I wanted to leave a review for these shoes specifically because Amazon has a habit of throwing old reviews at the buyer rather than more recent ones. There aren't many with a fair critique, or they resort to "omg it sucks/rocks". So, here we go.
After years of using TredSafe shoes due to just not having the money to afford fancy-shmancy, I bit the bullet on these shoes figuring I could at least default to other shoes if they didn't work out. Also, a lot of reviews complained on durability and such, but they were recommended, so I went for it.
Durability: Uhhhh, folks must have run over their pairs with a lawn mower to get them wrecked like they were, because wow have mine been accidentally kicked into and scraped by a LOT of old metal equipment and hardware with basically no damage. Really, the only damage was a screw I somehow stepped on, drilling a hole into the bottom. I mean, it didn't poke my foot, so no harm done.
Comfort: Okay, so memory foam is a big "your mileage may vary" situation, but generally the foam is pretty okay in these shoes. Seeing as I run around a lot more at my new job than I did my old one, these do pretty good at cushioning my 13W feet. Then again, I am also a tall dude, so the memory foam cushioning may not be as effective for me. It hasn't been long enough to really wear it out either, but again, your mileage may vary. Also depends on whether you really understand memory foam, which I kind of don't. I might be totally off-base.
But anyways. Even without that, the general feel and support of the shoe is good. The fact that my heels basically never hurt after eight-hour shifts when they would tend to hurt in the old, cheap TredSafe shoes is a pretty good testament to that fact.
The fit: It fits…? I mean, 13W feet, I bought 13W. It fit pretty much as expected. The only minor complaint I can make is more a special case: there isn't a lot of room for inserts. See, I'm weird and have a tendency to put more pressure on the front of my feet than the heel, and not a shoe can be found at reasonable price for someone weird like me. I'd like to be able to fit some front support into the shoes to counter that, but there's just not enough room. Maybe once I wear out the memory foam, but otherwise… Well, that's a "me" thing. If you walk like a normal person rather than like I did as a kid to catch late-night TV without being caught, then you should be okay.
Other stuff: One other minor complaint is just a typical sneaker issue but a bit worse. When the bottoms of the shoes get wet, walking on any kind of hard floor gives off an obnoxious squeaking sound. I don't mean like "basketball court" squeaking. I mean like "twisting leather" squeaking. To be fair… They're sneakers. They'll make noise like that, but it's usually not that annoying. They do dry out pretty quick so long as you don't keep getting them wet, so it doesn't last particularly long.
So… Four stars? Yeah. They're pretty good overall, and they sure do take a beating. I keep expecting something I do to rip it open, but there isn't a single tear or crack anywhere (besides the hole from the screw). Main problem is just memory foam getting in the way of using inserts, lack of front foot support for those like yours truly, and the obnoxious wet squeak. Still a solid shoe, though. Worth the money.
Update: 07/22/2023
Just bought a second pair because the pair I use finally showed signs of serious wear, which is pretty impressive since I've used these shoes for almost everything from job work to yard work. They have had their soles handed to them regularly and only just now started actually falling apart in any measure. They aren't dead just yet, but the shoes were on a good sale so I bought pair two ahead of time.
I did end up wearing out the memory foam rather quick (but I also walk weird, so once again your mileage may vary) but pulling them out to replace with new inserts was really easy, so it was a simple swap-out. I will say it's best to just swap for more memory foam since other "support" inserts didn't help just because of the shoe's own support.
So yeah, running back in to say you REALLY have to try to destroy these shoes to make them fall apart: for having lasted 3 years of me, they've done a very good job staying together. They're still comfortable, pretty good support, and make the annoying leather-twisting noise when wet, but I definitely think they're worth the price, sale or not.
