Play Like Lightning Himself In These
Written: Sep 01 '04
|
Product Rating:
|
|
|
Pros: Awesome cushioning, great ankle support, superb traction, very unique
Cons: A bit on the heavy side
The Bottom Line: If you wanna perform like Vick or just need a great football cross-trainer, this is for you
|
|
|
| nikefreak's Full Review: Nike Air Zoom Vick Men's Shoe |
Ok, you are not gonna play like Michael Vick, quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons, unless you have the uncanny abilities like he does, but you can get in the right training mood and be able to perform some nifty foot movements to try and mimic his crazy twists and turns with his cross-training shoe of choice.
This shoe came out and created a bit of a stir with it's unusual look. The first thing that comes to mind is the prominent ankle strap that wraps around the front of the tongue to the back. It is modeled after the Nike Air Force One, one of the most influential shoes ever made in the history of shoes. Vick loved that shoe, so he had Nike designers incorporate it onto the upper. Next, are vented scoops that give it a flared look. These were inspired by the vents on race cars. So, definitely different design elements were incorporated into one shoe.
The upper is made of synthetic leather with molded Nubuck for support, which is inlaid in the shoe. This gives some nice comfort, but actually is a bit heavy on the foot. The ankle strap provides lateral support as you make sharp cuts back and forth. It provides a real nice lock-down feel, exactly as you would expect to be in a high-quality basketball shoe, so the ankle support is very good. Providing the strap's anchor is a plastic piece that it wraps itself into, then is velcroed in place. This is a standard and good-working mechanism, as the strap stays firmly in place when training, never once getting out of its velcro. As I mentioned before, there are air vents in the upper and they provide good ventilation and allow your sweat to dissipate.
Speed cushioning is provided by a full-length Zoom Air unit, which gives your foot unsurpassed responsiveness and a low-to-the-ground feel. Yet again, the unit is lightweight and gives you sense of security, as it allows your foot to feel every inch of the ground, court, whatever surface you are working on. Its intrinsical (wow, the spell-check doesn't think this is a word; stupid computer intelligence!) feel really makes a difference on how your foot can react to different things that happen on the field. Combined with the double-lasted Phylon midsole, it gives a tremendous overall cushioning experience. In case you don't remember what Phylon is from my other shoe reviews, here is a quick recap. It's a heated and compressed EVA (ethylene vinyl acetate) foam cushioning compound that is light and resilient and capable of giving a soft, smooth ride. Also, its non-yellowing and impervious to attack from from water and microbials, in case you want to dance around in the water, although I don't recommend doing that!
A TPU shank is incorporated into the arch for torsional rigidity and provides some good support. The outsole is full of nubs for traction, especially so on artificial turf. It's combined with a slight herringbone pattern on the lateral and medial sides. It's a quite nice combination and is pretty durable. Making lateral and horizontal moves is a breeze.
There are several cool details on this shoe. A lenticular panel with Vick's signature engraved is on the lateral side in silver script, a translucent "Zoom Air" box right below it, a special Vick logo that has a "7" in the middle of a football, another 7 and the words "Be Unexpected" on the heel pull tab. Be unexpected is what you might just do in this shoe. It comes in white-black/red and black-red/white colorways, that's it. His second one, the Zoom Vick II, is actually set to release very soon, so this one you can find for a discounted price. Nike makes so many shoes so fast that I can barely keep up; although I am not complaining, it's hard to review a shoe when a new one in that same series pops up so fast!
Well, this shoe is mainly targeted toward football players who need a good cross-trainer, but can be used toward others who want a higher-cut shoe for their training needs. Go out there and perform like on of the NFL's most exciting players, granted, if he stays healthy! (Crossing fingers right now)
Recommended:
Yes
|
|
|
|
|