Performance Review: Nike Air Max LeBron VII 7

It's hardly fair. The guy is built like a power forward but can move like a guard. Throw in his natural talent for the game and you have one of the most dominant forces in basketball. A guy who performs at such a high level needs a shoe that caters to his unique game and physique. Enter the Air Max LeBron VII.



Let's start with the obvious. The most glaring design aspect that sets the LeBron VII apart from the previous models is the massive full-length air bubble. Until now, the LeBron signature line utilized Zoom Air cushioning in the midsole - sometimes even double-stacked units in the heel. Mr. James is very fast and very quick, so it only made sense to give him the lower profile cushioning that Zoom provides - but let's not forget the guy weighs 250+ pounds. Players of this build usually default to shoes with Air Max cushioning, and with the latest advancements in Air Max 360 technology, the newly tuned-for-basketball air bubble boasts 80% more air than previous air max units.



Another first for the LeBron signature line is the application of Flywire technology, which improves fit by sculpting the upper into a more natural foot shape, reduces weight while maintaining durability, and of course adds aesthetic beauty.



Upon removing the shoes from the box, it's hard not to notice the LBJ VII's light weight despite its fairly large silhouette. Your feet will slide into these sneakers very easily, at which you will notice a comfortable, roomy interior with a very natural fit. Fully laced, the Flywire sculpts the upper to your foot, creating a snug and instinctive fit. I did find my pair of size 12's to run slightly large; I recommend everyone to try on your natural size as well as a half-size down before purchasing. Because of the over-sizing, my pair didn't lock down quite as well as I'm used to, and there was a bit of extra room in the toebox. However, I was able to tighten them enough to get good runs out of them. I have no doubt that an 11.5 would have fit like a glove.



The first few steps made me realize how much higher off the ground these are than most shoes. The large volume Air Max 360 unit is obviously the culprit, but the cushioning produced (especially in the heel) is quite amazing. I have a very harsh heel strike, and the LBJ VII absorbed the impact of each step extremely well. The comfort level was very high, as the mesh inner boot gave a perfect amount of plushness while shielding any seams that may have otherwise dug into my feet. The arch support was perfect for my almost-flat arch, so those of you with really high arches may seek additional arch support.



It isn't until you start running back and forth that you can fully appreciate the first tuned-for-basketball Air Max 360 unit. Compared to Zoom Air, the feel of Air Max cushioning is very different. Zoom Air cushioning is very springy, as it seems to push back when you step down on it. The LeBron VII's cushioning doesn't have the same reflexive behavior, but instead seems to absorb the impact perfectly while not sacrificing too much lateral stability. Those of you who are expecting a very springy feel from this massive air bubble will be sorely disappointed, but I don't believe that was designer Jason Petrie's goal by switching to Air Max. Since Mr. James carries the weight of a larger player but still makes guard-like cuts, the perfect balance of cushioning and lateral stability was needed. As evidenced by the double-stacked Zoom Air units in LeBron's previous shoes, Zoom Air was probably simply not enough impact protection for his 250+ pound frame. To be honest, my first thought was that the small amount of air in the forefoot (compared to the heel) wouldn't be enough cushioning, but the idea is to keep the forefoot relatively low to the ground since the majority of basketball is played on the balls of your feet. Had Nike put too much air in the forefoot, the players' movements would've been greatly stunted.



It seems as though the harder you play, the better these shoes feel. Come to think of it, the harder I played, the more I completely forgot about the shoes. The fit and cushioning are so instinctive that I really didn't think about the shoes much - and that's what players really want in a shoe. My lateral movements were sharp, but of course not nearly as crisp as they would've been had I been wearing something like the Zoom BB. Lateral stability was very good, as I felt completely safe from rolling my ankle despite the enormous air bubble. Ankle support was also very good, with small triangular pillows hugging the ankles on either side. Lockdown was superb throughout the foot even though my pair ran slightly large, and heel lockdown is aided by an extra heel pad that supports the backside up to the achilles. A lot of shoes have you re-adjusting something mid-game - such as pulling the tongues back up or re-tightening laces - but the LeBron VII required no such in-game tweaking.



