Adidas CodeChaos 22 Performance Review

You’re either going to love or hate the looks of the all-new adidas CodeChaos 22 spikeless golf shoes. They’re loud, out-there, and a little “chaotic”…but how do they perform?

Trust me on this one, everything about the Dunk Low 22 points towards this being my new favorite spikeless golf shoe. Let’s find out why.

adidas CodeChaos 22

Release Date: June 2022

Price: $160 ($140 for Women)

Sizing: True to size

• Rundown: All-day comfort, great stability, and adequate traction make this shoe an easy choice for your next round of golf.

Pros

• BOOST Cushion
• Stability
• Sustainability

Cons

• Traction

Pros

BOOST Cushion

As an avid fan of adidas BOOST, I was admittedly disappointed with the cushion of adidas’ flagship golf shoe, the TOUR360 22. This time around, adidas nailed the cushion. The adidas CodeChaos 22 is the most comfortable golf shoe that I’ve played in to-date.

I’m not sure what adidas did differently for this shoe, but the BOOST felt bouncy, responsive, and downright comfortable. Finally, all of that BOOST goodness we’ve come to love has been implemented in a way that provides all-day comfort and responsiveness to a golf shoe!

Have a golf trip coming up? You’ll have no problem walking 36 in the adidas CodeChaos 22…it’s just that comfortable.

Stability

Take one look at the adidas CodeChaos 22, and it’s easy to see why it’s such a stable shoe. The outsole wraps up onto the midsole (and beyond) in some spots to keep your foot contained and stable as you move through your downswing.

Plus, if you get yourself into a tricky situation, the Twist Grip traction wraps up the entire outsole. No matter the lie or stance, you’re going to feel stable and secure in the adidas CodeChaos 22.

Sustainability

These days it seems that sustainability is one of the best abilities a product can have. Thanks to adidas’ efforts to reuse and recycle, at least 50% of the materials used to make the adidas CodeChaos 22 are recycled.

I know, 50% doesn’t seem like a whole lot, but I’m okay with this type of thing becoming the norm. What good is a golf shoe if they aren’t any courses to play? Taking care of the planet is never a bad thing, so I’m giving adidas some points for making an effort.

Cons

Traction

Before you jump to a conclusion that isn’t correct, here me out: the TwistGrip traction on the adidas CodeChaos 22 isn’t bad. It’s far from bad. But, in comparison to some of the other spikeless shoes I’ve tested (i.e. FootJoy Fuel and Air Jordan 37), the traction is less than amazing.

As I was testing the traction I found the rubber lugs of the Twist Grip to be a little too flexible in some situations, which could cause some slippage down the road. You’ll only experience this in extreme cases, but overall the traction did not feel as grounded as did the options I mentioned above.

The Twist Grip is nothing to be afraid of, but just something to note. The everyday golfer will find it more than adequate. And frankly, I’m okay sacrificing a tiny bit in the traction department for the great ground feel that a spikeless shoe brings versus a spiked shoe.

adidas CodeChaos 22 Summary

The adidas CodeChaos 22 provides all-day comfort and ultimate stability in a package that’s overall better for the earth. The BOOST cushion and performance of the wrap-around outsole are more than enough to overlook the tiny faults of the Twist Grip traction.

Even if the looks are a little chaotic for your liking, you’ll be hard pressed to find any spikeless golf shoe that’s more comfortable and wearable than the adidas CodeChaos 22.

 

9.5/10

Total Score

Pros

• BOOST Cushion
• Stability
• Sustainability

Cons

• Traction

Puma Run XX Nitro Performance Review

The women-specific idea behind the Puma Run XX Nitro definitely shines as this shoe hugs the foot in all the right places. There’s not too much arch support, but the Run XX Nitro is designed to fit without extra heel locks or other lacing tricks. This trainer encourages a stable ride, features great traction on a variety of surfaces, and has decent responsiveness when you pick up the pace.

Puma Run XX Nitro

Release Date: June 17, 2022

Price: $130

Weight: 8.25oz

Drop: 8mm (23mm forefoot, 31mm heel)

Sizing: True to Size

• Rundown: The Puma Run XX Nitro women-specific running shoe with a narrow fit, stable ride, great traction, and a slightly hard or dense road feel.

Pros

• Women-specific fit
• Stability
• Traction

Cons

• Hard Ride
• Response

Pros

Women-Specific Fit

I’m always a sucker for a sneaker I can slide into without needing an extra heel-locking lace loop or thicker socks. The Jordan 37 fits well around the heel and forefoot without skimping in the toe box. I run very forward and had no issues with sliding within the shoe or my toes hitting the end of the toebox.

The mesh tongue is connected with elastic on the inside and stays nicely in place. The mesh upper provides decent breathability, especially in the humid (and hot!) southern temps I tested them in.

Stability

The Puma Run XX Nitro comes equipped with “Runguide” for foot strike guidance. It does this by placing a firm density rim around the heel. The Runguide is meant to promote alignment and centering of the foot throughout the stride. This stability feature really helped me on runs with tired legs. I found myself running more efficiently and landing with less pronation.

Traction

The Air Jordan rubber outsole provided great traction on pavement, wet pavement, old crumbly roads, and on the few gravel paths leading back to pavement. I felt confident I wasn’t going to slip and felt like I had a wide enough base and solid grip on the ground throughout the run.

