Google AI Gives Wrong Size Conversion for Shoes

I wanted to convert a shoe size from european to US. So I typed "eu38 shoe size us mens" into Google search. The AI result was: "A EU 38 shoe size for men in the US is typically a size 7 or 7.5. Some sources might list it as 7.5". There was a small image of a chart from Bespoke Unit, next to the text. When enlarged this indicated a EU 38 was a US 6. However, the Wikipedia's "European shoe size conversion", and most other sources, has a EU 38 shoe as equivalent to between US 5.5 and 6.5, which is a long way from a 7.5. 

Re-heel School Shoes With Recycled Soles

Articles such as "How to Resole Shoes", describe the process for dress shoes. But something more radical is needed for repairing school or walking shoes with deep treads.

The Replacement Heels you can buy for shoes are usually a thin sheet of plastic or rubber, with little tread. This is not enough for a heavy duty school or walking shoe. The shoes can have so much wear the replacement is not thick enough.

Shoes with thick soles can be repaired with a more radical approach. Shoes normally wear out at the heels first, so you can use the sole from an old shoe to make the heel for another.

First use a small wood saw to cut the sole from an old shoe. You may have to saw through the leather of the shoe to get at the sole and then use the saw to cut the inner lining from the sole of the shoe. Leave the sole larger than the heel you are repairing, as you can trim it to size later.

Now use a saw to cut the bottom off the heel of the shoe you are repairing, to match the thickness of the sole you are using to replace it. You may have to cut 5 mm, or more, from the heel. Don't worry if the heel has voids in it, or is not completely flat.

Normally Contact Adhesive is used for gluing shoe soles, but it requires very flat surfaces to stick. Something thicker is needed for more radical repairs, where the surfaces are uneven and there are holes to fill. I found that the Silicone Sealant, as used for windows and around bathtubs, works well. This sticks to rubber, plastic and leather and also is thick enough to fill in holes and uneven surfaces.

Select a colour of silicone to match the shoe sole (usually black). Buy the large corking gun tubes of sealant, as you get a lot more silicone for your money this way.

Make sure you are wearing old clothes and have gloves on, as the silicone sealant is very messy, particularly in black (it sticks well to clothing).

Smear a generous amount of the silicone to the shoe heel, filling in any voids (some shoe heels are hollow). Now smear silicon on the replacement heel and press it in place, lining up the tread.

Leave the sealant to dry, which may take up to a week. It is important to leave the sealant to set all the way through. It may look set around the edges you can see but still liquid in the centre. If you try to walk on the heel in this state it will slide off the shoe, which could be dangerous.

When the sealant is set, carefully saw the excess from around the heel. You can clean this up with steel file.

The result will not be as pretty as a new shoe but will be very serviceable.

Crocband Loafer

The Crocband is a Crocs brand plastic slip-on shoe, but with a striped band around the sole, like a plimsoll. There is a photograph of music celebrity Molly Meldrum wearing a pair of Crockband Crocs, in the Daily Telegraph newspaper ("Getting home a big step for Molly Meldrum", by Kathy McCabe, March 01, 2012.

Ferry to Conference Shoes

In "A Woman's Right to Shoes" (ABC Radio By Design, 29 September 2010) Christine Cremen discussed the trade-offs between comfort and fashion with footwear. The problem is not so severe for men, but as someone with flat feet, I have difficulty finding comfortable shoes which look acceptable. Particularly when travelling, I need shoes which can be used for walking but also going to a formal dinner. Christine Cremen talked of "car to bar" shoes, I need ferry to conference ones and think I have found them in the Ascent Apex.

The Ascent brand of shoes are sold by the Athletes Foot stores. These combine running shoe technology for comfort in more formal looking shoes for school children and adults.

Attending a large conference can be a painful experience. It can involve standing up most of the day chatting with delegates and walking between the exhibition hall and the conference area. Even if you can dress down during the day there is then the conference dinner to attend. The Ascent has the sole of a comfort walking shoe, with enough support for someone with flat feet and a plain black upper which is good enough to wear with a suit. This saves having to take two pairs of shoes to a conference. A bonus is that the reinforcing in the sole is made of plastic, rather than steel, making them able to go though airport metal detector.

My search for travel shoes has been a long one. On a trip to Greece my shoes fell apart and I ended up with a pair of Scholl Professionals from the local apothecary (chemist). These are black leather walking shoes have worked very well, but are not formal enough for wearing to dinner with a suit. The Ascent Geelong I purchased are similar to the Schools, looking a bit like a soccer boot, with long lace up section and top stitched from several pieces of leather. These are very comfortable and provide good support for flat feet, but are not "dressy" enough for formal occasions. The Ascent Apex has the same sole as the Geelong, but with a plainer upper. I worried it may not be as comfortable, not being as moulded to the foot and with less lacing, but they worked well for a week at WCC2010.

