Year: 2021

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A Close Look at Nike Ambassador 13

Accidentally,  I was able to pick a pair of Nike Ambassador 13 and I am so thrilled that I can’t wait to give you a brief  introduction of it. Below are some basic details of this Nike Ambassador 13 I got here: the size of this one is US9 EUR42.5 and a single shoe weighs 404g, and the sizes are available for most people.

I have asked one of my friends that “what do you think of the colorway of this Ambassador 13?” And he said what was on my mind that the colorway was rather superior. On the personal level, I like Ambassador 13’s appearance very much, including its streamlined body. But when I got it and looked at it carefully for a long time, I found that it looked a bit like Freak 2. And the streamlined shoe body and the separated outsole make the two all the more similar.

The vamp is made from the one-piece hard woven material with a mesh reinforcement in the toe part and there is a large gold-patterned “Nike swoosh” on the outside.

As a low-top sneaker, there are 6 sets of shoelace buckles, which is a conventional design. Meanwhile, there is additional reinforcement around the shoelace buckles while the gold Nike swoosh on the tongue serves as a decoration. But for me, I like the fringe that hangs in the lace most which is really chic.

In the heel, the lining is quite thick and there is also a leather that not only improves the texture, but also increases the heel wrapping.

The TPU that extends from the midsole to the heel is also prominent. As is known that the biggest hidden threat of such separated design is that the hallow part in the arch will result in insufficient support as a whole. However, you’ll never come across such threat if you pick this Ambassador 13. In addition, the design also greatly increases the unity of the shoes.

As for the biggest disadvantage, I think you might have known. The midsole is equipped with full foot CUSHION + rear ZOOM AIR. The iconic front and rear separated Zoom Air has been reduced this time.

Finally, with respect to the outsole, it is made of a very thick rubber, the front part of which patterned with zoned triangles and large herringbone and the rear patterned with grid lines. There is also a big 13 in the front, and the center of the rear part is hallowed, clearly showing you that there is a cushion.

Overall, I like its colorway and style very much and I even think that maybe it would be one of the James shoes that could be perfect for a guard.

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A Close Look at UA Curry Flow 8

The protagonist of today is the UA-Curry Flow 8. However, to tell the truth, my first glance of this signature shoe has determined its fate: I’d add it to my list of “one of the ugliest shoes”. But, there is always a “but” that my opinion of this UA-Curry Flow 8 is so completely reversed after I get to know more about it.

First of all, in terms of the size, my suggestion is that if you have some interest in it, you might as well have try because it fits very well for many people.

Different people have different views on the same thing. So personally, even though I  love the Curry shoes very much, I still think that this UA-Curry Flow 8 can not stand out in terms of its appearance. Some may say that I am too picky to be pleased with, but it just gives me a feeling that it looks quite like a pair of running shoes from the perspective of its style.

 

Notwithstanding that, one of the magic things about the shoes is that the more ordinary you think about it, the more it might surprise you.

Probably a lot of people think the same thing as I do that the most compelling part of the shoes is the brand new FLOW tech in the midsole. Rumor has it that when Curry first got to know the tech, he told the relevant staff that this tech should be adopted in his next signature shoes as soon as possible. So what is it on earth that makes Curry so obsessed with this tech?

All I can tell you here is that FLOW is a tech that is completely different from the Hovr Micro G. To be more exactly, the former is much softer and more responsive.

Another highlight is the outsole. The pattern of the shoe’s outsole is actually  a bold design. But its grip performance is also very surprising.

If you check the shoes more carefully, you’ll find that the thickness and density vary greatly in different part of the vamp. Simple as the shoe looks, it is in fact distinguishing in its design.

On the outside there is a black leather strip that gives support to the vamp and on the inside there is also a leather that extends from the arch to the heel.

Besides, he collar is elastic; the lining is thick and the outside is hard-TPU-reinforced. As you can see that there are 5 stars on the leather which represents  five appearances in the Finals in Curry’s career to date while the three of which are not hallow and represents the three championships of Curry.

And the visible arch support plate in the midsole is to enhance rigidity of the shoes and sufficient support.

In fact, I’d rather call it Curry Flow 1 because it marks the beginning of a new era. But for most of us, it is the shoe’s overall performance that counts. So let’s wait and see what surprises  could it bring to us.

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A Close Look at Nike REACT INFINITY RUN 2

When people are talking about the most comfortable and popular running shoes, which one would you think of? For me, I would say the Nike Pegasus series, the UB running shoes that once swept around the world, to name a few. However, when I came across this Nike REACT INFINITY RUN 2, I decided that it should be added to my list. So as an update version of REACT INFINITY RUN, what surprises or what kind of new tech can we find in it?

If you are interested in Nike and have done some research before, you must have known that besides the stellar ZoomX foam, the React foam has also become Nike’s most widely used foam material with the best performance, which embraces the characteristics of softness, resilience, lightness and durability. It is so soft and lightweight, and fits most people’s feet so well that shoes with this technology have become the first choice for a large number of runners.

