

Boardfeel and grip

One advantage of this model is the boardfeel. The slim insole combined with a thin sole in the toe area ensures direct contact between foot and board. Even though the heel is significantly thicker, boardfeel is quite balanced and even cushioning in the thin areas is still pretty good. Although the sole gets flexible with wear, the grip is average. There is room for improvement in this field, especially during the first session.

Comfort and stability

The padded heel leads to a solid heel-lock without restricting movement, thanks to its rather low cut. The inside of the shoe is pretty much seamless, reducing the chance of rubbing or pressure marks. The usually underappreciated area of ventilation is a big plus here too; especially because of the mesh sidewalls and tongue, heat and humidity get transported well. Another important feature is weight reduction. The model is light thanks to the tech materials used in the Avex. Stability can be described as average. During the 10h of testing the shoe didn’t lose shape, but a did lose its stability.

Summary

The Avex is a well designed and important addition to the Supra skate shoe collection. Thanks to its technical elements, boardfeel and comfort are its notable strengths. Slight weaknesses can be found when it comes down to durability and grip.

The post Supra Avex appeared first on Weartested - detailed skate shoe reviews.

Supra Archives - Weartested - detailed skate shoe reviews

Supra Ellington Vulc

Sizing

Durability

Cushioning

Shape

Boardfeel and grip

Comfort and stability

Summary

Supra Avex

Sizing

Durability

Cushioning

Shape

Boardfeel and grip

Comfort and stability

Summary