Resoled shoes came back way too tight/small - HELP

I'm not going to name the company because they have been very responsive and are covering shipping to have the shoes sent back for a redo but I have some questions that hopefully the community can help answer. The shoes are TC Pros that I've had for ~4 years. When I bought them, out of the box, the fit was great and over the years they have only gotten better - no cramped toes, I can be in them for a 12 pitch Yosemite climb, scramble in them, even hike down slabs for an hour if need be. Size 44-1/2, US 11. Love these shoes.

I had a half sole and rand replacement done in the orig Vibram and they came back looking great. The only problem is that after 2 pitches of climbing today (outdoors) it felt like my big toenails were being ripped off. Can't even walk in them. Very tight/small. NO BUENO.

I called the company and they said send them back for a redo. It sounded like they are going to stretch them - which to me seems absurd since they previously fit perfectly. Why would they need to be stretched and possibly damaged in the process (could the structural stitching rip? could the leather tear?)? Even their website says this is not a good idea.

Have you all experienced this? How does it happen? 

What was the remedy? 

Thanks, all.

IMO resoles shoes never feels the same as the original. I have had it too tight too loose and just perfect.

Dont get new toe caps, just a resole.. I lost a pair of Tcs to this too...

Not TC Pros, but a pair of Mythos went from fitting like a glove to excruciating to even get on my foot after a toe cap and half sole from a major re-soler. They were on their 4th or 5th re-sole, so I don't feel too bad about it, but it is like losing an old friend. 

My Miuras and now my Skwamas both came back feeling way smaller after being resoled.

It's better to avoid toe caps if possible. The fit is always going to change a bit. You'll have to break the shoes in again to some extent.

That said, I've had toe caps turn out great, and I've had them turn out terrible. If the shoes came out badly with the toe caps, give the company a chance to fix it. I've had great results with this.

I usually avoid toe caps, and with just a half-resole, I don't notice any change in fit. A fresh half resole is my favorite -- nice sharp edge, fresh rubber, but still comfy as ever.

Get a pair of shoe trees and stuff them in there.

I’ve always had to re-break in re sole.   Resoles are never as good as new in my experience, not bad just never as good.  They always end up becoming my back up shoe.

Don't wait for you rand to need replacement to resole. I've had multiple resoles on two pairs of shoes and still fit great coming back from the cobbler, but they've never needed a rand replacement as part of that.

Allen Sanderson wrote:

Get a pair of shoe trees and stuff them in there.

I tried these...they don't work. There are shoe stretchers that have a jackscrew in them that will work. Don't buy the cheapest one, FootFitter should be around $60. Helps if you soak them first, then put in the form and stretch them. Don't be too aggressive, poco a poco.

This happened to me the one time i had a pair resoled.  They turned my tc pros into downturned shoes.  Complete waste of time and money.  

climber pat wrote:

This happened to me the one time i had a pair resoled.  They turned my tc pros into downturned shoes.  Complete waste of time and money.  

This happened to me as well, but I learned my lesson.  As soon as the rubber start wearing thin toward the rand, I get to resole right away. ToeCap/rand replacement generally fuck shit up that you better buy shoes new when they are on sale. My last 4 resoles (Miura Lace and Solution) have gone very well.

divnamite wrote:

This happened to me as well, but I learned my lesson.  As soon as the rubber start wearing thin toward the rand, I get to resole right away. ToeCap/rand replacement generally fuck shit up that you better buy shoes new when they are on sale. My last 4 resoles (Miura Lace and Solution) have gone very well.

Unfortunately, the TC Pros have a "pointy" vertical toe seam behind the very tip of the rand. It's SUPER common to wear through the rand at that spot. Even folks with good technique i.e no toe dragging, see this happen. IME it's better to just keep going with that hole than to get a re-rand and risk the sort of things we're hearing about in this thread.

Gunkiemike wrote:

Unfortunately, the TC Pros have a "pointy" vertical toe seam behind the very tip of the rand. It's SUPER common to wear through the rand at that spot. Even folks with good technique i.e no toe dragging, see this happen. IME it's better to just keep going with that hole than to get a re-rand and risk the sort of things we're hearing about in this thread.

Interesting. TC Pro are my outdoor shoes and they last pretty long, never had that problem. Good to know.

Allen Sanderson wrote:

Get a pair of shoe trees and stuff them in there.

these are not good ones