But it should be mentioned that there’s a bit change that has been made to the foam of this REACT INFINITY RUN 2:  the arch of the shoe was added with some filling so as to offer enough arch support.

Here I also want to share with you one of my feelings about the Nike foam. Since I am much into sports and I quite like wearing new shoes, I had been exercising  with the shoes for the past two months. And here is what I have found: the more I wear the shoes, the better it fits my feet. And many people have also observed the same feeling online.

Therefore, for flat-footed people, the initial discomfort at the arch will fade away with time elapsing, and for others, this change can increase support for your arch.

For the midsole, its external structure has also been adjusted and the change in the heel is to better absorb shock so as to protect our feet and knees. By the design, not only is cushion performance improved, but the comfort has also been increased.

All of the above features are designed to provide the most comfortable running experience. In an effort to explore and deepen the research of running injury prevention, Nike has added ZoomX technology and launched the Nike ZoomX Invimble running shoe as an upgrade to the React Infinity Run 2.

And the widened React Foam can increase stability, which makes the mass runners feel safer and more comfortable when running. Apart from that, the filling in the collar prevents our feet from discomfort. In short, after checking these details, all I want to say is that Nike really worked very hard in this respect.

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It’s also worth mentioning that the design of React Infinity Run 2 was actually inspired by Vaporfly 4%.

All in all, the shoes can be more than suitable for wide-footers while some flat-footed people may feel uncomfortable at first. The cushion is also very soft and the feedback is obvious enough that it can be easily felt. So this Nike REACT INFINITY RUN 2 is nice for beginners. Hopefully this could be a guide for you.

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Nike Kyrie 7 & Nike Freak 2, What’s Better?

As a loyal fan of Nike, I have picked many shoes of the brand over the years. But honestly, not all of them  lived up to my expectation. So among all of my Nike shoes, I have made a list of those excellent ones and here I choose two of them that are universally acknowledged, the Kyrie7 and the Freak2. And then I am going to make a comparison between the two shoes and hope it could be a guide for you.

Personally, the Kyrie7 and the Freak2 are the most worthy of buying in 2020. Although Lebron and KD series belong to the high-end class, their shoes are just of moderate cost-effectiveness. And for the PG series which has been reduced to the low-end line among Nike shoes, most deem that it no longer deserves the title of “excellent and practical shoes”. So, of the two shoes that belong to the mid-end line with relatively low price, which one is more cost-effective?

For kyrie 7, its vamp goes deepest to my heart because it has the nicest wrapping I’ve ever met and it also fits my feet very well. And the stripes of the front part also improve the wrapping performance to a higher level. What’s more, good news is that wide-footers can also adjust the stripes to make the shoes fit them better. But what surprises me most about the Kyrie7 is the vamp support. The vamp is solid enough and the hard materials on the two sides also offer support.

But there is also a shortcoming. That is the toe part would be a bit pressing for people with high insteps. So they might feel the shoes are not that friendly. Besides, there is also another fatal problem for kyrie 7: the poor vamp durability. After a period of time, you will find that the vamp becomes more and more loose, and the overall support performance decreases significantly, and thus the corresponding protection decreases accordingly.

On top of that, it is safe to say that the zoom turbo of KYRIE7 is the best in Nike shoes. I can obviously feel the cushion and the outstanding feedback the moment I put the shoes on.

For Freak2, its small fan-shaped ZOOM AIR in the front part is also very nice and impressive and it also offers quite nice feedback. But if compared with that of Kyrie7, the feedback is definitely not that impressive as offered by the cushion of the Kyrie 7.

Then just take a look at the outsole. As you can see, there are many blade-shaped grains which allows the Kyrie7  to be able to hug the ground like a sucker. Besides, I also found that the Kyrie7 can be a reliable comrade on various kinds of dusty indoor courts, which is really surprising.

However, the outsole of the Freak2  is equally excellent. The crystal outsole is not only attractive in its appearance, but also in its grip performance and superior durability.

I have heard a lot of word that the only thing stopping the Kyrie7 from becoming a top-of-the-line sneaker is its torsion resistance. And after some more testing, I found that this was true. So I think that if an arch support were added to the Kyrie7, it could be Nike’s best outdoor combat shoe in years.

But after all, the torsion resistance alone can not determine the whole performance of Kyrie7 and the lack of arch support plate will only make the arch support is insufficient instead of making Kyrie7 a bad shoe.

And for Freak2, its torsion resistance is not so outstanding, either.  But in short, whether it’s arch support or torsion resistance, we can make up for it with better insoles.

Putting the overall performance aside, both the Kyrie7 and the Freak2 are quite pretty among Nike sneakers in 2020, and their prices are both reasonable. Besides, they both have superior overall performances. Therefore, I deem that they are both good choices.