Oak Street Bootmakers
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@Spring:
Can anyone who has owned Viberg and Oak Street boots offer comparison in terms of quality? Are they on te same level?
For what it's worth, Oak Street boots are high quality. I have nothing to compare them to only wearing "regular" boots and shoes for the last few decades. Like Fanya, my feet hate me but it's for denying them for so long the finely shod glory that they now traverse my day to day life in.
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^not if you ask me! i'd put them on the same level as white's and wolverine though…better than red wing imo!
Definitely not on the same level as Viberg's…I'd put them a notch above Red Wing's but not as robust/durable as White's. But then, OSB's are dress boots more than work boots IMO so that's understandable.
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I don't have a pair of Tricker's but I'd say that all else being equal the Goodyear welting would put them a level below Viberg. I hear so much about White's and so little about Nick's on this forum, I'm surprised more people don't entertain the latter.
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The 'tier' discussion is pretty hard, Even if one person has something from each maker, its just one opinion. If you don't have something from each maker then its mostly a guess. Further, as mentioned above, different boots for different uses. I have a pair of white's that as tough as nails vs. say a couple of pairs of Tricker's where the finishing is better but they're not as tough does that make one of them 'better'? I only have oxfords from OSB but the finishing on them is quite good. It would be guessing for me to compare their boots to the others though at this point.
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You can't compare Viberg to OSB. That is like comparing Alden to White's. OSB is an outstanding artisan shop. Their products and customer service is top notch. If you are looking for a comfortable boot or shoe to wear casually or for fashion OSB will fit what you are looking for. If you are looking to put out forest fires and trudge through the wilderness you should be looking for another company. That being said. I highly recommend OSB those guys are great and they back their products 100%
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what boots/shoes are you wearing heavyweight champ II, sorry i meant fanya, hahahahaha.
i like oakstreets & think they do what they do very well. D666 & TigerPac pretty much hit it on the head . . .but to be me, i'll add my 2 cents.
vibergs are just heavy, i don't know if they put lead in each pair but they are just some heavy a$$ boots
white's heavy but not as heavy as viberg, what every viberg puts in their boots white's puts a few ounces less
oakstreet, not so heavy, what ever viberg & white's put in their boots oakies say f^ck that noise & pass the savings on to the customer while still producing a great item.oakstreet seem to be a bit more "dressy" & so i tend to get a pair & wear them for a bit & then go back to what ever i wear when i don't have to look "fancy" of course this is all just the rambling of a mad man so take it with a bit of cxl, i mean salt
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Thanks for the replies. It's kinda what my thought process was already. The Whites and Vibergs just look heavy, much more work boot than semi-dress boot which was what I am looking for. I'll probably never own a pair of either as what I do just doesn't justify a heavy boot (and I also have a huge disliking for double welts).
As for what I've worn, I've had a pair of Red Wing Beckmans for a year, which I do love the style of but due to reasons of my own fault and also fault of the salesman I'll never buy another pair of Red Wings again. It's a shame as I really do love the style of the Beckmans. I just recently purchased the OSB black trench boot. I love them too. They feel more comfortable out of the gate than the Red Wings, better build and too imo. As for now I still use the Red Wings as a daily use boot and for shit kicking as they are broke in and use the OSBs for when I go out in public and want to look good. When I get to the point I can afford another pair of boots I'll retire the Red Wings permanently. I'm considering shipping them back to the company with a long letter of why they failed me (they as in the salesman, not the boots). My only problem is I'm quite picky on the boots I'll wear. They must be a plain rounded toe, no caps or anything fancy of the like and single welt construction. I also only really like ankle boots but maybe one day I'll consider an oxford. I'll either go with a cxl in that color no. 8? (that amazing dark red looking stuff) or maybe I'll pony up and try to find a shell boot, the one that Giles has being made by OSB in the black shell I would love to have but is out of my price range atm. Ah well.
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Just curious what makes Vibergs better than the other above mentioned boots? Better construction? Materials? The double welt? What justifies another couple hundred dollar premium? (Just curious, I'll never own a pair)
There's no double welt. It's actually stitchdown construction using two rows of stitching, which is widely considered inferior to Goodyear construction. Not by me, mind you. I love stitch down. Or McKay construction. In my experience vibergs are a better finish and attention to detail, which constitutes about a 100 dollar premium, no where clise to 300-400 more. It's all hype. The highest quality boot I've ever handed was made by nicks boots. The construction is atomic bomb proof and the finish is viberg level. As a side note, I think with the advancement of the internet horween has absolutely exploded in terms of hype and overwhelming market saturation. There is better leather out there. Just In terms of tanning horween or no horween I prefer oil tanned over chrome tanned all day long. Don't get me wrong horween is quality top notch stuff but people act like it's the end all. It's just most well known than other stuff. For absolute best value for construction, materials and wait time For the ultimate boot id go whites custom. I would say nicks over whites any day but nicks wait is like 20 weeks and customer service is poor.
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I wouldn't say that stitch down construction is widely considered inferior to Goodyear welting. Goodyear is more common because it's much faster, however. I think it gets a lot of publicity because it's a clear step up from the average crappy construction most people are familiar with in widely available boots.
Since stitch down welting take a couple of hours, instead of a couple of minutes, like Goodyear welts, the labor cost is higher, which obviously gets added into the retail price.
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You can't compare Viberg to OSB. That is like comparing Alden to White's. OSB is an outstanding artisan shop. Their products and customer service is top notch. If you are looking for a comfortable boot or shoe to wear casually or for fashion OSB will fit what you are looking for. If you are looking to put out forest fires and trudge through the wilderness you should be looking for another company. That being said. I highly recommend OSB those guys are great and they back their products 100%
OSB is not an artisan shop. As far as I know, no boots are made on Oak Street in Chicago. Highland makes their moccasin-constructed shoes, and their Trench Boot line is all made by P.W. Minor. In terms of materials quality, OSB cuts a few corners and uses leather that makers like White's and Viberg would discard. Lately they've had significant issues with welt-stitching tension, and while OSB CS is usually top-notch, OSB refuses to regard the issue as, well, an issue. This album (http://imgur.com/a/ovKrt) illustrates their recent issues. It's worth noting that I've heard the boots in the second-to-last picture were eventually taken back for a full-refund, despite their initial claim that it's within-spec.
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So, just saw this today. Sent an email to OSB to see what the deal is with a repair, but if all they are is glued, I could have it done locally. Am I understanding this right, or
just being a dick? A welt that is glued, not stitched, decorative outer stitching that is not sewn through all the way?These are trail oxfords, about 2 or 3 years old.
Sorry about the rotated image.
…great explanation!
