UKH

Apologies for the essay. I'm looking for a bit of advice on my shoes. A while ago I purchased a pair of used Five Ten Quantums, the post Adidas blue model. Really rated the shoes, comfortable and sticky with a bit of a downturn, just what I wanted.

Recently I saw a new pair online in my size, so I purchased them for when my others wear out, since they are discontinued now. When I got them they looked identical, although felt a bit stiffer and with more of a downturn which I would have expected with them being new. The only difference I noticed was the label was on the inside of the tongue instead of the inside of the side of the shoe. 

Tried the new pair on and they were extremely painful just to have on my feet. If I had bought a pair of shoes that were that uncomfortable out the box I would have normally sent them back. Since I had the pre-owned pair though, I thought I'd try break them in at the wall, which was either stubbornness or optimism. After one route of not being able to put weight on my feet I took them off. Since then I've been trying to wear them in the house to break them in but I can't take the pain for very long and seem to be having no progress. 

On closer inspection of the label, I noticed that the older pair were made in the USA, whereas the newer pair were made in China. Also that the US size is half a size smaller, but the rest are the same. 

Have I been caught out by the Five Ten/Adidas sizing debacle? Or do I just need to persevere and try and break them in? If so, any tips for this that won't bring tears to my eyes? Although the money I'd lose selling them on would also bring me to tears, maybe slightly less though. I had thought since the model was post Adidas I wouldn't have had this problem. 

Thanks for reading. Any advice would be appreciated. 

Has Adidas offloaded 5.10? I got the impression they'd just lost interest and were just letting it die a death

Sorry to hear you’ve got a pair of too small shoes - it happens to us all at some point! I think you’ve got the chronology of 5.10 a bit messed up though. Adidas acquired 5.10 in 2011. At that time the quantum was a purple shoe, an absolute classic! They then redesigned this to the blue one you’ve got in 2017. This is the Made in USA version you have as your original pair. Adidas then shifted 5.10 production wholesale to China in 2019 - these will be the newer version you bought. Adidas still own 5.10 so there are no post adidas shoes. As far as I know there were some issues with adidas wanting the sizing changed at the time - for example, when they brought out the new 5.10 dragon I had to go up to a 9 even though I’m an 8 in street shoes and in the original dragons. It might be you’ve just got caught out by that. Hard to offer advice, they might stretch or they might just give you bunions/ ganglions and be too painful to climb in. I usually keep too tight shoes in the vain hope they’ll start to feel nice and then end up selling them for peanuts! Worth looking at Unparallel if you can’t find 5.10s that suit you in the future.  

I meant post Adidas takeover. I should have made that more clear. It does seem like they are just letting it fizzle out a bit now though. 

I replied to the other poster at the same time you posted. I meant post Adidas takeover. It made sense in my head at the time I was writing it, but can see how it would seem unclear now. 

I knew about that timeline. Seems like I've been caught out with the USA to China shift in production though.

I should have paid more attention to the labels and I could have sent them back after I'd tried them on. Oh well. Looks like I'll be putting them up for sale. Can't see them stretching enough to be as good as my other pair. 

Thanks for your help. 

If anyone else reading this wants to buy a pair of good as new Quantums as pictured, give me a message. I paid £100 for them, not expecting that obviously so make me a sensible offer. 

Ah I get it, can see how post adidas makes sense from that angle. I think the shift to China caused quite a few initial problems with build quality/ consistency/ sizing being adapted to match trainer size supposedly etc.

To sell the shoes, you can list them on this forum on a separate For Sale post, will be more likely to get people looking at it. Other than that, I’ve found Vinted to be effective with lots of potential buyers out there, but in my experience it’s about pricing it low and shifting it quick or it drops down the listings (e.g. just sold a pair of la sportiva futuras I bought on sale for £85 and wore literally half a dozen times before deciding they didn’t feel right for £45, which was the best offer I got in the first two days and I just wanted something back off them), so depends how much of a hit you’re willing to take. Good luck with it. 

Perfect cheers. I've sold a few things on here before. Never used vinted though. Usually here or eBay. I might check that out. 

Vinted is a much nicer experience than ebay for me so far - costs nothing to list or post, it’s all on the buyer, and the people just generally seem a bit less arsey!