Month: April 2022

By far there are lots of excellent products in the AIR JORDAN series and from my point of view, the AIR JORDAN 20 is the best of the series that Nike has presented to its fans. In fact, the AIR JORDAN 20 is more than just a pair of basketball shoes. It’s also a piece of art as well as a database of all the JORDAN’s glory in the past.

So with great tribute for it, I bought the sneaker 2 months ago and right now I’ve got some knowledge of it. Hence presenting to you my AIR JORDAN 20 performance review which I hope may do some help for you when you are making decisions.

Let’s get started.

Fit and comfort

True to size or should you deviate from your usual choice? How comfy are these? Initially I did have concerns about the sizing problem, thinking that the wide last might not suit very well my relatively thin

Inside the shoe there’s the so-called one-bootie design, making the footbed not so wide as it looks. But could it be a bother for wide footers? Well, hardly the scenario! Because of the wide design of the shoe, it is more than suitable even for wearers with super wide feet. Simply put, the shoe is made to suit the great masses rather than the minority. So you can still find the right size for your feet even if you think you’ve got special foot type.

In a word, they look as well as feel very snug and compact. For those regular/narrow footers, going true to size will be fine and they can still expect a snug, near one-to-one fit. As for wide footers, going up half a size should be better, but how good or suitable it can be depends on how wide your feet are of course.

Over and above that, the eye-catching wide strip on the vamp is thought by some for improving wrapping, but surprisingly, it is less effective in practice. For the ankle straps, they make me feel uncomfortable and though I can leave them loose during daily wearings, they are a big bane for me when I am exercising. So I don’t actually like the setup.

Cushion

The working principle of I.P.S. seems to be similar to that of SHOX. Inside the midsole of AJ20, there are 20 elastic columns embedded which are placed according to ergonomic principles.　Sounds quite novel and a lot of people would even think it as a brilliant new tech.

For all that, its performance on court is what really matters. During my plays, the feelings offered to me by the I.P.S. was the kind between Zoom-Air and air-sole. And since I am not heavy, I feel very comfortable in it both during jumping and landing.

Unlike other cushion setups, there’s no need for me to take a couple of sessions to really feel the I.P.S.’s full potential. It seems things just get awesome at the very beginning. In short, this is a super well-balanced setup that are fantastic for just about anyone.

Thanks to the generous energy return from the setup, I can also enjoy the stellar impact protection and absorption. And since the forefoot area is lower to the ground, I think it would be very agreeable for players who seek to improve their pace on courts.

Protection

In the AJ20, JORDAN BRAND has used a technology called Ankle Strap, which is one of the distinctive features of the AJ20, but also a hassle in practice. At the beginning, I tied the strap directly to the ankle, which made me feel very uncomfortable and seemed to have no protection at all. But later, I learned the correct way to use the strap through the instructions on the shoe box and things improved a lot then.

The strap is connected to the body by a small sticky clasp on the tongue. After doing so, I could obviously feel the security offered by the shoes, though it has yet to be ideal. But it’s a bit frustrating that even when I’ve got it right, I still have to struggle to put on the shoes , and it takes several adjustments to get the straps in the right place. Besides, the straps also chafed the ankle a little bit during the initial wearings, but with longer socks I can easily get rid of the problem

While the I.P.S system itself provides good torsion resistance and support, the AJ20 has also a carbon plate in the midsole to enhance its torsion resistance, according to the detailed information on the shoe box.

As for the outsole, it feels good and its infield performance is very nice at the meantime, which actually surprises me a great deal. Nevertheless, it would be a bit unbearable to play in it on the outfield because you’ll find it wear away easily.

Court feel

The midsole of the shoe is thin, and the insole is right on top of the I.P.S system, so this gives me a nice sense of court. But compared with the zoom-air, the cushion system of this one feels a bit slower during forefoot startup, which may be attributed to I.P.S.’s similar working principle to that of SHOX and its being made too soft.

Traction

Based on my experience, I can ensure you that the grip of the AIR JORDAN 20 is very good. I usually play on indoor courts and even if the wooden floor is dirty, I don’t worry about grip at all.

Before I put on the shoes, I noticed that the AIR JORDAN 20 has 10 protruding dots on each outsole. When I wear the AIR JORDAN 20, I feel that both feet are stepping on these 10 dots, rather than the whole outsole. The floor was dirty that day, but that causes no barrier to the grip provided by the AIR JORDAN 20, and therefore I am able to stop wherever I wanted.

Weight

The AIR JORDAN 20 is actually lightweight despite the chunky appearance. Although the thick outsole makes it look clunky, the AIR JORDAN 20 is fairly light and if you ever get a chance to play in it, you’ll know clearly what I am talking about.

Overall:

Two months are definitely not enough to get full knowledge of a sneaker. So more information and try-on would be best for you if you are right now considering buying the shoes.

To sum up, this review, hopefully, can be of some avail for you. As I mentioned earlier, the sneaker is not only a pair of sneaker, but also a work of art and a database of JORDAN’s past glory days. So, depending on what you want from it, be it the shoes’ commemorative property or their performances, you may decide whether it is your thing.

What’s the powerful and forceful “combat weapon” in your memory? Is it comfortable in all portions? Is it satisfying in all respects? Well, there must be at least one answer in your mind. And when asked to give my own answer, I’d say some models of the AJ series which, after all, basically offers the TOP sneakers of the year all the time. Then what about today’s protagonist, the Air Jordan 36? Well, buddy, I should say that it is a mixed blessing.

Frankly speaking, AJ36 is really a pair of shoes with disadvantages and obvious advantages. Why my saying so? Yep! While the advantages can be very obvious , the negative ones, however, are mainly some hidden safety problems and basically require further thinking and detection to be found. But let’s waste no more time and dive right into my long-term-based(about 10 months) Air Jordan 36 performance review.