There are a few minor gripes, but none of them are deal breakers. First, the LBJ VII, like most other LeBron shoes, are slightly on the bulky side. Though these don't look as boot-like as previous models, it still has a somewhat boot-like feel because they're so high off the ground. I noticed that my first step was a tad slower due to sacrificed court feel, but this is offset by the superior cushioning and superb comfort. I experienced a couple of traction incidences where my cuts were slowed by minor slips, but I'm not sure if those were anomalies due to dirty spots on the floor or maybe due to my unfamiliarity with non-low-profile sneakers. Breathability wasn't bad, but it wasn't terrific either; the mesh tongue didn't seem to do much to dissipate heat.



The Bottom Line: The Air Max LeBron VII is a great innovation in basketball shoes. It's terrific fit, comfort, cushioning, and performance combine with stunning aesthetics to form a true luxury balling sneaker. Priced very high at $160, it's actually quite difficult for me to argue that they aren't worth every penny. However, they're not suited for the average player; if you're a lighter player that naturally plays the guard position, you might be better off sticking to the Huarache's and Zoom BB's; this shoe is tuned for big forwards and quick centers. Players who crave the feel of Zoom Air will be left wanting a little more.

Upcoming Review: Nike Air Max LeBron VII

Quite simply the most beautiful Nike basketball shoe I've seen in a very long time. Let's see if performance lives up to the very high expectations...

Performance Review: Nike Zoom FP (Fun Police)

Nike Zoom Fun Police saw very little NBA court time last season despite having design characteristics from the late 90's classic Air Garnett III. Rashard Lewis gave them a shot, but soon reverted back to his season-favorite Hyperdunks. For such a great-looking shoe to get no playing time, there must be something seriously wrong with them, right?



At first glance, this shoe posesses some components for a great shoe: a beautiful design, a variety of sharp colorways, Zoom Air in the heel, and lightweight feel in your hands. But when I put them on and started shooting around, I experienced some interesting findings.



When I first put the shoes on, they simply felt awful. The upper was extremely stiff. The short, rigid foam tongue irritated my leg. The top of the toebox dug into my toes with every step. The only good points were its low-to-the-ground feel (similar to the Zoom Flight Club) and the heel's responsive Zoom Air unit. I almost took them off and put on my backup shoes, but I decided to stick with them and continue warming up.



Here's where it got weird. Just when the shoes started to loosen up a bit, I noticed the tongues had slid down considerably, so I pulled them back up. Five minutes later, they had slid down again. Maybe they weren't laced tightly enough... re-tighten and re-tie. Five minutes later, I found myself pulling them up again. I was really starting to see why nobody wears these shoes. After tugging at the tongues for the 5th time, I was thorougly frustrated and was ready to toss them aside. As I started to untie them, I noticed the tongue has a bunch of circular cutouts in it. Obviously, they're there for style and breathability, but I thought maybe I could use them to keep the tongue from sliding. I experimented with a few configurations and finally arrived at one that worked. The photo below illustrates threading the laces through the lowest holes in the tongue and finishing at the topmost eyelets. Problem remedied; tongue movement minimized.



It took a couple of games for the Zoom FP's to really break in. Once they did, they felt better, but I found performance to be lacking in some areas. While the leather column with vertical stitching should provide a good amount of stability on either side, the shoes are simply not cut high enough to make an impact on ankle support. The shoes aren't roll-prone, but lateral stability could stand to improve. Not only is there a lack of a decent outrigger to stabilize the shoe, but it also feels as though the shoes want to roll outwards towards the rear. This is most like due to the visible Zoom Air unit that probably gives a little too much cushioning and not enough stability; it almost feels as though the heel is cut more narrow than normal on the lateral side. As for the comfort, the upper's stiffness had greatly improved by the end of the night. The wandering tongue was no longer an issue thanks to threading the laces through them, but this is something that should've been solved by Nike during development and testing.



