Tanel Plate shoes - I've never been so disappointed
 

I have several post-season tournament assignments, so I decided I would demote my old faithful Honig's plate shoes to "mudders" and buy a new pair. I have been admiring the Tanel shoes for some time (from the web pics and descriptions) so I decided to buy a pair.

What a completely unusable shoe! They claim it to be an athletic shoe, but any athlete who wore this shoe would be crippled within the hour.

Tanel has the tag line, "The Plate shoe that looks as good as it feels!"

Trust me - if that was true, this would be one awful looking shoe!

OK, now that I have ranted on for long enough, what is the problem? The hard toe has a slight downward angle and present a hard, sharp edge to the top of the foot just behind the toes. With every bend of the shoe, it bites into the top of my foot. Absolutely, completely unwearable.

Needless to say, they are going back.

Very, very disappointing.

I have owned Tanel's since 2002 and absolutlely love them. They are light, flexible, and easy to maintain.

The base shoes are great too. I love the tread and footprint design for easy mobility. They stop great and allow for quick and seemless turning.

Not familiar with that shoe; never tried it.

I would highly recommend this line of shoes; the best value I have ever seen. Excellent quality, light weight, low price.

http://www.inhousesports.com/bsbumps...0Sports%20Home

My current ones are Riddell and I was pleasantly surprised by them.

I, too, have had my Tanels for a few years and am very happy with them. the old Honigs I had before felt like cement blocks. My Tanels are light, comfortable, and shine up well. Actually, I will be ordering a new pair soon.

Perhaps you just got a bad pair, Tom.

Before I returned them, I contacted the manufacturer. I sent them a slightly edited version of my posting. Turns out, I work less than 10 miles from their corp HQ (who knew??? - I guess I should have payed closer attention!). Anyway, the President of the Co wants to have a look at the shoes. I'll let you know how it goes.

Sounds like you cant beat the customer service :)

Get a bad pair of shoes, meet with the president of the company to figure out what is wrong.

When you go, you should wear your 'mudders' in to his office.

Dakota,

I bought the exact same shoes about a month ago. I find them extremely comfortable except for the same toe pinch your talking about. I tried jamming a wedge in one shoe (only one had that problem) and I expanded the metal toe plate just enough to feel good. I know I shouldn't have to do that but I did and now their fine.

Yes, I was impressed. He responded to my email within an hour of my sending it to their generic customer service email address.

With mud on them?? :D

Thanks for this. I'll have another testimonial to show the President so it won't be just me with the problem. Your fix might give them a hint on how to check for it / deal with it in manufacturing.

I, too, have used the Tanel 360 plate shoe for almost two years (approximately 150 games) and have not experienced the problem you describe, Tom.

They have been comfortable, provided good traction and mobility and, very importantly, have taken about a dozen foul balls- and one large catcher stepping on my foot with metal spikes!- with absolutely no injury to my feet.

The only conclusion I can draw is that you, Tom, must have abnormally large and horribly mishappen toes!:eek:

I can completely understand the problem you are describing. I have experienced it myself in steel-toed industrial safety shoes that I must wear from time-to-time at work.

Some pairs have been torture in the area you describe. Others, like the ones I have now, are as comfortable as any shoe I own. I believe that the difference is one of sizing. My recent pair was personally fitted by a shoe vendor that visits our plant once a year.

The only concern I do have with the Tanels is, ironically, in the same area you describe- the bending area directly in back of the toe-box where the ball of your foot hinges.

The leather seems to be breaking down a bit in this area which sees a lot of stress. I'm wondering how many more games are left in these shoes before I order the next pair!

Although I've never worn the plate shoe I have as a player worn the mid-high rubber cleats for several years and just recently started wearing the base shoe as a slow pitch umpire.

I absolutely love these shoes so much that I advertise for them on my website.


However, although they say you no longer have to do this. I recommend ordering at least 1/2 size larger than you normally wear.

