I’ve been wearing my Fiji La Vida v2.0 for quite a while now (and running regularly in them, since the end of my high school lacrosse season at the very least), and I’ve noticed a phenomenon which you may have identified as well: the soles of my La Vida have worn down ever so slightly. The surface of each sole is still completely flat–they’ve worn down evenly–and, with that exotic “springiness” that’s unique to the La Vida, they feel exactly the same.
As it turns out (I regale you with information I gleaned after a lengthy conversation with my mom) the La Vida are exactly the same, despite their cosmetically thinner appearance. The material the soles are made of has changed in mass, not in chemical or physical composition. Unlike just about every other athletic shoe you could buy, the shoes still function just as they did when you first bought them; the biomechanical and medical aspects of the La Vida that make OESH the healthiest option in footwear are still entirely intact. Unlike Eric Clapton, your shoes have worn down, not out.
Of course, there may come a point at which the soles of your La Vida wear all the way through to the cloth outsole (consistently providing the same benefits to your feet, legs and entire body right up until the very end). This hasn’t happened yet for me, but I must say I’m actually looking forward to it: I think I’ll expand my horizons a little by treating myself to a new pair of Deep Wisterias. I could use a little more purple in my wardrobe.