which is better??

what are the advantages/disadvantages of each?

there are a few types of leather. but there are MANY MANY MNAY types of microffibre. u'll need to be more specific. microfibre can be anything from whats used on low end boots, the synthetic leather, actual nylon or like mesh, microfibre has many forms.

Actually there are many misconceptions about both these materials I would be happy to try to clear up.

1. Microfibre
Microfibre refers to the BACKING material of a synthetic material, usually a PU (polyurethane). This backing material makes the PU very soft, and strong, giving it similar feel to a natural material.

The top PU surface of a microfibre material, can have many different colors, finishes, embosses and surface treatments. This wide variety of looks (and also performance properties) is one of the best things about synthetics. You can also get many different kinds of synthetic materials include ones that stretch, are reflective, glow in the dark, or are 100% waterproof.

Microfibre comes in several different qualities and price levels. The better the material, the more soft it feels and also stronger it is. There are also different suppliers. The three big ones are Taijin (Japan), Nan Ya (Taiwan), and San Fang (Taiwan).

SuperMicrofibre is the name usually given to the top grade of Microfibre, with ultimate softness and performance characteristics.

Top SuperMicrofibre material can be just as expensive as some leather!

Other synthetic materials often used on cheaper shoes include regular PU (polyurethance) or PVC (polyvinylchloride).


2. Leather
There are indeed many different kinds of leathers. Cow, Goat, Kangaroo, are just some of them.

Different leathers from different types of animals all have different natural grain structures which give them different natural properties. For example, this is the reason that Goat has such excellent abrasion resistance properties.

There are also different methods of tanning and finishing that can give leathers different properties, feels, and looks.

In addition to natural properties, many "performance" leathers have added polymers (synthetics) added to the leather or dyed directly into the fibres of the grain. These add increased performance characteristics, such water resistance, sweat resistance, abrasion resistance, etc.

The main benefits of leather (without going into one type of leather vs. another) is softness, feel and stretch. All leather will stretch some amount which gives the feel in a boot of comfort and fit. In addition, because of the natural structure of leather (to varying degrees), leather is breathable.


hope this helps provide some basic info without getting to technical. if anyone has additional info, or would like to add something, feel free. I dont work for any one material supplier, but this is just my basic knowledge from working with different materials.

cheers,

Richard

Thanks for your post Rich - very imformative - although you had to drop in a line about Goat

The main thing I notice is that with leather boots (primarily K in my experience) there is better comfort.

As mentioned by Rich, there are a lot of treatments that can get applied to the leather - so some times it is important to see what technologies the leather uses.

A question: do your feet sweat more in non-leather boots?

So what? Thats cause, apparently, its good stuff. Hummel wouldnt use it if it wasnt. Everyone thinks k is the bees knees but that doent mean that there cant be something as good or better. I personally dont care too much as far as touch goes, most of its pretty much the same. Im mostly about comfort and i find there isnt really much difference.

I'd say they sweat more in synthetics. All leather is naturally, to some degree breatheable. The breathability does vary though by typer of skin. For example the more open structure of goat is more breathable than K which has a more dense grain. Both do breathe though more than a synthetic though, which essentially is plastic.

Some SuperMicrofibre is more breathable, but most dont breathe nearly as well as any leather.

Thanks for the replys guys---I really appreciate it.

When i wrote the first post, i was really asking about the microfiber that is on the Reebok Baleni IV Pro.

Reebok Baleni IV Pro

* Model Year: 2004
* Made In: Imported
* Ball Control Elements: Covered lacing system
* External Heel Counter: no
* Insole Material: Poron
* Lacing: Covered
* Outsole Material: PU
* Primary Upper Material: Microfibre
* Sizing: 1/2 size large, snug on toes
* Stud Material: PU
* Stud Shape: Bladed
* Studs Removable: no
* Suitable For: Firm Natural Surfaces
* Weight: 10.8 oz.

I was seriously considering this shoe just wanted to confirm with you guys about the microfiber.



however, my size is SOLD OUT again!!! and it was a good deal too!

damn it

Please don't get me wrong here - I'm not saying Goat is either good not bad. How would I know? I'm just hinting towards the fact that R is dropping in where he can how great goat is, when surprise surprise Hummels new line of boots feature goat for the first time. Sounds like promotion to me - something which others apparently get banned for... - but hey, just my opinion...

ya hummel is using goat, but that is a type of leather right? and wasn't the guy asking about leather? so there u go. besdies if someone said k leather, would it mean that they are adverstising pulses or legeds. not exactly. hes just letting people know that there are more options now a days to leather. i doubt it was actual marketing.

