Even though the introduction to Tsubo was quite recent, the testing of the Cason has been taking place at a secret facility tucked away in the hills of Napa for a month now. As with all reviews, the product faces numerous real-world situations to make sure it performs as expected. Shoes do shoe duty. Shirts do shirt duty. After a month of this, the opinion that has been forming about the product since day one is put into words and shared with you, my faithful audience.
The Tsubo Cason is a handsome, lace-to-toe shoe that bridges the gap between light-duty, minimalist sneaker and stylish casual dress shoe. It works as well with trousers as it does with shorts, and best of all, it is vaguely foot-shaped. This means they fit just right. I mention this because it is rather irksome being forced to make my rather average 11.5D feet fit into what the shoe industry considers to be the right shape for all feet. Thankfully, us men don't have to deal with all the crazy shoes women have to deal with, if we did, I think things would be a lot different, but I digress.
Beyond how these shoes look and fit, you should know that despite a first impression that made me wonder about their overall quality, they have proven to be worthy of nearly nothing but praise. The somewhat novel two piece sole, which is made rigid by a nylon shank embedded within the midsole, provides a lot of feedback from whatever surface on which you happen to be while still providing adequate protection and cushioning. Combine that innovative outsole with some of the nicest leather and suede you'll ever see on any pair of shoes along with some seriously top-notch craftsmanship, and you have yourself a very nice pair of kicks.
Earlier I wrote that these shoes are worthy of nearly nothing but praise, and that is true, but it must be noted that this is the first pair of shoes to give me a blister in a very long time. Though the exact cause of the blister will likely never be known, it is probably safe to assume that it had something to do with the shoes. This isn't a reflection on quality or construction as much as me being dumb enough to assume that a pair of shoes fresh out of the box would be good to walk four miles in. Sometimes shoes, yes, even foot-shaped shoes, need a little time to break in and conform to the feet of the user. I have since done the same four mile walk several times while wearing these shoes and there hasn't been any discomfort experienced. I shall chalk this blister experience up to "live and learn."
If you want to get some Tsubo Casons, or any Tsubo shoes, you can do so by clicking through to their site. If you need one on one time with prospective shoes before making a purchase, I'd suggest going to the coolest little shoe shop in San Francisco:
Nobel Shoes at 330 Sutter ST Ste #2
**Full disclosure: These shoes were provided at no cost for the purpose of testing/reviewing, to think otherwise would be unrealistic.
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