Lakai MJ Select review

Lakai MJ Select

The Lakai MJ Select is Marc Johnson's vulcanized pro model. The ones I got were a the Tales of a Mountain Man Edition. This is what they look like new:

This is them after 4 weeks of skating:

Initial Impressions: To be honest I didn’t really like these shoes very much at all in the first place. This was because the shoe has sorta sharp edges on the part that continues on after the shoelace holes, it dug into my ankles quite a bit and was an annoyance. This went away after a couple of hours skating them though. Can’t comment on the break in period since I got them second hand but not skated in, though other Lakai Selects I’ve had have been ready to skate right out of the box, so I’ll assume these were too.

Shape: The shoe is actually more pointed than I expected, as it looks like a rounder toe cap in most photos. Since I like pointed shoes I was pretty happy with this. If you’ve skated any other Lakai Select shoe, the shape is virtually identical on the inside to any of them. A little bit on the narrow side in terms of width, but not much. Fits true to size.

Durability: These shoes actually lasted longer than I expected because the toe cap felt thin at first. They’ve lasted me 4 weeks, which is about average for a vulcanized shoe. However, they still have a week or so life in them yet, as there is actually 3 layers in the single piece toe cap. The one piece toe cap wears down in a much nicer way than multi-piece ones do, wearing evenly until eventually becoming overall unskatable, whereas some with stitched toe covers wear through in one spot and start ripping your socks so you can’t use them anymore. 8/10

Soles: With most of my shoes, the material wears down before the sole, and this is especially noticeable in all Lakai Select shoes. The soles get almost no wear, and compared to other brands like Vans and Emerica, the soles are much more durable. The circle shape pattern is reasonably grippy – good but not great. Other designs have been grippier. As far as impact goes, the Lakai Select range is not very good, as they are quite thin. This means they’re okay for flatland, ledges, and other low impact stuff, but maybe will need an extra insole if you regularly hit bigger stairs. The thinner soles do add more boardfeel though, and the boardfeel on these shoes are pretty good, meaning these shoes are more suited to technical skating rather than drops. Sole Durability - 9/10
Grip – 7/10
Impact Absorbtion – 4/10
Boardfeel – 9/10
Overall sole : 8/10

Comfort: Initially the shoe was not very comfortable, but after a while I got used to it. The shoes are quite thin, but I don’t mind this because I dislike really bulky shoes. So, they weren’t remarkably comfortable or anything, but once you get used to them they’re comfortable enough that you don’t really notice them, so 6/10.

Overall: Lakai MJ Select are a good pair of vulcanized shoe. I was happy with them, but they weren't in any respects amazing so that I'd be wanting to buy another pair instead of trying out a new set. They are a solid, no bullshit, vulc shoe, so if that's what you're after then definitely get them. And if you can pick up a pair cheap like I did then go for it. 7.5/10