'Grinders review' by a Doc Marten wearer

Somebody could have warned me that "grinder" is a British term for "crap," where to begin...

You have to unlace about 12 of the 14 eyes to even get em on or off
They have these weird pressure points, on the heels and the toe-knuckles, that just scape the living hell out of your feet, making you need to wear kevlar socks.
Even if you can get em on, all you wanna do is take em back off due to poor quality/discomfort of the inner-sole, which is just leather like on the sides (not the comfortable air cushioned soles Doc wearers have come to know and love)
The outer-sole looks like it's just plastic from a melted down McDonalds toy, and feels like I'm wearing a cross between scuba diving flippers + platform Herman Munster boots

If you can't tell, Doc's are better than Grinders in every-single-way, and I plan on sending em back to the jerks who had me tricked into buying em ASAP.

Also, I made a discovery, open the picture file

Attachments:

Image0440.jpg, 19 KB

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Permalink Reply by Kobalos on January 5, 2011 at 6:59pm

Shame after you were looking forward to them so long.

Perhaps you got some fakes? More pics of them would help folk with pairs let you know if there are any differences that can be spotted to tell.

'Cause of the three or four ppl on the site I know who have worn Grinders for a long time had nothing but good words about them when asked.

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Permalink Reply by Steve on January 5, 2011 at 7:06pm

Once you have them on and laced they aren't so bad, but when comparing them to doc martens, the 2 are from different worlds.

The people who are fans of Grinders might have only owned grinders

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Permalink Reply by Kobalos on January 5, 2011 at 7:11pm

I remember for certain, at least the last two I chatted with had had docs either before them or also wore docs too at the time. One was a big fan of boots too.

Some ways to tell for fakes (at least with sneakers) are the serial No.'s on the inner label on the tongue - on some makes they should be different for each boot, others not. Depends on the brand, also the font they use for the printing. Someone here with another genuine pair can compare with yours and let you know if there is a difference.

Other things are, like along the seam, the stitching or just general stitching on the whole upper and other little details like the sole tread being slightly different. At least if you know they are fake, you have a stronger argument to get your money back.

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Permalink Reply by Steve on January 5, 2011 at 7:35pm

They're genuine, just significantly lower quality than docs. I would keep em for work or something, but for $170, I'll swim to england to get my money back haha

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Permalink Reply by Kobalos on January 5, 2011 at 7:51pm

It's hard to tell, but that part-sole shot looks quite different than other pics I've seen of the materials on the soles. It looks cheaper rubber.

I found this:

In 2009 Grinders introduced a new premium version of this famous ‘Herald’ boot which was soldonly in England. The ‘UK only’ version was built using thicker, full-grain, black, oil-tannedleather with a heavy wax finish. This higher quality leather is not plated or polishedso it breathes better than shiny leather. And, even though it’s thicker and stronger, this waxyleather is softer and more supple than the original leather and very comfortable to wear.

Those boots were sold at a premium price in the UK and weren't available for export.However, they proved so popular that Grinders has decided to switch to this premium leatherfor all of the black versions of their 14-hole ‘Herald’ and 20-hole ‘King’ boots.

I was expecting the original sole colours shown on these.

Looking at the first link, from those pics it does look like the new version you got is inferior quality. You just get a sense from those pics. If they are all like that now, I don't even like the look any more. heh Ah, well, saves me cash.

Yeah, it'll cost you quite a bit to send them back recorded delivery though with the weight and size of them. :/ One of the reasons I've never ordered boots I want from across the Atlantic. Well, good luck with getting your money back.

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Permalink Reply by Steve on January 5, 2011 at 7:56pm

That explains allot, thanks! I'm not exactly made of money at the moment, so it looks like I'm sticking with my docs another year :P

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Permalink Reply by Kobalos on January 5, 2011 at 9:51pm

Can you take some shots to show what the actual boots you got look like before you send them back? Would be handy for others to see what you actually get now with the new version.