The 6 Best Emerica Skate Shoes (Rated By Skateboarders)

1. Emerica KSL G6 (Best Overall)

8.8out of 10

Shoe Design9

Durability8.5

Comfort9

Board Feel8.5

The KSL G6 gives you everything you could ask for from a skate shoe without sacrificing too much board feel. As a cupsole shoe, they are pretty good at absorbing impacts, but the main reason I like these is how supportive the shoe feels overall.

Rather than having the loose floppy skate shoe feel, the KSL G6 stays a bit stiffer with nice support in the heel and arch. Not to mention the ankle collar is nicely padded and doesn’t rub or dig into your ankles like more low-profile skate shoes can do.

The toe on this shoe has an additional suede panel, and rubber underlay to make them surprisingly hard to wear out. Even if you’re skating 5+ hours a week, you can safely expect these to last up to a couple months. If you’re just learning to skate and aren’t quite doing as many flip tricks, these will last you much longer than that.

In our opinion, they give a good bang for your buck.

The only downside I’ve noticed with these shoes is that they fit relatively narrowly and snugly. If you prefer your shoes to feel looser or have wider feet, these probably won’t be ideal for you. However, after a couple of sessions they do stretch out a little bit to make them feel less narrow than the first wear.

Ultimately if you want a shoe that you can progress with, this is a great option. It skates stairs and drops well with good impact protection but keeps a responsive board feels and flick that makes flat ground and boxes still enjoyable to skate.

2. Emerica Dickson (Best For Beginners)

8.6out of 10

Shoe Design8.5

Durability8

Comfort9

Board Feel9

The Dickson takes the feel of a standard vulcanized skate shoe and cranks it up a few notches in the durability department. With a single-piece toe cap along with a rubber underlay extending around the toe and to the ollie point, these hold up extremely well and are great for learning tricks with.

Even if you’re trying to get the same trick for hours, the suede holds up super well without worrying that you’ll blow out the toe.

With a thinner sole than the cupsole options mentioned on this list, you get an awesome board feel right out of the box. However, they do feel stiff at first, which will take a few sessions to break in.

Since these are a pretty basic overall shoe, they are a bit cheaper than other Emerica’s, making them a go-to option if you’re on a budget or just getting into skateboarding.

The only downside to these shoes is that they fit very snugly and have a narrow profile. Despite breaking in a bit after a few sessions, you’ll still feel squished in these if you have wide feet. Otherwise, these are solid shoes for learning new tricks and skating low-impact features.

If you want to skate drops and stairs in these, do your feet a favor and consider upgrading the insoles.

3. Emerica Wino G6 Slip-On (Best Board Feel)

8.6out of 10

Shoe Design8.5

Durability7

Comfort9

Board Feel10

Although slip-ons are an acquired taste, the Wino G6 is one of my favorite suede skate shoes from Emerica for a few reasons. First of all, these are one of the most responsive shoes you’ll find with a consistent flick that feels like butter. Since there is naturally less material in this shoe, it doesn’t have as noticeable of a change in feel as it wears.

Due to this less material and thinner sole, you get an incredible amount of board feel that I found helped to get a bit more surgical with new tricks. If you’re currently skating a vulcanized laced shoe and want a step up in terms of responsiveness, these should be your pick.

Finally, these shoes have a wider toe box that doesn’t make them as cramped if you have wider feet. However, even if you’re narrow-footed (like me), the elastic tongue keeps a snug hold on your foot, and your feet don’t slide around at all despite the wider profile.

With that said, if you’re coming from a laced shoe, these can take some getting used to as they do fit overall looser and feel like you’re wearing a slipper.

The downside to this shoe is that the grip is relatively average and slightly less tacky than Vans slip-ons. They also offer essentially no impact protection or padding to your foot, making these shoes less ideal for skating big features. If you do, you’ll end up with pretty bruised and tired feet, which will likely force you to end the session early.

Ultimately if you want a super responsive shoe for lower-impact skating like flat ground, ledges, and rails, these are amazing shoes. However, if you skate bigger high-impact features regularly, don’t waste your time with these.

