Same Name, Same Performance?
Written: Dec 04 '07
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Excellent cushioning, flexibility of outsole, good support
Cons: Not GREAT support, quality of upper materials
The Bottom Line: If you want an all-around shoe, this is a good choice, especially the price it is set at now.
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| nikefreak's Full Review: Nike Air Huarache Elite Tb Basketball for Men |
Well, this shoe is a newer version of the most excellent Nike Zoom Huarache 2K5 that came out in, you guessed, it, 2005. It works on its predecessor's base, outsole, and cushioning. You can even make a case for saying this is the same exact shoe, albeit the name, and you'd almost be right. There are just some slight differences that may make a difference in your decision.
Let's start with the upper which is inspired by a Mexican sandal, thus the name Huarache. Nike's designers came up with this free-flowing shoe design in the mid-'90's, popularized by Michigan's Fab Five. It was meant to free up a basketball player's foot and not have so much added weight to the upper, yet still provide good enough support. This concept has been extremely good in providing players with lightweight, yet stable basketball shoes. The upper is made of a synthetic leather, which provides the foot with a good measure of support. In true Huarache-style, your ankle is left free-flowing, with neoprene ankle inserts right where your malleoli is, the bone that protrudes from your foot. This gives a very free feeling, yet still provides breathability through the perfs in the inserts. My whole foot definitely felt coddled, as there is a seam-free internal bootie that wraps around it, making sure your foot feels good internally.
The ankle strap is where you get the majority of the support, in which it wraps around the inserts and comes to a stop on the other side of the shoe, attached by Velcro. It does a pretty good job of locking down the foot, although I felt you had to overtighten it on the side to get the proper support for my foot, thus leaving a chunk of the strap hanging awkwardly off to the side. This may not be an issue with everyone, so keep that in mind; it may just be my weird feet! You can put the strap in a small sheathing attached to the inside of itself if you don't want to wrap the strap around to the Velcro on the side.
Now on the Zoom part. Encased in the lightweight Phylon midsole, are two Zoom Air units. Before I get into that cushioning, let me explain what Phylon is. The material is made of heated EVA, ethylene vinyl acetate, which is a resilient foam material. The EVA itself is heated until it can be easily molded into a midsole form, producing Phylon, which is die-cut and lighter than the original EVA material and provides good shock absorption. A shoe can actually just have a Phylon midsole as its cushioning, but this will break down much faster without something to augment it. Ok, so now back to the Zoom Air units. They are placed in the heel and forefoot and provide excellent, responsive cushioning. It's like a regular Nike Air bag, but it has tensile fibers placed inside it, then inflated to a certain P.S.I. When these fibers have pressure put on them by your feet, it top-loads the Air bag, sending the responsive feeling to the bottom of your feet because the fibers spring into place. This makes for a tremendous feeling and gives your feet a bit more response time on the court.
There is an internal TPU (thermoplastic urethane) plate that provides torsional rigidity in your arch, sandwiched between these two units. Remember how I said there are difference in the Zoom Huarache 2K5 and this shoe? There is the one of the two major differences. The 2K5 implemented a full-length carbon fiber shank, which gives the shoe more propulsion and support, as well as cutting out weight since carbon fiber is so light. This feeling is a lot more stable than just the TPU plate. Another of the support features is gone and this particular one makes a major difference, even more so than the plate. The 2K5 implemented a TPU heel chassis that surrounded the heel cup and spread out to the arch for torsional rigidity, while also providing lateral stability on quick cuts and side-to-side movements. This was a prominent structure and Nike did away with this for the Elite. I have no idea why (ok, well, I do, cutting costs of course), but they should of left it there because while the Elite is stable, it's nowhere near the feel of the 2K5. When cutting, there is a discernible difference between the two shoes. I did a comparison in back-to-back games and there difference was easily felt. Another thing that I thought the 2K5 outdid this shoe was its quality of materials. It felt much more supple on the upper and the design details where much finer than on the Elite.
Now that I have you confused with TPU and carbon fiber (lol), move on to the solid rubber outsole, which has the standard herringbone pattern that provides good traction on well-kept courts. It also implements Nike's Free technology in that the grooves are cut to have your feet feel more low-to-the-ground and very flexible. This carried-over element is definitely appreciated, as the outsole feels very minimal on my feet.
Ok, so is the Elite a good shoe? Yes. Is it near the performance-level I expect? In a team shoe, which this is marketed as, yes. I just feel that some of the elements left out could have elevated this from a good to a great shoe, ala, the 2K5. Especially since the 2K5 retailed at $130, while these retail at $125, just a $5 difference but with the 2K5 having two more significant materials added to it. Of course, there is already an Elite II out, so you can find this one for well-under retail, $80 at Eastbay.com but take my advice and go to a Nike outlet, you can find them for as low as $30! Of course, being a team shoe, you can find it in every color you can imagine. I would recommend this shoe to any forward or guard, and even lightweight big guys can ball in this shoe.
Recommended:
Yes
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