Author: jaehooncheon

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NIKE Vaporfly NEXT% 2 Performance Review

Nike brand-new running shoes Vaporfly Next% 2 have been released in global. The vamp of Vaporfly Next% 2 uses engineering mesh fabric to replace the Vaporweave material of last generation. The insole of Vaporfly Next% 2 still uses full-length ZoomX foam and full-length carbon plate which offers excellent driving power. The present price has good cost performance. Many people should have purchased it. What’s its actual running performance? Let’s talk about its performance today.

The running performance of Vaporfly next%2

The shoelaces of Vaporfly Next% 2 is the same as Alphafly. It’s present best shoelaces of racing shoes. There is a layer of pad pasting to cover and protect the toes. The shoe collar is also added a round of suedette material which improve the comfort level. The soft resilience of Vaporfly Next% 2 is not better than Endorphin Speed. It may need time to breaking-in. But I don’t want to wear my Endorphin Speed now after trying Vaporfly Next% 2. The carbon plate is also comfortable. It can offer the driving power when running.

Deconstructed Vaporfly next%2

The Nike Zoom vaporfly NEXT% 2 running shoes is light. It can help you to improve the running speed. The insole adds cushioning configuration which reduces the weight of shoes and offer excellent energy feedback and comfortable experience. The vamp is thin and has good air permeability to keep the foot cool. The shoe head has TPU coating to improve the abrasive resistance and protection. The shoe tongue and shoe collar are added with padding to improve the comfort level and reduce the pressure of shoe tongue to the foot. The special insole ZoomX foam and full-length carbon plate can improve the running speed. The resilience is more excellent.

What kind of people is suitable to wear Vaporfly NEXT% 2?

I think that NIKE Vaporfly NEXT% 2 is a pair of top-level racing shoes.It’s not suitable for normal people to jogging. As for light weight, the supporting performance and protection of Vaporfly NEXT% 2 is not good. But the cushion performance is suitable to all kinds of people. So we suggest you to choose the running shoes by your own request.

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Deconstructed NIKE KD14

NIKE KD14 has been released. There are many details such as the return of Velcro, insole configuration(Cushlon foam with ZOOM STROBEL air cushion) which catch many people’s attention.


KD14 EP
CZ0170-101

Splitting the left shoe of KD14 from middle part

KD14 A-A section

Separating the vamp and insole of KD14 right shoe

The inspiration of Velcro comes from the sickle shape of Death. It improves the fitness.

The vamp has three layers. The first layer is jacquard weave, the second layer vamp has lots of ventilated holes to improve the air permeability.

The third layer is soft.

The surface of shoe-pad uses fabric material. It’s anti-skid and comfortable.

The ZOOM STROBEL cushion has groove design which is convenient for adapting to the moving direction of foot.

The length of EUR42.5 ZOOM STROBEL air cushion is about 276mm.

The width of of EUR42.5 forefoot ZOOM STROBEL air cushion is about 86.82mm.

The thickness of EUR42.5 forefoot ZOOM STROBEL air cushion is about 7.21mm.

The thickness of EUR42.5 ZOOM STROBEL air cushion of rear sole is about 7.75mm.

The insole uses CUSHLON cushioning foam which is light and has good resilience.

The outboard TPU plate and arch TPU stabilizing plate improve the stability of insole.

The length of EUR42.5 TPU plate is about 126.70mm.

The width of EUR42.5 middle TPU plate is about 27.82mm.

The width of EUR42.5 TPU plate is about 4.19mm.


The length of EUR42.5 arch TPU stabilizing plate is about 81.74mm.


The width of EUR42.5 arch TPU stabilizing plate is about 49.23mm.

The thickness of EUR42.5 arch TPU stabilizing plate is about 4.08mm.

The rubber outsole is colorful. The XDR outsole is durable, and it’s suitable to kinds of courts.


The thickness of EUR42.5 outsole rubber is about 3.72mm. It can satisfy the daily request.

The deconstructed parts of KD14

Let’s have a look at the difference of KD14 and KD13. Both of them are EUR42.5.

KD14

KD13

KD14 (above) uses ZOOM STROBEL air cushion, arch TPU stabilizing plate and TPU plate which offer better stability.
KD13 (bottom) uses ZOOM STROBEL air cushion and independent forefoot ZOOM Air cushion and arch TPU stabilizing plate. The resilience feedback is more obvious.

Both of KD14 (left) and KD13 (right) uses inner sleeve design which fits the foot.
The Velcro design of KD14 offer better fitness.

KD14 (left) uses grenadine vamp. Comparing with the mesh fabric vamp of KD13 (right), the overall strength is better and it’s more durable.