Obviously, special shoes are needed for the plate work.

However, once you get away from the plate, I cannot find a better, more comfortable shoe than New Balance.

Same here. On vacation in Montana. My son took me to this HUGE sporting goods store. They have enough firearms to stock a verywell-armed third-world country. Also have a HUGE selection of shoes. Went looking for NBs, was talking to a sales person about what I wanted. He asked if I umpired...turned out a fellow ASA umpire I know needed some.

These were sweet...621s...can't wait to try them if I ever get back out there.

Yeah...but try finding them anymore. Those are the ones that I am currently using as well, but I don't know anywhere to find them nowadays.

Scott,

I bought two pair on close out a couple of years ago. Extremely comfortable shoe at a low price . . . of course, with the low price comes the durability factor. Riddell redesigned the toe and sole to look amazingly like the Honig's shoe. I've seen it available on a couple of sites (even Honig's), but the price went way up . . . amazingly about the same as Honig's version.

Gary

Whatever you get.. dont get the ASA Spotbilt shoe..

Its plenty comfy, I like the look and prefer high top which is why i got it.. but I didnt notice until a particular mens FP game that it is "hard toe" .. not steal toe. Gotta read the small print a little better :)

Yeah...I bought two pair at about the same time. So I am set for a while.

Dakota
 

Tom,
How did the meeting with the company prez go??

Haven't had the meeting yet. Ball is in my court to set it up.

With all of us hanging by a "thread", or is it a shoelace? :eek:

Hardly check the softball board, but i figured i'd throw in my 2 cents-

I use Tanel plate shoes for baseball and i absolutely love them. No problems what so ever. They are light, offer great protection, and look much better than the frankenstein-type shoes the other companies like spotbuilt have (but to credit spotbuilt- i own their base shoes and absolutely love those too).

For inquiring minds, my meeting is set for Monday afternoon.

I have the Spotbuilt base shoe, also. Love it. Great traction, very comfortable.

Going to wear those to your meeting ;)

I have 2 pair of Ridell plate shoes along with a smooth pair of Dr. Shoells Steel Toe.................I like all of them......a bunch

I almost cried when my Reebok Cross Trainers bit the dust.......I bought several field shoes in the interim and did not like any of them........I just got a pair of NIKE cross trainers.......and love them.........although not as much as my old Reeboks

I guess I missed the NB shoe.........are they cross trainers??

Joel

Joel,
If you like Reeboks, My field shoe is a Reebok shoe called the Duty Proof shoe. It has a yellow and black inner sole and a great outer sole for traction on the field. I love those shoes.

Yup. And they are great as a field shoe. I have been using them solely for about 5-6 years now.

Well, I met with Mr. Tim Sellner, President of Tanel yesterday afternoon. He and I spent nearly an hour in his warehouse trying on different sizes of shoes / insole combinations. Apparently, my feet just don't work in his shoes. There is not enough room between the bottom of the steel toe and the top of the insole for my toes to fit without my toes constantly rubbing on the edge of the steel toe as it transitions to the leather upper. The shoes are the correct size, there is just not enough room under the steel toe.

Even though the end result was I will be returning the Tanel shoes, I was very impressed with the company's emphasis on customer service. I was also very impressed with the other employees of the company I met. They were all working with apparent enthusiasm for their job and their company and were all friendly and helpful. I would not hesitate to recommend Tanel to anyone with "normal" feet. ;)

After we gave up on trying to find a shoe that would fit, Mr. Sellner asked my opinion on umpire shoe features. Here's a man who is very customer focused! If he ever produces an extra wide shoe, I'll probably give Tanel another try, hoping that would also mean a bit taller as well.

OK, Steve.....I took your advice and ordered a pair of the mid high non-patent leather plate shoes.

They arrived the other day...tried them on and they felt fine...will be trying them out on the field in a few weeks when fall ball gets going. The price is definitely right and the company covered the shipping.

I'll let you know what I think.