Skate Shoes: Thick vs Slim

Theres two main types of skate shoes out there. The thick skate shoes that are chunky and wide. And than there's the thin, slim skate shoes. Theres a lot of differences between the two shoe types that I will go over within this article. Because it's important to know the differences that are found within each shoe. They're also good for different styles of skating believe it or not.

Board Feel

With the two different styles of shoes, there's different feelings completely. With the Thick shoes, you can't really feel the board under you as much. You cant't really feel the flicking or anything like that nearly as much. With the thin shoes, you can feel everything, you can even feel the board rolling over the rough concrete more. Which will make your legs and feet more tired. But you can completely feel the board under you and you can really feel the flick. Personally I love thick shoes, but I really like the feeling of the board. I feel like it gives me more control over the deck.

Impact Differences

If your skating big drops with higher impact, I would recommend the thicker shoes. They will reduce the amount of impact on your feet greatly and it wont hurt as bad. The slimmer shoes hurt more when you take those big drops. Although I'm not saying you can't skate big drops with the slim shoes, but it's easier and less painful with the thicker shoes.

Durability Differences

Those thicker shoes usually have a lot more material on them, and that material is also usually stronger than the thinner and slimmer skate shoes. Therefore, the thicker shoes will last you a whole lot longer. Although with thicker shoes, you might burn through laces even faster because of the way that the shoes made. With the slim shoes, you can get a laceless option. Than you'll never rip your laces, because there are none. I liked not having to deal with laces when I skated my thinner shoes, but I prefer the thick shoes as of right now.

Final Thoughts

I prefer the thicker shoes. I feel like catching the board under you with them almost adds it's own steez factor. They're also great for drops. But they also simply just last way longer, which is important for me. I've skated both types of shoes. There's nothing wrong with thinner and slimmer shoes either. I loved them too, I liked having the control over my board and feeling it under me. But they wore out way faster and landing bigger drops hurt more. But the choice is yours for what shoes to go with. It's probably best to try both if im being honest. Have a beauitful day and keep skating :)