Well, because honestly they are shit. I scored 2 pair factory direct when Oakley fuct up and listed them at $40 / pair. They seriously lasted a week before the inner side blew out where the kevlar toe meets the outsole. Wasn't glued properly. I couldn't return them because they had sat in the box in a closet for 2 years before I finally broke them out. IMO, they should be in the $85 casual / lifestyle line, NOT the $125 military line.

my recommendations:

Merrills are great, whatever style you like, I also like these
Keen Waypoint

Keen Bandon


but only a real badass wears Romeos
Romeos

Last I checked, zappos also had 2 pair left of the Airstrip model, but I expect a $130 shoe to last longer than a few months before the inner fabric behind the heel tears out, followed by the foam, leaving a nice solid plastic bedding. Getting tired of their shit...the old Teeth and Teeth low models were damn near bombproof.

Those Romeo's would definitely look good with shorts.

These don't look too terrible.

Ghey!

best shoes I have ever owned, they have several versions, etc.  Kevlar laces...bullet proof feet.



http://www.salomonsports.com/us/#/footwear/footwear/trail-running/xa-comp-3-gtx-us-ss09

I will say, I love Romeos, they are a great boot/shoe for people that are outside working a lot and don't want or require a full on boot.

That being said, I have actually seen people wearing them with shorts.  I actually get embarassed for THEM.  

Mephisto

Seriously take a look at Keen, they are bit a pricey, but your feet will thank you.  I wear a a pair of their newports for fishing and wet wading and LOVE them.  And no, I'm not a tree hugging, bleeding heart, hippie, liberal...just appreciate good footwear.

New Balance makes good athletic shoes.

I tried on the Under Armour shoes and was pretty impressed with the comfort.  

I need some new shoes too, jogging in combat boots is hard.

Those aren't to bad but the yellow highlights and text, as well as that rainbow logo under the Merrel logo do bother me. The Vibram  and Merrel logos could have been done in grey instead of yellow. That same Vibram logo is on the front of my old TNF shoes in grey, it looks much better than the yellow on those Merrels. The shoe lace loops could have been done in a color to match the shoe, instead of yellow to tie in the yellow logos. That rainbow line under the Merrel logo always bothers me on Merrel shoes. I dont know if it's part of the Merrel logo or the logo of some technology used in Merrel shoes, but it bothers me. I have found a couple Merrels shoes that had nice color combos that were ruined by the addition of yellow branding and that damn rainbow line.

Disclaimer: Yes I realise that the "rainbow line" is in fact not an actual rainbow. It only has about half the rainbow with red, orange, yellow and what appears to be white. I didnt feel like saying the red, orange, yellow and white line over and over again so i called it rainbow line.

Slip-on boots / shoes are NEVER an option unless they are "faggoty house shoes" as I call my Airwalk crock knock-offs that DON'T LEAVE THE HOUSE.

I called Merrell about the pick laces...a REAL woman answered immediately and said she would send me some grey two-tone laces for free. Told her to wait till I had the shoes bought of course, but that's pretty cool.

I love my Chucks, but I also love my Oakley combat boots. If I have to be on my feet all day carrying a serious load, then I go with the Oakleys.





 

Salomon

Everything I've seen of Salomon =

Might as well go New Balance.

Ordered the Keen San Antonio. Was going to get the apparently more rugged Bandon Shoe WP, but the CS rep at Keen said that regardless of the price, the San Antonio was a more rugged shoe with a much firmer outsole than the more expensive Bandon. He said the uppers were about the same, though I did notice the SA lacks eyelets. or $30 less, I think I can live with that. onlineshoes.com has the SA models for $71.99 shipped and about $85.99 or so on the Bandon, but they didn't have black. Next cheapest place for black Bandon WP was zappos at $99 shipped. Will update with my initial review since I have lived such a sheltered footwear life.

This thread contains some funny.

I bought these last week and they are officially my favorite shoes I've ever worn!



Agreed

kind of what I thought.

For some strange reason, I want a pair of these. If only they made 'em in the larger sizes.

Czech desert boots at Sportsman's Guide.

Lowa

I've had several pairs of various shoes and boots from them with good results and they have not been made in CHINA

I've been rocking the Asolo FSN-95s since my first trip to Iraq in 2004. They have never failed me and I have even had them resoled.

Highly recommended.

Ummm...they've been puked on? This thread is proof that no one should ask GD for opinions on footwear EVER again. Same goes for relationship issues and spider sightings. Buncha basement dwelling pansies I tell ya.

My husband and I are the same way about shoes. I would try going to Famous Footwear. We went place to place simply cause we don't like ordering shoes cause they might not fit.

Got the Keen San Antonios yesterday. They seem VERY well made for a product of [Giuliani]Chiner.[/Giuliani] Very light weight and uber-green packaging had me worried at first, but they seem more "rugged" than I first believed. Very comfortable. Not much material, or thickness rather to them. The sole and upper are seemingly "paper thin" compared to what I'm use to. A rather large bastard from work has had a pair of their sandal type shoes for 3 years now and he hasn't had any issues and the sole hasn't worn out. I'm lucky to get 6 mo., so we'll see. The leather is really nice, and somehow, supposedly weather resistant, even machine washable. The shoestrings seem quite "mediocre", so I'm sure they'll be first to go. The ol lady said they looked a little metrosexual on me. Screw er...I ordered a second pair since they are so cheap right now. They are super low cut, so I plan on wearing my cheapo Ranger Joe's boots in the winter until I find a suitable replacement. I don't usually wear boots in the winter months, but that's probably part of why I go through shoes so fast. I wish I had confidence in the Oakley SI Assault boots like many here do, but judging by the Assault shoe, no way in hell. Keen makes a decent looking pair of boots called "Blackcomb" I might keep my eye on. We'll see how these work out for now. I'm just happy that I found another brand option than Oakley...I haven't owned a pair of non-Oakley shoes in over 5 years easy.

Oakley is kinda cool lookin'

Merrell ftw