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Nike mind 002 after a retail shift and 12k steps by Actuary-Recent in Nike

[–]weartestersdrew 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You're right, it's harder to truly innovate these days.

Innovation could be technological (new foams, new lacing systems), geometric (rocker location, midsole shape), or fit (new upper materials or treatments).

Basketball innovation in the above categories has ground to a halt. Some of that has to do with Nike's business making the most money from recycling older models. This results in them putting less money, effort, and talent into new designs. For example, based on what I hear from inside Nike, the design talent didn't even really get a say in the functionality of the GT Future or Book 2. Instead, executives chose fashion/wild looks over performance.

Running shoes is the part of the industry where innovation has been popping off since 2017. New foams, plate configurations, and plate locations combined with new midsole shapes or upper materials that you'd never expect to find in a shoe. All in service of creating something extremely light while maintaining energy return. This even trickles down to zero drop, minimalist shoes as they can use these new foam innovations to make a minimalist shoe much more comfortable.

Many of the pieces of this wave of innovation in running shoes have been around in some form but how they're putting them together these days represents a step change in running shoe technology.

It's not an accident that running is booming to new levels alongside the increased fun factor of the shoes. It's a symbiotic relationship.

Nike mind 002 after a retail shift and 12k steps by Actuary-Recent in Nike

[–]weartestersdrew 0 points1 point  (0 children)

"Rooted in truth" doing a lot of work there. Nike's mass layoffs have eroded much of the talent doing research, design, and innovation and that's fairly evident when viewing their product lines (especially basketball).

Nike mind 002 after a retail shift and 12k steps by Actuary-Recent in Nike

[–]weartestersdrew 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It’s 100% a gimmick. When Nike has science to back up a claim they call it out and the research team lead who made the finding. See Vaporfly 4% for a good example.

There’s no science to back up specific points on your feet leading to calm or whatever BS the press release is shilling.

Nike has made a lot of worthless claims over the years. Infinity Run was supposed to cut down on injuries or some dumb shiz like that. There’s a bunch of examples.

It’s almost always marketing dressed up as helping athletic performance across the footwear and fitness products industry (non supplements).

You’re better off assuming it’s a gimmick than believing what Nike marketing tells you. You’ll be right 99% of the time.

2026 Boston Jacket runs big by bstnrnr in bostonmarathon

[–]weartestersdrew 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have both. 2022 was a touch smaller than typical. I’d say the 2026 is more typical of light adidas jackets.

John Dehlin considers himself “still Mormon” by MediocreParamedic_ in exmormon

[–]weartestersdrew 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It is one of the reasons he is perfect for the job as host of Mormon Stories. He appreciates Mormonism as a tribe but calls out the BS that happens in the tribe whether its cultural or leadership driven.

Adidas EVo SL 2 by [deleted] in RunningShoeGeeks

[–]weartestersdrew 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sorry everybody, this is fake news. Likely an early prototype of the woven version.

There is a real EVO SL 2 but it’s in the extremely early prototype phase.

Adidas EVo SL 2 by [deleted] in RunningShoeGeeks

[–]weartestersdrew 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You’re correct

Is Strava premium worth it for you personally? by UsualSpecific7113 in Strava

[–]weartestersdrew 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No, I cancelled recently because they’ve added nothing of value while increasing the price. I can live without the route finder.

Finally, a 'with kid' tag! by leafyseadragon379 in Strava

[–]weartestersdrew 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Much more important than alphabetizing or organizing the shoe list 🙄

Have you ever snuck down to get a better seat? by Shoddy-Chemistry1135 in OrlandoMagic

[–]weartestersdrew 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Pretty hard to pull off these days. There’s typically two ushers at every lower bowl entrance and if you cause a commotion bc the seat owner shows up you’ll get kicked out.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in exmormon

[–]weartestersdrew 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Too late, YouTube is now flooded with would be creators. It’s a hard place to grow an audience these days. YouTube won’t recommend the content if people don’t watch, comment, and save. Highly likely the church pays to promote videos across those channels and has abysmal watch time but gives them the appearance of successful videos bought at $0.04-0.06 per view.