As for the positives, lockdown is actually quite good with assistance from the offset eyelet placement, and the mesh tongue provides good breathability. The midsole continued to perform well, providing great heel to toe transition, great heel cushioning, and very responsive forefoot performance. The outsole pattern would suggest subpar traction, but I encountered no problems on our well-maintained indoor court.



The Bottom Line: The Zoom FP will turn heads on the court, but leaves much to be desired performance-wise. After enduring a long break-in period and implementing make-shift tongue/lacing improvements, this shoe is decently comfortable but simply can't compete with the other models in the Nike Re-Fresh line.

Upcoming Review: Adidas TS Lightning Creator

We saw the Adidas TS Lightning Creator on the feet of many NBA players last season. Chauncey Billups, Devin Harris, Derrick Rose, Raymond Felton, TJ Ford, Leandro Barbosa, and many others blazed the court in their own PE makeups, raising the question of whether these shoes are really that great. I'm finding out for myself this week, as I'll be balling in the Raymond Felton PE's (pictured above, middle).

Performance Review: Jordan XII CDP 12

We recently (sadly) witnessed the end of what is arguably the world's most successful, popular, and iconic sneaker series - the numbered Jordan line. Michael Jordan's induction into the Hall of Fame appropriately followed, reaffirming all that he has brought to the game of basketball and the culture that comes with it. To celebrate his success, I gave court time to one of the favorites and all-time classics of the numbered Jordans: the Jordan XII.



The Collezione 11/12 pack caused quite a stir during the holiday season of 2008, as sneaker shops saw lines snake around the block days before the release. I was lucky enough to score a pack via Finishline.com, and I've been curious to see how a shoe that originally released in the mid 90's would compare to those of today's technology. It should be noted that the XII was the first Jordan to utilize Zoom Air midsole cusioning.



From my experience, a lot of Jordans have a very sculpted fit that would favor players with narrower feet and higher arches (like the XI or XX3). With the XII on my feet, I was surprised to find the shoes to be quite roomy and very plush. People with average-width to wide feet should feel comfortable wearing these, as would those with flat feet (the arch isn't completely flat, but does offer a good amount of support without killing my flat arch). The super-thin round laces felt flimsy and unreliable during lacing (they almost reminded me of the horrid Windmill laces), but in the spirit of testing the product as it's presented out of the box, I remained hopeful.



As always, I tried lacing the shoes all the way to the top eyelet, only to run into 2 problems. 1) The laces are too short, and 2) the shoes are so high cut that in order to have enough lace to tie them at the top, I had to pull the laces so tight that the ankle collar and tongue dug into my leg. I un-laced the top eyelets and found that they were much more comfortable, but the ankle support had taken a considerable step down.



During warmups, the shoes felt quite good out of the box, but I noticed the shoes felt looser than when I laced them up. I re-tightened and re-laced and continued warming up, but after a few minutes again felt that the shoes had lost some lockdown. It seemed as though the laces kept loosening up due to the movement, so I re-tightened and re-laced yet again. I also noted that no outrigger existed to improve lateral stability, so I performed the same "ankle roll" test as I did with the Huarache 09's and found the lateral stability to be just average (or subpar depending on how spoiled you are by other shoes' lateral stability).



During play, the excellent Zoom Air midsole cushioning along with the plush upper cushioning provided a very comfortable ride. The shoe broke in very quickly after which it flexed effortlessly with every movement. Traction was good on our well-maintained hardwood court. I did feel the shoes to be on the heavy side, and the extra weight rendered the shoes a little clunkier than I'm used to. I wasn't tripping over my own feet or anything, but the extra weight combined with the so-so lateral stability had me a millisecond slower than usual. Although, I'll mention that a friend of mine noticed that I may have been jumping higher than normal. A downside to the roomy, plush interior is that the shoe doesn't lock down as well as it could. I actually had to re-tighten and re-lace a third time in between games; I'm guessing this is caused by the thin laces. I'd be curious to replace them with a standard flat lace or oval lace and see if lockdown improves. I was also craving a little more ankle support since I couldn't lace them all the way to the top.



The Bottom Line: The Jordan XII certainly performs well, but faces very tough competition with the high standards set by recent balling sneakers. They're very comfortable shoes, but the heavy weight, less-than-stellar lockdown and bad lacing system put these classics in the middle of the pack.

