I used to wear New Balance shoes simply because they were the only one that did my feet good ...but that went away about 9 years ago but luckily I found Merrell Moabs ..getting about 3 years daily wear out of them ..made in Malaysia did not enthuse me but they worked well ..ordered a new pair to start working into the "rotation" and gleefully opened the box slapping them on and whoa !!!! like walking on marbles !!! ...so I look at the label and yes they are the model of choice "MOAB" ..darn this is bad ..then I notice "Made in China" in small letters on the tongue label ...UGH !!! What Krap...
I tried them for two and a half weeks and the mesh fabric started unraveling just below each ankle ..my 2.5 year old pair these were to replace are not raveled, and worse feel better to my feet than the new ones as I feel the knobs of the Vibrum cleats in the new vs still a soft smooth feel still yet with the 2.5 year old one's to be replaced ..
I dare say the only thing going for the new Chinese pair is ..they might smell just a skosh better than my old ones ..
Anyone with a good history of another brand of hiking/trail/walking shoe pleaze pipe up as these dudes are going back to Merrill
Bear