4. Emerica Gamma (Most Comfortable)

8.3out of 10

Shoe Design7.5

Durability8

Comfort9.5

Board Feel8

Taking it back to one of the OG skate shoe styles Emerica had in the 90s, the Gamma is a modern-retro skate shoe with a slightly more low-profile design. However, it still keeps that extra bulk and padding from skate shoes 20+ years ago, which makes this one of the most comfortable skate shoes you can get from Emerica.

It feels like you’re standing on a cloud with memory foam beneath it with these on your feet.

The tongue and sidewalls of the shoe are super well-padded and do wonders to protect your feet when a trick goes wrong. Compared to other shoes I’ve skated, these are like a night and day difference in terms of overall foot protection.

To add to the protective upper, this is also a cupsole skate shoe with good impact protection and overall foot support. This shoe cups your heel well and has a bit of arch support, unlike most skate shoes which are notoriously flat.

The overall shoe is also quite durable, with double-stitched suede and rubber underlay over the base toe cap. What this means at a less technical level is you have more materials to wear through before you need to bust out the shoe goo.

With that said, the double stitching of the suede panel around the toe broke loose after 3 weeks of regular skating. This made the suede begin to separate from the rubber underlay and the toe cap. Although it didn’t drastically affect how this shoe skated, it was more of an eye sore that made these shoes look a little extra trashed.

Ultimately these are one of the best shoes you can buy if comfort is at the top of your list. However, they deteriorate a bit faster than expected in the aesthetic department once the seams around the toe cap break away.

5. Emerica Tilt G6

8.1out of 10

Shoe Design7.5

Durability8

Comfort8

Board Feel9

Based on the older (and much bulkier) Emerica Tilt skate shoe, the Tilt G6 has a much more low-profile look with a snugger fit in the midfoot. These are most easily compared to the Vans Half Cab skate shoes with a relatively padded upper and a longer feeling toe box. At first, this longer toe is weird to see when looking down at your skateboard, but it doesn’t have any negative impacts when flicking tricks that we’ve noticed.

My favorite part about these shoes is how durable the toe cap is. Although the stitching wears out pretty quickly, it seems to be more for aesthetics than functionality, and the toe never separated or broke a hole in the first three weeks of skating them.

Although there is an extra rubber bumper around the heel, it’s too low to give you that thick and beefy heelflip that you get from extended rubber. However, it did take a bit of the wear off of the suede heel cap for the first while until the rubber heel bumper rounded out after a few weeks.

Overall, these shoes feel a bit big on your feet, but I still recommend getting true to size. As a vulcanized shoe, they have mediocre impact protection, but the padded upper and amazing board feel still make them worthwhile. Skating smaller drops and stairs were comfortable in these shoes. However, anything larger than an 8 stair will leave you feeling pretty beat up in these.

If you want a good middle-of-the-road shoe that checks all the boxes, this is a solid option. It just doesn’t accel in any particular area.

6. Emerica Romero

8out of 10

Shoe Design8

Durability7.5

Comfort7.5

Board Feel9

The Romero is pretty unique since it’s a low-profile cupsole shoe but feels more like a vulcanized shoe in terms of board feel and impact protection. With a thin upper and outsole, the board feel is fantastic, and I love the flick in these shoes. These were actually one of the shoes I learned some of my first tricks with back in the day.

After they do break in, they become a bit looser and don’t hold onto your foot as snugly as other shoes on this list. Especially in the heel, the shoe feels looser and less supportive overall. Depending on your preferences in a shoe, that slipper-like feel could be right up your alley. If you like a shoe that feels more like an extension of your foot, then these won’t be the best choice for you.

The shoe is quite narrow overall, but the toe box, in particular, is a bit pointer. I find this really enjoyable to flick tricks with since it creates a more responsive and precise flick compared to a wider toe box. The easiest way to compare the feel of these shoes would be to that of a Converse shoe, with a narrow fit and snug toe area.

This is a great cheap skate shoe perfect for learning new tricks with and sessioning low impact features. However, the thin soles make landing primo in these pretty damn painful, and skating drops and stairs are not enjoyable in these shoes.

Find More In Our Top Skate Shoe Categories: