Apologies for the essay. I'm looking for a bit of advice on my shoes. A while ago I purchased a pair of used Five Ten Quantums, the post Adidas blue model. Really rated the shoes, comfortable and sticky with a bit of a downturn, just what I wanted.
Recently I saw a new pair online in my size, so I purchased them for when my others wear out, since they are discontinued now. When I got them they looked identical, although felt a bit stiffer and with more of a downturn which I would have expected with them being new. The only difference I noticed was the label was on the inside of the tongue instead of the inside of the side of the shoe.
Tried the new pair on and they were extremely painful just to have on my feet. If I had bought a pair of shoes that were that uncomfortable out the box I would have normally sent them back. Since I had the pre-owned pair though, I thought I'd try break them in at the wall, which was either stubbornness or optimism. After one route of not being able to put weight on my feet I took them off. Since then I've been trying to wear them in the house to break them in but I can't take the pain for very long and seem to be having no progress.
On closer inspection of the label, I noticed that the older pair were made in the USA, whereas the newer pair were made in China. Also that the US size is half a size smaller, but the rest are the same.
Have I been caught out by the Five Ten/Adidas sizing debacle? Or do I just need to persevere and try and break them in? If so, any tips for this that won't bring tears to my eyes? Although the money I'd lose selling them on would also bring me to tears, maybe slightly less though. I had thought since the model was post Adidas I wouldn't have had this problem.
Thanks for reading. Any advice would be appreciated.