Performance Review: Nike Huarache 09

Nike's Huarache line has earned a reputation for beautiful aesthetics, great comfort, and consistently high performance. So, it's only natural to anticipate the same level of performance (if not better) in the latest model, the Huarache 09.



This will probably be one of the most schizophrenic reviews I ever write, because this shoe's great strengths are so tragically marred by its critical shortcomings. I'll start by saying that these are among the most comfortable shoes I've ever put on - not just basketball shoes... all shoes - period. Right out of the box, the comfort is overwhelming. The thinner, softer, and more flexible upper combined with the familiar Huarache forefoot/heel Zoom midsole simulates the feel of pillows strapped to your feet. When laced up, the 09's mold to your feet for terrific fit and lockdown. The ankle collar conforms to your ankle without feeling intrusive, so one shouldn't hesitate to lace these all the way up to the top. Yes, the shoes feel that good.

During play, the shoes performed as the typical Huarache performs - effortless heel-to-toe transition, amazing cushioning, great comfort, good traction, and light weight.



Then I noticed something odd. As I mentioned, the cushioning is amazing... probably rivaling the squishiest of squishy midsoles... to a fault. The midsole simply absorbs way too much impact and movement, causing me to lose a step in quickness. I noticed that on hard lateral cuts, it felt as though the midsole was still compressing and absorbing when it should've already been pushing back and helping me go in the direction I wanted to go.

I thought that it was maybe all in my head, so after I got home, I kept the 09 on one foot and tried on about 6 other shoes on the other foot for comparison (2k4, 2k5, LeBron Soldier III, Huarache 08, Hyperize, Zoom BB1). Sure enough, the cushioning of the 09 outshined most others, as the midsole felt much thicker and squishier overall. Then I ran a quick zig zag pattern with each shoe, and realized the 09's critical downfall: the lateral stability is almost nonexistent.

On each zig and zag, I experimented with pushing outwards in an effort to purposely roll my ankle. All six of my comparison shoes beat out the 09 in this test, as the 09 threatened ankle blowouts every single time. Here's why.

1) The midsole is just too thick and too soft - a bad combination for lateral movement. On lateral cuts, the midsole squishes outwards on the lateral side, allowing your ankle to roll outwards more than usual. A thinner midsole (like on the Zoom BB) would allow the Zoom Air to cushion the impact while also providing better court feel and more responsive and accurate movements. Think of this in terms of a car's cornering ability with thin, low profile tires versus with normal, thicker tires; the low profile tires will corner more accurately because there's not as much side wall on the tire to give way to the outward force. If you have strong ankles and/or don't make a ton of drastic cutting movements, this won't be a huge problem; but for more active players, this could be a huge problem.



2) The ankle collar is way too thin and flexible - it does nothing for ankle support. Think of it as low-top performance with the illusion of mid/high top feel. The ankle collar feels great; it conforms to your ankle, doesn't cut into your achilles, and flexes with every movement you make. But if you happen to roll your ankle, it's not going to do anything for you.



(For those of you who are curious as to how the shoes ranked in my lateral stability test, here's the order, starting from the best: 2k5, Zoom BB1, LeBron Soldier III, 2k4, Hyperize, Huarache 08)

The Bottom Line: The Huarache 09 is an incredibly comfortable shoe with a great fit, ridiculous cushioning, and superb out-of-the-box playability. However, poor lateral stability and nonexistent ankle support make the 09 a shoe that many players will want to avoid. I highly recommend this shoe for those of you who like wearing basketball shoes casually and/or to train at the gym or run on the treadmill. But as far as on-court performance, these shoes should come with ankle insurance.

Upcoming Review: Jordan XII CDP 12

I have to take a timeout from my normal review lineup to celebrate Michael Jordan's induction into the Hall of Fame. This week's sneaker of choice is the Jordan XII from the 11/12 Countdown Pack; let's see what this baby can do.

Performance Review Comparison: Hyperize vs Hyperdunk

As most of you know, I'm a regular on the NikeTalk and Sole Collector message boards. The more time I spend on the boards, the more I notice that while people appreciate straight up performance reviews, they always want to know how the shoe compares to another shoe. So I thought I'd try something different this time. What I'm going to try to do more frequently is to not only review a shoe, but also compare it to a shoe that's very similar. I'm hoping this will provide even more insight into how the shoe performs, and it'll also be sort of a buy-one-get-one-free review. Anyway, moving on to this week's [delayed] review - the Nike Hyperize. Since the Hyperize is supposed to be the updated Hyperdunk, they'll be going toe to toe in Sneaker Livestock's first performance battle.



I've played in both shoes; they feel very similar - so similar that I wouldn't be able to find any differences between them by wearing them separately. In order to get the most accurate comparison, I put a Hyperize on my left foot and a Hyperdunk on my right foot and ran, jumped, cut, etc. and then switched feet. Doing this revealed the slightest of differences between the shoes, and I encourage everyone to try doing this with any 2 shoes.

Hook 'em Horns!!

My first impression when having both shoes on was that they felt strikingly similar. The midsole cushioning felt basically the same (as it should, since they have the same setup - heel Zoom / forefoot Lunar Foam). I did notice that the forefoot foam is slightly squishier in the Hyperdunk, but any extra points it would've earned are cancelled out by complaints of the foam quickly bottoming out. The heel-toe transition was exactly the same, and the fit and comfort were identical. I had different shoes on my feet for a while and at one point actually forgot that they weren't the same.

Here's where I noticed the differences. Lockdown is better in the Hyperdunk, thanks to a few factors:

1) The Hyperdunk has 2 lace eyelets tucked in the crease where the top of your ankle bends. This means that the laces actually cross over the top of the ankles, keeping the middle and back of the foot more locked down.

Note how the Hyperdunk's laces travel inward into the cutout just where the ankle collar starts

2) The Hyperdunk is cut higher in the back by the Achilles. The higher cut prevents the heel from slipping during toe off.

Note the Hyperdunk's slightly higher cut in Achilles area

3) The Hyperdunk's ankle collar has 3 levels of lace eyelets as opposed to the Hyperize's 2 levels. The extra level allows for a more snug fit around the ankle collar, improving lockdown and also increasing ankle support.

Note the extra lace loop sewn into the inside of the bottom part of the collar (Hyperdunk)

The other key difference is that the Hyperdunk seems to have a wider stance than the Hyperize. It's not actually wider; if you put the shoes sole to sole, they're the same width - but the shape of the outsole around the pinky-toe side juts out closer to the front of the shoe in the Hyperdunk, while the Hyperize has a curve that happens towards the midfoot. Confusing, yes... just think of the difference between the Huarache 2k4 and 2k5. The 2k5 has better lateral stability thanks to the exaggerated shape, but the more streamlined 2k4 is a more nimble shoe. That comparison can be applied here, where the Hyperize compares to the 2k4 while the Hyperdunk compares to the 2k5.



For now, this is purely an assumption (will need to be confirmed over time) but the Hyperize should be a much more durable shoe. While the Hyperize utilizes less Flywire than the Hyperdunk, in no way does it sacrifice flexibility, comfort, fit, or most importantly, weight (and it's even supposed to weigh a few ounces less than the Hyperdunk). The additional leather (or patent leather in this case) that frames the Flywire should provide a longer lasting shoe - and therefore, more bang for your buck.

The Bottom Line: The Hyperize and Hyperdunk are strikingly similar shoes in terms of comfort and feel. Nike addressed some key Hyperdunk problems in the Hyperize; general durability seems to have improved, and the forefoot Lunar Foam is claimed to last longer. People who complained about the Hyperdunk's poor traction will be happy to see herringbone applied to the Hyperize outsole (although I never had any traction complaints). However, the Hyperize does take a tiny step back in terms of lockdown and lateral stability. Of course, the performance differences are very small; in no way would I discourage anyone from trying out the Hyperize, especially if you like the Hyperdunk. It's a great shoe, and it definitely earns a spot in my top performers list.

Side-by-side comparison: