Free shoes. For the dedicated skateboarder, there’s nothing cooler than the prospect of free skate shoes. Sure, boards are cool, but shoes feel extravagant. Lavish! Growing up, I usually got a new board for my birthday or Christmas, but my parents rarely bought me new skate shoes. Skate shoes had to last, and I was a master Shoe Goo applier. I’d save for the sale rack or get hand-me downs. I’ll never forget the pair of Danny Way pro models DCs that I found at Ross for $27! One time I scored a pair of brown éS Accels for half-off because the shop had a mixup and misplaced the last size nine pair. I skated one size nine (the display shoe) and one size ten that whole summer. After getting a shop sponsor, 510 in Berkeley, I was able to get discounts on almost any shoe and that was incredible. But the first truly free pair of skate shoes I ever got was not from skating, but from working on a movie when I was seventeen. Coincidentally, that was another pair of éS Accels. That pair fit.
I’m now thirty-eight, and for the last twenty years I’ve been getting free shoes directly from companies. Sometimes it’s a job, other times . . . I’m not quite sure what it is. A mixture of a homie hook up and a non-contractual agreement to advertise shoes.
My first official shoe sponsor was C1rca in 2006, and since then I’ve received free shoes from adidas, Converse, Nike, DVS, Ipath, éS, and Asics. Some of these boxes came with paychecks, but most have not. There’s a part of me that takes these gifts for granted, but I’m also aware that this well might be drying up. Sooner or later, companies won’t be sending me any more free shoes. And I’m good with that. I’ve had a nice run.
Since April 2023, I’ve been skating Asics, which have been generously sent to me by the company since they started their skateboarding line. I’m not a paid rider or employee, but I love the shoes and have been psyched to skate them. Specifically, I really like one model, which I’ve been skating almost exclusively the whole time. Since I hadn’t really given the other models a fair shot, I thought it would be fun to write about trying out the rest of the Asics line and determining exactly where my preferences lie in comparison to all the other shoes I’ve skated over the years. So you, dear reader, understand exactly where I stand, here are my top ten favorite shoes from the last twenty years.
Top 10 : 2006-2026
10. Converse : Chuck Taylors
Nostalgia hits with this classic of course, as it was the shoe I wore when I learned to skate. But I was pleasantly surprised with how well the skate version skated. Great board feel, with a solid sole. The canvas wore down quickly, but that rubber toe worked magic. This is a great skate shoe.
9. adidas : Silas SLR
This was a sleeper shoe that didn’t stick around for too long, but I loved it. Really good for jumping, and the structure of the heel really held up. Unusual sole, in that the back half was smaller than the rest of the shoe somehow. But I did a lot of jumping in this shoe and they always lasted forever.
8. Converse : KA3
I think I started skating this shoe because Tom Remillard had them on, and I’m a sucker for that white/gum combo. Traditionally I don’t love vulcanized shoes, but this one really worked for me. Doesn’t hurt that Kenny Anderson is one of my favorite styles on a skateboard. The man has taste and this shoe was great!
7. DVS : Rico SC
This is the only shoe I have ever bought on eBay after I couldn’t get them from the company. I set out to film an entire video part in this shoe—I was going for a continuity thing—but my sponsors changed midway through and the vision didn’t work out. I found this had a great sole for jumping and even used it for my pro model that never got passed the sample phase. But this shoe was solid. My main issue was that it got a little floppy after a few heavy sessions.
6. C1rca : Maxson
This shoe was amazing, though it definitely had some durability issues. Lot of detached soles. Aesthetically, not my favorite, but it was so comfortable and I was starved for a non-bulky cup sole. Every other C1rca shoe during this period (2006-2013), including my own eventual pro model, used these trash vulc-soles that were paper thin. This was not my preferred colorway, but the others weren’t much better. I think I was the only person on the team who liked this shoe.
5. éS : Accel
The most classic “skate shoe” silhouette in my eyes. Unfortunately, when I finally started getting them for free, the OG mold felt super bulky. Uncomfortably so. And the “accel slim,” which I did end up skating a lot, were almost too slim. Lotta heel bruises. So this is really another nostalgia hit, but still in my top five, for sure.
4. adidas : Ronan
This was the most perfect shoe I’d ever skated until this point (2013). Something I was desperate for after years of shitty vulcs at C1rca. I imagine I’d probably feel the same way if adidas made this one today. Well-structured, well-proportioned, with a perfect toe cap. Excellent tongue size. I liked everything about this shoe and hope, for their riders’ sake, they bring it back someday.
3. Nike : Stefan Janoski
I was very late to the party with this shoe, and before trying it assumed it had to be over-hyped. There was no way a shoe this flimsy-looking and thin could be that great for skating. But Luan, Shane, Grant, and plenty more of the world’s best, including Stefan himself, made it look like it was built for everything. And when I finally skated it, I couldn’t believe it. The Janoski lived up to the hype! Skating this shoe, I felt like I could do anything. The only downside is the shoe did eventually flop out pretty quickly. But everything about the look-down factor, the board control feel, and the sole made it a near perfect skate shoe.
2. Asics : Gel Vickka
This was the first pair of Asics I tried, and I immediately fell in love. I didn’t even have the right size at first, but it didn’t matter. It instantly reminded me of the Ronan, and I skated the shit out of the first pair, filming damn near a third of my eventual video part. Three and half years later, stepping into this shoe still feels like home. More on this one later.
1. Nike : Blazer Mid
Like the Janoski, I assumed this was a completely over-hyped shoe. Something pushed on their riders. All those laces? That big ‘ol logo? All that work just to get in it? There’s no way it’s that good. But boy, is it ever! I think I could skate this shoe happily for the rest of my life. And I don’t mean this model. I mean if I had to pick one pair, and that was it, this is the shoe I would reach for. The structure held so well, months of heavy skating would pass without me wanting to put on a new pair. And until that point, that’s the only time in my sponsored life that’s happened. They were always a little stiff at first, but once they broke in the sole was really solid. I could jump down stairs for hours in this shoe, and happily skate a ledge or a mini-ramp with absolute security. Shark bites be gone! This shoe rules.
My Shoe Sponsor History
2006-2013: Flow to Pro
OK, stepping back. The summer after the movie gig, I met Tony Tave at Visalia YMCA Skate Camp, which at the time was Element Camp. I was interning as a camp filmer for a couple weeks, and he liked my skating and offered to help me out. When I got home from camp, I mailed him my sponsor-me tape on DVD. I never heard anything from him, so my thirsty-ass called him to ask if he got it. On the phone, he told me he had and asked if I wanted to get hooked up with C1rcas. “Hell yeah!” He passed the phone over to the team manager, Ryan, aka Baby Ice, who told me to email him my sizes and address. A week later a huge box of shoes arrived at my door step. I’ve often wondered if Baby Ice even watched that DVD. Knowing how it all works now, he might have just been doing Tony a favor. Either way, that first box of free shoes made life feel complete. I could have died happy.
I assume Baby Ice eventually watched something, because he flew me out to Tampa Am later that year. This was the first big moment with the brand. I did horribly at the contest, and it was strange bro-ing down with a crew of other flow guys, knowing there’s only a couple spots open. Imagine a soccer try out, with lots of alcohol, where handling your liquor and not being a kook is more important than your your speed, footwork or endurance. The following year I moved to San Diego for college and sometime around then Baby Ice moved on from team management. The new team manager, Andrew Steelman, kept giving me shoes, invited me on a few more trips, and even gave me some photo incentive for magazine appearances.
By sophomore year, I signed a contract. C1rca offered $500 per month, but thanks to some negotiating from the guys at Alphanumeric, they got me up to $1000 a month. By junior year I was making $12K from C1rca, with around $5k in photo incentive, and additional monthly paychecks from Alphanumeric and Organika. This supported me through college. I turned pro in 2011 and in 2013 I signed a two-year, Pro Model contract for $30K a year. Unfortunately, the company filed for bankruptcy later that year and I never saw a dime from that agreement. I’ll get into some of the murky details of that contract later.
2013-2023: Pro to Flow to Pro to . . .
A Decade of Floundering
The year is 2013 and life is good. I’ve just wrapped up filming for the 25th Transworld video, Perpetual Motion. A dream I didn’t think would actually happen. I got the cover of said magazine, another impossible dream come true. I’m a pro for Organika, a board company co-owned by Karl Watson, my childhood hero. They’re paying me $3000 per month, I’m getting $500 from a hat company, and I just signed my pro contract with C1rca for another $2500 per month. A contract that includes a pro shoe. Impossible dream number three. C1rca even approved a month-long trip through Asia to film a video part/commercial for the shoe, and hired my best friend Patrik Wallner to do the photo and video work. Ads for the shoe are starting to run in Transworld and Thrasher. Things are looking about as perfect as they could.
The shoe contract took some time to negotiate, as there was some slippery language in it. For example, my monthly stipend, once my shoe was released, would be an “advance” on my royalties. Here’s the language in the original contract:
Upon such time as Company first ships Athlete’s initial Pro Model Footwear Product to Company’s distributors and customers, Athlete shall be paid annual royalty advances in the amount of Thirty Thousand Dollars and No Cents ($30,000.00), prorated for any partial year of the Agreement Term if such advances start after commencement of any year of the Agreement Term (the “Annual Royalty Advance”). The Annual Royalty Advance, or prorated portion thereof, shall payable in advances of Two Thousand Five Hundred Dollars and No Cents ($2,500.00) per month (“Monthly Advances”).
This is what seemed troubling:
“If the amount of Monthly Advances plus Excess Payments paid to or Earned by Athlete at the end of each “Contract Year” (defined in the Standard Terms) of the Agreement Term exceed three percent (3%) of Net Sales of all Pro Model Footwear Products sold to customers, distributors and other third parties during that Contract Year, Athlete hereby authorizes Company to deduct such overpayment from future Monthly Advances and/or any Excess Payment due under this Agreement.”
What? Does that mean if the shoe doesn’t sell well—because of factors I have nothing to do with—my pay will get deducted? I had very little leverage, but we managed to get some of that language removed. After months going back-and-forth, I finally signed it.
And then things started to go haywire. First, I tear my meniscus at a Kayo Demo in Atlanta and have to get surgery. Just before surgery, my girlfriend dumps me. Literally the day after surgery, I wake up groggily on my friend’s couch in San Diego to a call from my hat sponsor, letting me know they can’t pay me anymore. And then, a few weeks later, everything starts falling apart with C1rca. No one is getting paid. There’s infighting between the owners. Apparently the company was too far in debt with the manufacturers to pay anyone on the team. Production on my shoe hadn’t started so I was able to walk away clean, but people with pro shoes and royalties in limbo stuck around, despite not getting paid. It was a mess. I figured out quickly that I was never going to ever see that $60k my contract promised, and I bailed as cordially as possible.
More about my sponsorship floundering, how I ended up skating Asics, and my thoughts on their main four models . . .
