Shoe Review – Dekline’s Chad Tim Tim

I've never written a product review before (unless you count a little piece I did on the Wavestorm), but I've also never liked a shoe so much that I bought a second pair after skating it for a few months.

Old and new

The Dekline Chad Tim Tim model had me a little bit worried at first, mainly because of the sole -- it doesn't look grippy and there's few things worse for your skating than slick shoes ("are you crazy?!"). I took a chance though, and it turns out these shoes are among the grippiest I've ever skated! Unfortunately, they eventually wore a hole through the bottom, but only after about a year's worth of skating, which is a good, long time for most skaters, and a shame for others (I used to wear through shoes every 3-4 months!).

I'd be skating these today if that hole disappeared. New next to old.

The suede top is durable, complimented by the rubber toe cap, which grips the board well. I also like how the shoes come with both cloth and leather shoe laces. It's a big beef of mine how skate shoes do nothing to protect the shoe laces from wearing outside of giving you two sets. However, these leather shoe laces have lasted with little-to-no wear. They don't stay tied as well, but with a double-bow-knot-thing, I haven't had to re-tie my shoes in months.

Normal top wear

It's supportive enough to jump down some big sets, but not to the point that you lose board control. Honestly, these shoes are probably the best I've ever skated, which is saying a lot considering how long I've been trying different skate shoes. They may have even beat out the Emerica Ratio, which I've claimed as my favorite for years.

Emerica Ratio...out!

This was my first encounter with Dekline as a brand, and I have to say that I'm impressed. In addition to the second pair of Tim Tim's, I also grabbed a pair of Emmetts just because they looked cool (and were on sale). Check them out if you haven't tried Dekline yet, and let me know if your experience is as good as mine!