Skora Phase - the shoes I hate to love

I picked up a pair of the Skora Phase somewhere around my birthday.  I did not get along with these shoes.  I had some experiences that made the hair on the back of my neck stand up, and some that hurt a lot, and some other things.  And despite all of that, I keep reaching for these shoes.  I feel wrong for liking them.

Let's start with the drawbacks.

That one time on the internet...  I had this weird exchange on Instagram with the company that makes the shoes.  They made it seem like I couldn't possibly know what size shoes I wear.  (I just checked with a friend who wears Brooks and Skora in the same size so you are wrong that your shoes are too big...)  It was weird. I don't talk to them anymore.

Sizing: Following up on that point, I usually wear a 7 in running shoes, and I got a 7 in these shoes.  I find myself wishing I'd ordered a 6.5 and if I ever do order from this company again, I will size down.  No matter what their Instagram bot tells me to do.

The upper ripped on my first run.  Twice..  I have two rips in the upper the shoe from my first run.  Because there was a stick in the trail and it poked my shoe.  I kid you not. Since that run, I've added a couple more scuff marks.  Particularly on the day I fell down twice.  The shoes feel otherwise well made so I was bummed that the uppers are apparently made of a synthetic material closely related to tissue paper.

Roads only.  Part of the reason I only use these for road shoes is because I ripped the upper interacting with one stick.  The main reason is because I feel the ground in these shoes.  That's a good thing on the roads, but I do not desire the same intimacy with sticks and rocks of various sizes. It feels like running in a gravel parking lot barefoot just thinking about it.

That little O on the heel.  Apparently all shoes from this brand have this little "O" on the heel.  The heel counter really hurt every time I'd start to walk and this carried on for about a month.  It carried on for way too long. This was my least favorite of all my least-liked features of the shoe and company.  Because it friggin hurt.

I'd read a few reviews before I purchased these shoes.  This one is pretty straightforward.  This one had the same issue with that thing in the heel that I did. For an hilarious diatribe on sizing issues, go here. From this one I learned to ditch the shoe inserts immediately.  Which was good advice.  They came wrinkled and bent up in the shoe.  Which would've aggravated me to know end if I'd actually wanted them. I threw them away and haven't missed them once.  All of these reviews mention how 'grippy' the sole is.  Totally true as well.

Why do I (guiltily) love these shoes so much?  Because they're so much fun on the roads.  And they feels right.  A shoe that feels right is like porn: You'll know it when you see it.  (Now that I have the shoes broken in properly at least.)