But these shoes are still not perfect, they have very little tread and so would not be good for climbing over slippery rocks, for example on a bush-walk or on wet marble at the acropolis. There is the Ascent Delta Safety Shoe which does have a tread, but they might look a little odd with a suit. The safety shoe has an oversize sole which looks like the dress shoe has been glued to a boot sole. But at least these soles are made entirely from plastic (with a fibreglass safety toe cap) so they are lighter than a typical boot and can be worn through an airport meta detector.

Comfortable Safety Boots

In "A perfect fit, except for the boots" (Jewel Topsfield, The Age, 10 April 2010) cabinetmaker Jayme-Lee Cooney complains about finding well fitting work boots. Yesterday I tried on the Ascent Alpha. This is very comfortable and relatively light despite having a standards compliant safety toe cap. This has simialr technology to the Ascent Geelong I am wearing and have found very comfortable. I actually went into the store to try the Ascent Delta Safety Shoe. The store had no stock of the shoes in my size so I tried the boot, which is like the same sole and toe cap as the shoe. One appealing feature is that fibreglass is sued for the toecap and plastic for the reinforcing and other parts which are normally steel. Apart from being lighter this means the footwear does not set off airport metal detectors.

Insoles for Crocks

The Ascent "Geelong Urban" shoes I purchased recently came with insoles made of a flexible rubbery plastic covered with fabric on the upper surface. These looked similar to those sole for $70 in shore stores. Unfortunately I had to remove these to put the hard plastic custom made orthotic insoles in the shoes. I was reluctant to throw away the insoles which came with the shoes, but wondered what I could do with them. Then I noticed the material was similar to that of the Crocks moulded plastic sandals. These do not provide good support for flat feet and it is not possible to fit the hard othortics into them. I found that by trimming a little from the toes of the insoles from the shoes, they fitted into the Crocks. This provides better, but still not perfect, arch support.

Shoes for flat feet

Having Flat feet (pes planus or fallen arches), shoes are always a problem for me. On a trip to Greece my shoes fell apart and I ended up with a pair of Scholl Professionals from the local apothecary (chemist). These are black leather walking shoes have worked very well.

Recently my feet were hurting and the doctor prescribed a bottle of champagne: not to drink, but to fill with cold water and roll my foot around on. This sounded a bit complicated so I dropped into The Athletes Foot at Belconnen. For years I had been going past and seeing a display of shoes for people with foot problems. They measured my foot on the usual mechanical device and then used a computerised pressure sensor (which looked like a gimmick to me).

What I was after was a black leather shoe and they had three styles to choose from. The one I ended up with was the Ascent "Geelong Urban" (the same store also sells Scholl Orthahell). This appears to be an adult size of the running style school shoes they make for children. There is a hard plastic reinforcement in the sole under the arch of the foot. Apart from that, these shoes don't look anything special, but so far seem to work well, removing foot pain.

There is also an Ascent Delta Boot which looks interesting, this is a safety shoe, but in place of the usual steel cap it uses fibreglass, to make it lighter and so it will go through airport metal detectors. It looks like an ordinary shoe on top, has the same arch support and a more rugged sole.

Unfortunately both The Athletes Foot and Ascent have very poor web sites, making it difficult to find about their products.

In praise of plastic shoes

I finally bought a pair of "Crocks" style, lightweight plastic shoes. These were originally made for boating and water-sports, they are slip-resistant with a non-marking sole.

Common designs, such as the Crocs Cayman, have holes for ventilation, but the "Crocs Endeavor" have no vents (holes) and the "Professional" only at the sides. The " Islander Crocs " are a lace up shoe with leather around the ankle, sealing the top, but still with ventilation at the front of the shoe. The "All Terrain Crocs" have a lace up leather top and no vents. The Crocs Mammoth has synthetic fur lining and ventilation holes on top (none at sides to prevent water entering).

Also there are Bistro Crocs, designed for the foodservice industry with an added tread, claimed to conforms to the slip-resistance standards. There have been safety concerns about nurses getting infections from wearing crocs, and discussion of the ones with no holes being too hot. Obviously they should not be worn were there is a risk of injury from dropping something on your foot.

But if you just want the ordinary style (with holes), there are much cheaper ones available than the "Crocks" brand. These shoes are not for heavy duty use, but better than walking around the house in your socks.

Some Types of Crocs Shoes

Vents:	None	Side	Top and Side
One strap	Crocs Endeavor Shoe	Crocs Professional	Crocs Cayman
Lace-up	All Terrain Crocs		Islander Crocs