Both of the shoe-pad of KD14 (left) and KD13 (right) uses fabric material.

The reverse side of KD14 (left) and KD13 (right) shoe-pad has groove which accord with ZOOM STROBEL air cushion.

Both of KD14 (left) and KD13 (right) use ZOOM STROBEL air cushion.

EUR42.5 KD14(above) ZOOM STROBEL air cushion, the width of forefoot cellosilk is 63.80mm.
EUR42.5 KD13(bottom) ZOOM STROBEL air cushion, the width of forefoot cellosilk is 61.62mm. The difference is 2mm. But KD14 is more stable.

The TPU plate and arch TPU stabilizing plate of KD14 (left) is bigger than KD13 (right).

The thickness of KD14(left) TPU plate is about 4.19mm. The thickness of KD13(right) forefoot TPU plate is about 2.43mm.
The thickness of KD14(left) arch TPU stabilizing plate is about 4.08mm. The thickness of KD13(right) arch TPU stabilizing plate is about 2.43mm

The thickness of EUR42.5 KD14 forefoot sole (insole + outsole) is about 17.53mm. The rear sole (insole + outsole) is about 25.24mm. The drop height is 7.71mm.

The thickness of EUR42.5 KD13 forefoot sole (insole + outsole) is about 18.02mm. The rear sole (insole + outsole) is about 25.12mm. The drop height is 7.1mm.

Deconstructed Report
Vamp: The grenadine vamp has good air permeability and durability. The big Velcro design improves the fitness.
Insole: KD14 uses CUSHLON cushioning foam and adjusted ZOOM STROBEL air cushion. It’s stable and comfortable. The feedback of ZOOM STROBEL air cushion is obvious. The side TPU plate and arch TPU stabilizing plate is useful.
Overall: Comparing with KD13, KD14 has improved the strength of vamp and fitness. The disadvantages of KD13 is the soft vamp and bad supporting performance. It reduces the independent forefoot ZOOM Air cushion. The insole uses Cushlon cushioning foam. The side TPU plate and arch TPU stabilizing plate are reinforced. It doesn’t use the independent forefoot fanshaped air cushion, so it reduces the risk of cracked sole.
Each generation of new models will make changes. But maybe not each change is suitable to each one, but every improvement is worthy of recognition.

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Unboxing and Closed Look: Adidas Solar Boost 3

When speaking of Adidas series running shoes, people must think of Ultra Boost series. Recently, Ultra Boost series bring the brand-new Ultra Boost 21 and Solar Boost 3.  Let’s have a look at Solar Boost 3 today.

The appearance is still Adidas style. It’s not so exaggerated as Ultra Boost 21.

The main colorway is white and decorated with gray and orange.

The vamp is made of gray mesh fabric. It uses PRIMEGREEN recycle environmental protection material.

The heelpiece is made of unique foam and Boost bilayer structure. It’s not only soft and resilient, but also stable.

The outsole is added with brand-new adidas LEP system. It’s useful to improve the performance.

The insole of Solar Boost 3 is still made of foam and Boost bilayer structure. It’s comfortable. It can be compared with UltraBoost. The insole is thick, with the LEP system, the foot feeling is similar to full-length carbon plate running shoes. Overall, Solar Boost 3 is comfortable. It has good resilience, the feedback is great.

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NIKE ZOOM G.T. CUT Performance Review

Recently, NIKE released the brand-new ZOOM G.T. CUT, which uses full-length ZOOM air cushion and U shape Zoom air cushion with React shoe-pad configuration. Many guys are interested in it. Today we will share the performance review of NIKE ZOOM G.T. CUT with you.

Fitness: The fitness is excellent. It can fix the foot well after fastening the shoelaces.

Cushion Performance: It uses uses full-length ZOOM air cushion and U shape Zoom air cushion with React shoe-pad configuration. The forefoot sole is soft. The resilience is good when shooting at the basket.

Supporting Performance: The strength of vamp is good. With both sides of outboard TPU reinforcement, the supporting performance is good. The center of gravity is not high. The forefoot sole is wide, so the anti-rollover performance is good.

Air Permeability: We can see the ventilated holes on shoe head and shoe tongue, and the vamp is made of mesh fabric, moreover, it doesn’t have inner sleeve. The air permeability should be good.

Traction Performance: The outsole pattern is herringbone and water ripple. The traction performance is good without absorbing the dust. But after the outsole absorbing the dust, the traction performance would be reduced. I need to test the traction performance on wood floor.