Yea there is no way hes trying to advertise for hummels. Hes just bein very imformative...and for my case it helped me alot. so thanks!

Yeh, those are cool, one of my friends has them. Sure they're microfibre? I thought they were some kind of leather, just not real good stuff.

Do white boots ever look as good as when they are brand new?

well soccer.com says its microfiber so im gona trust the site

besides we all know k leather is much much better, i wouldn't buy ANYTHING other then k no matter which company made it, goat leather just sucks in quality and performance, i vote and advise against it!!!

im sure we all value your opinion, and you have lots of research and tests to prove it..

I guess then the F50 is out (cow leather), the vapor is out (synthetic), the azt90 is out (synthetic) and the Puma King SL is out (cow leather), along with many other boots...



R

haha good point

i always thought the F50s were kangaroo since it said ULT-K but i just read rkuchinskys post, then checked soccer.com, and it says treated cow leather.

ya only the goal editon f 50 + are k leather.

since i own the pulses YES, besides some companies get better leather like for example NIKE's leather might be of a better quality then HUMMEL's, and whats with this tests and research to prove it, all i know is that i can feel the performance of the leather on my feet something your since lab can't! I think a soccer players judgement means more then a lab test ever could!

Fair enough, i would do some other checking first though.



The problems is, whos judgement do you trust. Different people like different things and besides everyones foot is different. It doesnt do your cred any good to say "everything except k leather is shit and i wouldnt wear it" or whatevs. Everyone just assumes you're a dickhead and doesnt take you seriously. Think about it.

LOL "differen't people like different things" you do realise we are talking about leather, about good quality leather (k leather) and lower quality leather (goat), i donno where you pulled out "differnet people..." who likes lower quality, i'm not saying people shouldn't by goat and ofcourse they should if they can't afford k but lets face it k leather is much better, and if i had a choice between hummel $400 goat cleat that most of us here helped develop and the new absolutes k leather for $200 which they designed them selves and tested it ofcrouse i'm not stupid enough to go to the shop and HUMMELiate myslef

Hey crofty - maybe it's like when you have a double choc timtam, you'll never want to eat a normal timtam again! (I know you must eat timtams!!)

i've always been a fan of leather boots, but i just ordered my first pair of synthetics... the Mercucial Talaria's blue/white

and i just realized its my first nike boot as well, i've alwyas been an adidas fan but decided to give nike a try now.

Thats good, nike makes quality boots aswell unlike another company i won't mention because i'm too nice!

Um, some people prefer lightweight nikeskin or whatevs. Besides, my point is, whos to say k is better quality than the new goat stuff? Human testing is a very innaccurate, unobjective concept cause you cant prevent bias. Also, if you wont actually wear the new hummels how can you say what is better? You'll have to go by the tests, which are the most accurate thing, short of trying them yourself. And they say the pittards goat stuff is better. You do realise we're not talking about normal goat leather.

Ps I think i know what you mean with the timtams but im not a big fan of the double choc ones. Theyre way too rich. Big choc o.d.

haha how long have u been waiting to use THAT line. did u plan it out a month ago. or did it just come to u earlier this week?

I don't even think Richard will deny that K-Leather is still the premium leather, I think what he is saying is that Goat will be a good alternative at a better price. It's all about having different options.

im with just visitng here. hes just saying that theres other stuff now thats also good and worth looking in to

and yeah, synthetic is way more breathable than kangaroo, way more.

Just came up with it on the spot, i was thinking how do i take down their earnings and humiliate their company then it came to me take advantage of their own mistakes (which there are plenty of), i think thats how they came up with the name HUMMEL, the feeling you get when you wear the product!

you've already "HUMMELiated" yourself by not being able to spell supporter correctly

and btw, you realise that with your anti-hummel crusades no one will EVER take you seriously.

LOL fairenough, no one has to listen to me but when you buy the boots i won't be able to help my self from telling you "i toled you so". if you want to buy hummel boots might aswell just throw you money away or give it to the poor atleast then you get some setisfaction!!
PS: if you read my post on bigsoccer.com you'd see that i WANTED it to spell it suporter not supporter.

BIG SOCCER