Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)I was reluctant to spend three to four times the cost of the average "drugstore" insole for the Spenco Polysorb (tm) Total Support Premium Insole, but my aching feet and knees were crying out for solid support, so I took the plunge. Without a doubt, these are the most supportive over-the-counter insoles I've ever owned. The heel cup is particularly deep and well-molded; my near constant heel pain went away within a day and a half of using these insoles. Similarly, arch support is excellent. The design is well-thought out and, insofar as one can say an insole is attractive, its construction and appearance look great, as befits its high-end price.
The "Men's 10-11" size fit my size 10-1/2 shoes perfectly without trimming. The instructions recommend taking out the existing insole from your shoe and trimming the Total Support to fit its profile. I would suggest inserting the Total Support into your shoe first to check the fit. A lot of standard shoe insoles don't have the supportive "cupping" on the sides the Total Support has, so you could possibly cut the Total Support too narrow (and diminish the effectiveness of its "cup") if you just trace around the stock insoles. This probably varies based on the actual shoe width and its last, but it can't do any harm to check before hacking away at these expensive insoles.
Though I used the "heat in the oven" molding technique, I'm not certain it provided signficant benefits; the insole is likely to mold to your foot as well within a day or two of wearing it. However, it only takes two minutes to heat up the insoles in the oven, so it's not like you're investing a lot of time and effort in this optional step. I didn't notice any of the shrinkage some reviewers reported when using the heat molding technique. I was careful to use an oven pre-heated to warm (instructions say 185 degrees) for just two minutes, so I'm not certain the temperature got high enough to have much effect at all, much less shrink the insole.
The overall effect of adding them to my New Balance 476 trail runners was to boost the comfort and support of these good mid-range shoes to the level of the very best (and most expensive) running shoes designed for ultimate stability.
So why no five-star rating from me? Simple. These intelligently-designed, well-constructed, and outrageously comfortable insoles would be worth every penny of their premium price were it not for the fact they squawk like a tree full of crows whenever I take a step in them.
Other reviewers have reported "squeaks" from these insoles, but that term doesn't begin to describe the roar they make. If you spend your time in a noisy factory, on a casino floor, working an airport runway, or in an institution for the deaf, you and those around you might not mind the noise, but you'll be the center of unwanted attention just about anywhere else. If your occupation involves moving swiftly and silently -- say, like a secret agent -- using these insoles could jeopordize the success of your mission and perhaps the very security of our nation. If I were walking and talking instead of sitting and typing I'd have to shout to make this review heard. Well... maybe that's a bit of hyperbole, but I think you get the point: they're noisy.
I noticed other reviewers fixed this problem with duct tape. I love duct tape; with duct tape and plastic garbage bags you can do about 87% of the things worth doing in this world. But it peeved me more than a bit to think I was going to have put duct tape on my brand spanking new high-end "you spent how much on what!?" upmarket insoles just to make them work like they should out-of-the-box.
So I pulled the insoles out of the shoes repeatedly and tried to position them differently to make the foamy shriek go away. No luck. I hopped around the block a few times thinking I might be able to pound out the squishy squawk. All I did was entertain the neighbors. I even put them back in the oven at a slighty higher temperature to see if I could bake the roar away. Zero effect -- although it wasn't a total waste because I threw some potatoes in for dinner since the oven was already heated up. They were delicious!
So I went back to "Plan A" and liberally applied duct tape to these unhushed puppies. The silver gray of duct tape matches nicely with the red and blue accents of the Spenco Polysorb Total Support Premium Insole, I must say, but -- alas! -- taping 'em up like a 43-year-old quarterback on game day did nothing to silence them. By now my wife, who usually observes my antics with private amusement, was laughing openly at my efforts to tame these squalling insoles.
That's why I snuck around to the back of the house out of her sight to whack 'em a few times with a five-pound sledge. I figured if I could speed up the breaking in process a bit, maybe they'd settle down.
Nope.
I'm defeated. Don't get me wrong. I still love these insoles. If I were bit more of a geezer than I am, I'd just turn down my hearing aid and ignore the squeaks (along with most of my relatives). It would be worth it just to have the Spenco Polysorb Total Support Premium Insole caressing my tired feet in their inimitable manner. But I'm still able to hear a lot more than I care to and the sound of the soles is something I can't live with.
Sorry, honey, it's over. It's not you, it's me. My feet are telling me we're meant for each other, but my ears say otherwise. You were probably too good for me anyway; I'll likely end up with another set of those $7.99 downmarket floozies off the rack at CVS that I'll throw away in six weeks and replace with more of the same. They don't make me feel like you make me feel, but, honestly, maybe I'm just not ready for all you have to say.
I will always love you, though, and think fondly of the time we had together. Now get back in the box, please. You're being returned to your maker.
Note to Spenco product designers: if you were trying to make the world's loudest insoles, please accept my apologies for assuming otherwise and I commend you on a job well done! If not, why not go back to drawing board on these and get it right? The comfort and support part you just completely nailed. Really good stuff. Fix the noisemaking and you likely will have created the greatest over-the-counter insole on the planet. Get crackin'!
***AN UPDATE
After corresponding with Spenco, I can truly say they stand behind (on top of?) their insoles. The problem with "squeaking" (roaring, squawking, whatever...) is known to the good folks at Spenco and is an issue mostly with shoes that have EVA soles, which my New Balance trail runners do indeed.
They suggest talcum powder as a noise reducer. It works! It will have to be replenished periodically, but that's a small price to pay for the comfort these insoles provide.
Spenco also sent me gratis an additional two sets of Polysorb (tm) Total Support Premium Insoles for my trouble and for making them laugh with this review. So I put the new ones into two other pairs of shoes -- a Bass boat shoe (no, not shoes to wear in a bass boat -- "Bass" is the brand) and a Saucony running shoe. Neither had EVA soles and neither made a hint of noise.
In fact, the only thing you could hear is me saying "Ahhhhh... that feels goooooooood..." with each step. Get yourself some of these and see what I mean. And grab some baby powder while you're at it. Even if you don't need to put it on the Total Supports in your EVA-soled shoes, it feels good on your feet and makes 'em smell nice.
Amazon won't let me change my star rating, but it's now a solid "5"!
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