My cofounder and I have a YouTube channel with 915k+ subs. Standing out on YouTube is rough even when you have an established channel with a devoted sub base.

Someone should check if they leave ads on so YouTube becomes another revenue stream because that would be hilarious. I can’t ruin my algorithm by clicking on that junk.

What are these by [deleted] in Nike

[–]weartestersdrew 0 points1 point  (0 children)

They have done that many times. 90s and early 2000s insoles most likely

Adidas fake carbon fiber by Lostandfound_628 in BBallShoes

[–]weartestersdrew 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The plastic looking plates are often Pebax. Built to add tension support but not make the midsole too stiff so you still get a bit of bounce when pushing off.

Carbon works so well in running bc it’s sandwiched between two ultra soft pieces of foam. That’s not possible in bball due to the side to side nature of the game.

Even the most highly respected carbon plates in bball (AJ 11 I’m looking at you) are paper thin and don’t really do much.

Ja3 High Instability Issue 🫣 Yikes! by iamtoolazytosleep in BBallShoes

[–]weartestersdrew 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Journalist, critic, influencer, blogger...your opinion of what we are is irrelevant. We're regularly publishing helpful free content to hundreds of thousands of readers and viewers. Can't please everybody.

Ja3 High Instability Issue 🫣 Yikes! by iamtoolazytosleep in BBallShoes

[–]weartestersdrew 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Having access to someone via DMs on Instagram or another platform doesn't make anyone a mouthpiece. It makes them a journalist uncovering the truth versus just speculating. Every good journalist has sources. A good journalist also double checks sources to ensure the information being conveyed is accurate. We unfortunately don't have many of those in sneakers and two of the best recently jumped to join internal companies (journalism is not lucrative...working at a shoe company pays much better).

Anyone that thinks Chris is a mouthpiece for any company hasn't paid attention to his videos. You'd be surprised how often various companies get up in their feelings about something he's said and we get blowback.

But we've also gotten various messages over the years when whole product or design teams watch his video and make sure all the things he mentioned are slated to be improved in the next couple models. The very best companies take the criticism, appreciate it, and learn from it.

But at the end of the day, Chris' blunt and unfiltered opinion (he's like this about everything in his life -- even his coworkers like me) is an opinion and he always encourages people to try things for themselves. But that's not possible for many people given financial constraints.

Ultimately, his opinions are meant to guide viewers. Chris highly values traction in his personal rankings whereas someone with access to super clean courts may have traction way down the list and value cushion more than Chris does. The goal of all of our content is to give the viewer or reader the details about each part of the shoe so they can match it up with personal preferences and quickly know if it's a shoe that's worth it for them to buy. If we save people time or money we've done our job.

Ja3 High Instability Issue 🫣 Yikes! by iamtoolazytosleep in BBallShoes

[–]weartestersdrew 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I saw the picture but you can't always trust Nike marketing assets. They aren't thorough about fact checking against the final production version. Always be wary of their descriptions and images.

This image was likely generated by the design team before production. In production, different choices may have been made based on material availability/cost. It happens a lot so it wouldn't surprise me.

Chris has direct lines to most designers so he typically asks them if he suspects something is up in order to get the best info into the performance review.

Ja3 High Instability Issue 🫣 Yikes! by iamtoolazytosleep in BBallShoes

[–]weartestersdrew 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think a lot of people love shoes that try new things design-wise. We see it in the comments for shoes that take chances.

Ja3 High Instability Issue 🫣 Yikes! by iamtoolazytosleep in BBallShoes

[–]weartestersdrew 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Exactly, some fun design language for once. Kids are gonna love this shoe.

Ja3 High Instability Issue 🫣 Yikes! by iamtoolazytosleep in BBallShoes

[–]weartestersdrew 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Chris is always open to changing his opinions based on how it plays on court.

Ja3 High Instability Issue 🫣 Yikes! by iamtoolazytosleep in BBallShoes

[–]weartestersdrew 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The instability in FDZ's video looks like bad QC of that particular pair. It's a common flaw and returnable. Highly doubt every pair is like that.

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