The shoes are very comfortable but within days after the return window, the lace of the left shoe began to fray as in the images. There is a thin sheath over the laces. This sheath began to fray and now the left shoe is hard to tighten as the frayed portion passes through the tightening mechanism while tightening causes further fraying of the sheath. I'm not sure how much longer these will last or when i will no longer be able to tighten the left shoe. For now, they work and are comfortable. I would probably choose a different shoe next time due to the quality issues.