Abrasive Resistance: We have found the rough selvedge after playing about 2 hours basketball. The abrasive resistance of ZOOM G.T. CUT is similar to ZOOM Kobe series shoes. We suggest you not to wear ZOOM G.T. CUT to play on outside court, it’s suitable to play on wood floor.

Size: The size is standard.

The unit weight of EUR42.5 ZOOM G.T. CUT is 415g.

Overall: The configuration of brand-new ZOOM G.T. CUT is good, but the actual performance is not good. The inboard supporting performance is the disadvantage. And the traction performance is not good especially after absorbing the dust.

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The Released Information of LEGO x adidas UltraBOOST

The world famous toy bricks brand LEGO declares that it builds the long-term cooperation relationship with Adidas in 2020. Adidas released ZX8000 series shoes in 2020. The first 2021 cooperating shoes LEGO x adidas UltraBOOST has exposed. It uses the classic toy bricks shape of LEGO blending in the classic Adidas logo.

The new jointly signed LEGO x adidas UltraBOOST model is based on the first cooperating model. The colorway is black and green. LEGO classic blocks are integrated into many parts of vamp to make wonderful Adidas logo.The shoe tongues are printed with both of the brands LEGO and Adidas. The shoe head is made of ventilated material. The insole uses white Boost insole and the outsole is Continental rubber. The cushion performance and abrasive resistance are excellent.

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Adidas 4DFWD Performance Review

Adidas unveiling epoch-making mid-range technology. The new generation 4DFWD technology insole has been evolved. By improving the dynamics structure, and combining the most advanced 3D line printing with the testing data of athletes, it improved that it can transfer the vertical impact force to boosting power to improve the running speed. The 3D printing insole technology is officially coming.

Adidas dedicates to develop the technology of running shoes for several years. It keeps improving the performance of running shoes to help the athletes to go beyond themselves.

Since 2015, Adidas cooperating with Silicon valley high-tech 3D printing brand CARBON used the first generation of Futurecraft 4D insole as prototype to seek breakthrough. In 2021, they successfully made the unique FWD insole grid structure.

The original FWD geometry grid structure can convert the compressing force into single horizontal pushing power. Comparing with last generation Futurecraft 4D insole, the propulsion is improved 300% and the cushioning performance is improved about 20%.

4DFWD technology insole has been tested by the precise instruments of top lab. And it’s also tested by the Adidas Germany research and development group and Adidas elitist runners. After unceasing feedback and amendment, it makes the perfect 4DFWD technology insole. The runners can feel the smooth experience of feet from the ground to the bounce.

The first pair of adidas 4DFWD series running shoes concentrates several top shoe-making technology of Adidas.

Below is the characteristics of adidas 4DFWD series running shoes:

  1. Epoch-making 4DFWD insole technology uses 39% biology material to make 3D biology line printing. After a series of testing, it sifts the special grid structure which can absorb the vertical impact force. The propulsion of 4DFWD is improved 300% and the cushioning performance is improved about 20%
  2. PRIMEKNIT Vamp: The socks type design Primeknit vamp offers good fitness and support. The knit material has good air permeability. The S seamless streamlining design on the shoe heel offers better fitness.
  3. The rhomboid rubber outsole offers great abrasive resistance and traction performance which can reduce the force of friction. It can push the runners to run forward.

The first released colorway of Adidas 4DFWD is black and it’s decorated with red. The 4DFWD insole is semi-transparent white.

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Adidas ULTRABOOST 21 Performance Review

I found that many runners wear the Adidas ULTRABOOST 21 to run recently. And many people are expecting this model after releasing.

As a marathon enthusiast, I concern the technology and practicability of running shoes. Let’s have a look at the insole of Ultraboost 21. The boost material is made of TPU foam. When foaming, the volume is bigger, it becomes lighter and elastic.The foaming Boost particles are white.

The characteristics of BOOST is soft, light and elastic. After squeezing, it can recover to be swelling fastly and offer great cushioning effect.

Moreover, it doesn’t need time to break-in Boost insole. It’s comfortable. According to the testing data, the performance of Boost won’t be effected by the temperature.

ULTRABOOST 21 adds 6% Boost more than ULTRABOOST 20. So the insole of ULTRABOOST 21 is thicker.

The shoe heel of ULTRABOOST 21 is widened and thickened. For most of runners, the cushion performance is better and it’s more stable. The drop height of running shoes is about 8mm. But the drop height of ULTRABOOST 21 forefoot sole and rear sole is 10mm. This drop height is more convenient for runners to run faster.

What’s the disadvantages of Boost? ULTRABOOST 21 uses LEP (Linear Energy Push) system in Boost. It’s the brand-new technology of Adidas. LEP is built-in the bottom layer of Boost insole, it’s extends from the middle part of rear sole to forefoot sole. It improves the bending rigidity of forefoot sole to offer excellent supporting performance and anti-torsion performance.

ULTRABOOST 21 uses CONTINENTAL rubber which has good abrasive resistance and traction performance.

It has hollow-out design on the rear outsole. It reduces the weight.

As a pair of running shoes, ULTRABOOST 21 also upgrade the structure of vamp. It’s made of Primeknit and Primeblue recyclable material. It’s reinforced by 2cm double layers of knit which guarantee the supporting performance of vamp. Both sides of shoe heel adds TPU plate which is also extending to the position of arch. It strengthens the heelpiece and stability of arch. It improves the protection to the ankle.

The lacing system of ULTRABOOST 21 still uses 3 pieces of transparent TPU  on both sides of vamp to improve the supporting performance.

The vamp of Ultraboost 21 is integrated. The topline uses socks type design. The topline uses double layer elastic structure. It improves the fitness. The pull-tab design of shoe heel is convenient for putting on and taking off.

The Boost is soft and elastic. The thickened 6% Boost offers excellent cushion performance. As Boost doesn’t need time to break-in, I can feel the excellent cushion performance in the beginning of running.

But Boost is soft, it’s not suitable for long-distance running. UltraBoost 21 uses LEP system and Continental outosle which can offer excellent supporting performance and stability when running.

The shoe tree of UltraBoost 21 has been changed. It has widened design on forefoot sole.

Overall, the thick Boost design of UltraBoost 21 offers excellent cushion performance. The LEP system offers good support and protection to Boost. It’s suitable for most of runners. But if you want to run full Marathon, UltraBoost 21 maybe too heavy for you, you can try Adidas zero adios pro.

UltraBoost series are popular in the market. The design is fashion, and the Boost insole is comfortable. It’s also suitable for daily dressing.

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Unbox and Closed Look: NIKE KD14

After NIKE KD7, the cross strap design hasn’t been used again in the further KD series shoes. It’s a pity for the shoe fans. KD14 bring back the cross strap design. The design inspiration comes from the nickname of Kevin Durant—Slim Reaper.

KD14 EP

The shoebox is black. The design is concise. The front side of cover is printed with KD, and the side of cover is printed with KEVIN DURANT XIV. The side of shoebox has Kevin’s signature.

The side shoe tag of shoebox

The vamp of KD14 is amazing. The air permeability of mesh is good, and it’s durable. The vamp uses jacquard weave technology.

The embroidered SWOOSH logo

The cross strap of KD14 is attractive, it increases the fitness. Actually, the KD2, KD4 and KD7 has the cross-strap design.

The inspiration of cross strap comes from the scythe shape of Death. The inspiration slim Swoosh logo comes from NIKE BRUIN.

The inner side of cross strap has Kevin Durant’s signature.

The design inspiration of this part comes from NIKE PRESTO. It combines the retro and modern. The 14 death paw marks work in concert with FOURTEENTH EDITION.

The mesh fabric shoe-tongue has KD logo. It uses contrast color design.

The stacked shoe heel pattern improves the strength and offer better supporting performance. The V shape shoe collar fits the heel tendon well, it’s comfortable.

The insole uses Cushlon cushioning foam. Comparing with PHYLON foam, it’s lighter and the resilience is better.

The outboard TPU plate on the vamp offers better stability.

The inspiration of yellow semi-transparent TPU comes from the fibril of ZOOM Air cushion, which works in concert with ZOOM STROBEL air cushion.

The insole of shoe heel is widened. It improves the stability.

The colorful outsole has hidden skull pattern. The forefoot and rear foot pattern draw the outline of skull pattern.

The TPU stabilizing plates on the arch part are the eyes. The yellow part with Air Zoom is the nose. The forefoot track pattern is the teeth.

The outsole has several patterns. The widened pattern offer multi-directional traction performance. The track pattern inherits from KD13.

XDR material is suitable for kinds of courts.

The arch TPU stabilizing plate is stiff, it improves the overall strength.

The shoe-pad has grooves to fit the ZOOM STROBEL air cushion.

The length of EUR42.5 shoe-pad is about 272mm.

The width of EUR42.5 shoe-pad is about 93.54mm.

The thickness of EUR42.5 shoe-pad is about 7.81mm.

The thickness of EUR42.5 shoe-pad (the thinnest part of groove) is about 6.64mm.

The groove of ZOOM STROBEL air cushion are designed to accommodate the moving direction of foot, it improves the overall performance.

The unit weight of EUR42.5 KD14 is about 402.4g.

Overall

NIKE KD14 is designed by the designer of Kyrie series shoes-Benjami Nethongkome. The return of cross strap design is attractive. The insole uses Cushlon foam with ZOOM STROBEL air cushion.

The size is standard. The shoe-tongue design is convenient for putting on and taking off. The width of forefoot sole is moderate. After fastening the shoelaces, the fitness is good. I can feel the feedback of ZOOM STROBEL air cushion obviously when jumping and running.

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Nike Air Zoom Pegasus 38 Performance Review

Many runners are favorite of the Nike Pegasus series running shoes. The brand new Nike Air Zoom Pegasus 38 has adjusted the details of midfoot to improve the fitness. It keeps up the forefoot ZOOM Air cushion design of Pegasus 37, which offers excellent resilience. In short, Pegasus 38 fulfills the Pegasus lines’ promise of comfort and superior performance.

Upgraded Creation

  1. Pegasus 38 widen the space of forefoot by the new shoe tree design. The runners may notice that the shape of Pegasus 38 is similar to Pegasus 36.

2.  The brand-new midfoot webbing covers the foot, which allows each runner to tighten the shoelaces according to his habit.

3. The vamp is made of engineering mesh fabric to make different thickness design to improve the comfort level and air permeability. It offers excellent fitness to the runners. It’s very comfortable when running.

4. The shoe tongue adds padding which upgrade the comfort level.

The insole keeps up the design of Pegasus 37——React foam offers sensitive resilience.

The ZOOM Air cushion on forefoot sole offers excellent energy feedback.

Pegasus 38 has opened the NIKE BY YOU service. The runners can adjust the arch height, outsole material and the colorway of shoelaces etc. To make its exclusive design.

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Nike KD 13 Performance Review

At the end of the day, Kevin Durant, who was injured in the playoffs previously, still released his new edition of signature shoes, the Nike KD 13. Similar to the Kyrie 6, this Nike KD 13 is also kind of improved version of the previous one. To be honest,  I deemed that it was nigh impossible that the shoes would make a difference initially and I was nearly to give up expecting something from it.

After all, in many cases, improved shoes can not gain the equal popularity as does their original versions. However, after testing this pair of Nike KD 13, I did have some different views about improved shoes.

To begin with, from my perspective, the shoes’ cushioning is the most satisfactory setup. Actually, it’s safe to say that this is a perfect setup.

I’m sure it is widely known that KD13 boasts a luxurious cushioning setup of the full-foot and front-foot ZOOM. But the fact is that there are also lots of shoes boasting excellent cushioning setups that disappoint their fans. Therefore, I was not optimistic about the cushion of this KD13 at the beginning.

However, it was not until I tried the shoes on that I found I was quite wrong. It is in fact very elastic instead of being too soft. The ZOOM in the front part also helps a bit in offering more traction in startup, which does surprise me a lot. And personally, I think there isn’t a cushioning setup that is more satisfying.

With respect to the grip performance, I should say that it is also prominent. Dating back the days when I was still obsessed with the KD12, I found it a bit disappointing that the shoes’ grip performance was just above average and didn’t stun me. However, when it comes to this KD 13, all the regrets have been made up for.

As you can see in the outsole, it is quite colorful and the grains are actually quite similar to that of the PG series. There are many circles in the outsole, which is a very popular design in recent years. In my first testing of the shoes, I’ve perceived that the outsole could not be very long-lasting, and if you expect it to last for several years, you’d better not wear it on rough floors. But on the other hand, I also found during the period that it was easy for the outsole to deal with the wet roads. After hours’ of testing, there was not in the least any signs of slipping. In short, both the transverse and longitudinal traction performances are outstanding and can be sufficient for use.

For the wrapping, I feel it is also sufficient. For example, so long as I tighten the laces, the shoes can wrap my feet tightly. Therefore, if you are not a wide-footer, you are set to  enjoy the fantastic experience the shoe offers.

Then when we are talking about the vamp, many people might have found that the vamp of this pair of shoes is super thin and lightweight. And many will also get surprised by its nice supporting performance with such a thin vamp.

The TPU at the heel plays quite an important in enhancing the shoes’ support.

From the outsole we can see that there are also TPUs which are not solid but enough for use though.

But for the blue supporting setup in the picture below, it seems that its performance is quite average and one can not count too much on it.

Of course, there are some disadvantages of the shoes. For example, the anti-rollover protection performance is not that perfect. Because of this, my impression of the shoes has somewhat influenced.

Overall:

To sum up, however good or bad the shoes are evaluated by people, I think I’ve got my right one and also the most suitable one. So, you might as well keep your own ideas about the shoes, and go and find your most suitable one.