Fit and comfort

Sizing guide

From the shoes’ sizes alone, you can feel their upgrades by the brand. These are actually a bit particular because they can offer you the best and comfortable experience only when you’ve picked up your most suitable size. Otherwise, you are most likely to run into a lot of discomfort. Unlike other AJ shoes I’ve worn before, even if I copped a bigger size, I could still make up for it by turning to thick socks or anything the like. For AJ 36, however, I couldn’t have enjoyed its super nice comfort had I not been to the stores and tried them on in the flesh.

For those with high insteps, wide feet and flat feet, they definitely cannot go true to size because their regular sizes here will only make them suffer a lot of discomfort. Therefore, it’s recommended here to actually try on and adjust their regular sizes to either bigger or smaller ones.

And for the normal footers, the pressure on their insteps will be very obvious. Without wearing thick socks, they’ll find their little toes hard pressed at the beginning. So, again, the suggestion is to have a try in person.

Nevertheless, for those of you with thin feet, you’re relieved of the hassle of trying on because you’ll find it more than suitable to go with your regular sizes, maybe even to the point of perfect. As for me who is a wide footer, now that I’ve picked up the right size, I haven’t had any slippage inside the shoes so far and length-wise, things were perfect, so we’re good there.

Comfort

As is mentioned above, whether the shoes are comfortable to wear depends on whether you’ve chosen the right sizes. From my perspective, things are solid comfort-wise. This is no exaggeration, buddy!

Inside the “walls”, there’s plenty of smooth and soft padding, not least around the ankle & heel areas. With the big heel pull tab there, they are made super easy to put on. Over and above that, with the shoe’s smooth finish, I am enabled to slide in nicely with all manner of performance socks.

In conclusion, AJ 36 is a package that’s compact and super comfortable providing that you’ve chosen the right size. Quite right to the point!

Wrapping

The vamp support and wrapping of the whole pair can surely be hailed as top-ranking. Although the vamp deforms obviously while I was making lateral movements, the awesome part here is that I could still feel my feet firmly locked inside. In other words, the vamp can hold my feet super well. Not a bit of slippage, I can assure you! Simply put, the extension and deformation of the vamp will not make you feel that your feet are out of control.

However, the vamp is not capable of controlling its own deformation, bringing on possible or hidden dangers that cannot be felt during plays. For players who are heavier&bigger, the weak strength in the legs or ankles will further result in increasing the risks of hidden dangers. Hence some necessary protection measures here.

Midsole

A Zoom sits in the forefoot area while the Zoom Stroble accompanies the whole soles. Sounds impressive and many people will even regard it as a hardcore setup. So what is the truth on earth? Let me share with you my detailed thoughts.

Objectively speaking, it is actually a hardcore and fairly standard setup. The superposition of the air cushion in the forefoot can not only bring players a very good foot feel and court sense, but also offer wonderful energy return properties.

Nonetheless, it should be mentioned that the forefoot cushion is really that terrific for players with sufficient strength underfoot, but for those with relatively weak strength, they cannot fully experience the nice rebound from it but rather the slight rebound from the upper Zoom Stroble.

For heavier and bigger players, however, the energy return of the forefoot can also be inconsistent because the overall air pressure of Zoom Stroble is not as good as that of large Zoom. Of course, this has also something to do with the foams there. So how good the cushion is actually depends on what you want from it.

Someday I also found that after removing the insoles, the forefoot would become far tougher, which could be obviously felt. Therefore, such special insoles for the shoes are indeed very essential, from which I can get a glimpse of the originality of the brand.

The heel portion is a bit stiffer than the front since it only features a layer of cushion. For me who weighs 80kg, the heel cushion is a bit insufficient for court use while some of my friend who weighs 90kg can receive some feedback fro it. In spite of that, I cannot say the heel cushion falls short of impact protection or a proper heel-to-toe transition. Both are there. It’s just the actual feel is more subdued when compared to the forefoot.

Traction

As of today I don’t have any complaints about the shoes’ traction. The outsole, once again, features the herringbone grains that are basically reliable. In fact, the herringbone is an old hat because it is widely used in the AJ sneakers, from which we can tell that the pattern is really widely enjoyed and powerful.

 

For the traction of this one, based on my personal experiences, it is very nice and is never too much. Thanks to this, I never end up slightly slipping out on a stop, cut, or change of direction.

On indoor courts, I sometimes play on the smooth hardwood floor provided by some indoor stadium in my neighborhood. It is always clean though, it is not suitable for this one. Though the traction is basically fine there, it hasn’t reached the ideal level I want. The number of slight slip-outs, as I had expected, are occasional.

Personally, I prefer outdoor courts because the outfield offers broader vision. Although the outsole lacks a strong and ideal bite indoors, it makes up for that outdoors for the concrete surfaces definitely provide far more friction so that the bite is rather healthy and aggressive.

I deem that I cannot notice better traction on a concrete surface court in any other AJ sneakers released in 2021, though that doesn’t rule out my lack of experiencing enough number of sneakers. Despite that, I do read that people are having more consistent experiences with that shoe in terms of traction.

Overall

There are some amazing aspects on this AJ 36, such as the last, the vamp wrapping, the application of new vamp materials as well as the ultra-lightweight mid-sole technology which  means less energy expenditure.

The Air Jordan 36 is an ultimate low-profile shoe with both advantages and disadvantages. For the most of you, however, I deem that you might as well think twice before taking action. After all, in spite of the inviting advantages in the shoes, its shortcomings cannot be ignored. That is the security problems might result in possible injuries if there are not any precautions.

All in all, the best method to figure out whether this is your thing is to try them on in person. After all, my experience and thoughts here are only for your reference and the final decision is yours.