Is there anything better to repair outsoles?

Yes get new shoes. If the outsoles are that worn then the foam is so deformed that your shoes are permanently negative drop and tilted inwards.

I agree that once the forefoot foam gets deformed or sags, then the shoe should be taken out of the running rotation. Shoe Goo also prevents shredding if the outsole is soft. I've had Hokas with soft outsoles that starting shredding off the material after 10 miles. A paper thin layer of Shoe Goo stops the wear for about 20 miles. Then, I just apply another coat.

Anyway, I'm running out and I was surprised to see that a tube of Shoe Goo now costs $10 so I'm curious if anyone has tried anything else.

I found Shoe Goo for $4.97 at Walmart so I'm sticking with it. Oh, I forgot to mention that while a paper thin layer will last for 10-20 miles, adding a 2nd thin layer will last about 100 miles.

I had some orange New Balance shoe in high school with a weird outsole. Pulled it off with pliers, ran a time or two on the midsole only, then stuck cut-up bicycle innertube bits on with Shoe Goo. The shoe lasted me years, I only wore it when out alone, nights, etc., it was weird in the 80s to not have an outsole, or modified outsole.

Back in the 80’s, what midsole was NOT EVA? HOKA now has a duel-density foam midsole in their MACH 4, and they didn’t even put an outsole on it. The higher density bottom foam layer also serves as the ‘outsole’, and it quickly abrades away, but then seems to stop, once it matches your form; at least that’s my experience, and YMMV.

The main reason the shoe lasted years is because standard EVA (not the newer gas-infused incarnations) is tough stuff, AND it doesn’t compress-out very fast because it doesn’t have much gas entrapped in it. Of course, it doesn’t have the shock-absorption capability of the newer foams, either. Although it can make for a ‘fast’ shoe (lightweight, zapping little energy) if one’s stride/body can handle it.

Agreed!

I should have just continued running on the midsole only. (I got the idea from a Ron Dawes book.) But what shoe in the 80s did not have a total slab of rubber outsole? I can't think of one.

I had no LR board, nobody to bounce this idea off of, I was 15, I just did it.

I think products like Gear Aid freesole have better wear resistance and come in black.

The standard EVA slab has good durability from the perspective of maintaining its shock absorption, and not compressing-out (partially due to the fact that standard mid soles in the 80’s were not very thick in the first place, so there was less to compress-out). Nonetheless, it will abrade away faster than a blown-rubber outsole, and the latter provides better traction, and if molded with lugs (grooves, a waffle pattern, etc.), then that outsole design also provides some additional shock-absorption from its structural deformation.

You can use stuff like loctite’s flexible adhesive, but it’s hard to beat the price you quoted.

I've used a layer or two of a large tire patch to build up shoes. It's far more durable than Shoe Goo, but you can get flappy edges that need to be trimmed as it wears.

Not always. My son is an adaptive track athlete (CP) and drags his toes. Even after 200m a repair with Shoe Goo is necessary.