Cons

Hard Ride and Response

The Puma XX Nitro claims to be the “perfect balance of durable and lightweight,” thanks to the firm NITRO foam midsole (Editor’s Note: the Nitro is firmer on the Run XX Nitro than on the Velocity Nitro 2 or the Magnify Nitro, Puma’s top of the line neutral daily running shoes). I found the shoe to ride a bit hard, meaning I could feel the ground but with not as much bounce-back response as I was expecting when running easy pace. However, when doing pick-ups, or running closer to tempo pace, the shoe seemed to respond back with a little more snap.

Puma Run XX Nitro Summary

The Puma Run XX Nitro women’s specific running shoe is a step in the right direction for realizing the difference between men’s and women’s feet and running needs. The fit, stability, and traction make it a trainer that I find myself reaching for when I need a little more stability or extra traction. You can buy the Puma XX Nitro women’s running shoe at Puma.

 

8/10

Total Score

 

Pros

• Women-specific Fit
• Stability
• Traction

Cons

• Hard Ride
• Response

Nike Kyrie Infinity 8 Performance Review

The Nike Kyrie Infinity is one of the most well-cushioned Kyrie shoes to this point. Some good elements from previous models return as well.

Colorway: Black/Multi-Color-White

Release Date: 2021

Price: $140

9.5/10 Total Score

Score Breakdown

Traction:9.3/10

Cushion:9.1/10

Materials:9.3/10

Fit:8.7/10

Support :8.5/10

Weight and Sizing

The Nike Kyrie Infinity is Kyrie Irving‘s 2021-22 signature shoe, but we’re not entirely sure what the brand would call them as some retailers instead listed them as the Nike Kyrie 8. Regardless of what these are called, though, we are excited to get them tested on the court. A lot of elements from the last two models as well as more recent Nike basketball releases have been included to make this shoe a certified bad boy performer.

I’ve been able to play in these both indoors and outdoors (though my short review video is all outdoors) and during league play, so I really put them through their paces. I’ll let you check out my performance review video above to see my verdict on the shoe.

Now let’s dive in to the full breakdown of the shoe:

Traction

The Kyrie 8 / infinity features a very similar traction pattern to the Kyrie 6 and the Kyrie 7. The pattern is etched into the rubber and it is super aggressive. The traction was superb and it was augmented by the shoe’s lockdown and support.

I got to use the Kyrie 8 during several playoff league games, on a court that tends to be pretty dusty and dirty. The competition level was high as was the intensity. On top of that, I’m coming off an Achilles tendon tear, and I still have to build muscle mass back in my left calf. All this to say that I was hyper-aware of the traction and support as they are the two features I was most wary about. I DO NOT want to re-injure that tendon.

If you have ever had a bad injury, you know that when you return you are a little gun-shy at the beginning and you slowly gain confidence as you play. I was very surprised that after just a quarter of play or so in the Kyrie 8, I was no longer focusing on my Achilles. I felt so safe and locked down in the shoe that instinct took over and I could play with no (mental) restrictions.

The traction had me stopping on a dime, making hard cuts, and locking down on defense. Now, if the support had been lacking, the traction wouldn’t have mattered. If your foot is sliding around as you stop or cut, the traction might even be a hindrance.

On outdoor courts, it worked equally as well. I have heard some people say that it is not the most durable set-up for outdoor play, but I personally have had no issues with this and my traction pattern looks the same as the first day I laced them up. That might have to do with the fact that I bought my pair in Spain where I live, and we might get a different rubber compound here, but my experience outdoors has been great.

But the Kyrie 8 was awesome, great traction and great support. But more on that later.

Cushion

The Kyrie 8 is the Kyrie model that packs the most cushioning tech out of all the shoes in the line. The Kyrie 8 features a phylon midsole, a U-shaped zoom unit in the heel, and a large zoom strobel in the forefoot. The same zoom strobel, in fact, that you will find in the Nike GT Run. Thats a lot of cushioning for a Kyrie Irving shoe.

Kyrie Irving seems to prefer low-profile shoes with a lot of court feel and responsiveness, so it’s surprising to see this level of cushioning. But the fact of the matter is that the implementation of the zoom unit and strobel allow the shoe to provide a ton of impact protection and even feel bouncy while keeping you close to the ground like a traditional Kyrie shoe.

I really enjoyed the cushioning. I prefer shoes on the responsive side to feel quicker on my feet. The Kyrie 8 did a really great job of providing cushy impact protection and responsiveness. In this aspect, they kinda’ of reminded me of the Puma Clyde All-Pro for some reason.

Materials

The materials on the Kyrie 8 were easily my favorite feature, and that’s saying something. The Kyrie 8 has a perfect blend of modern lightweight synthetic materials and old-school premium materials.

The synthetics do their job well and keep the shoe light and well ventilated. But the shoe also has some nice suede and leather on the heel which give the shoe a “premium signature” look and feel. I personally really like leather uppers so this was right up my alley. I even liked the puffy tongue which a lot of people didn’t care for.

You get all of the performance of a modern hoop shoe with a slick “90’s” design. Love it.

Fit

If there is one aspect to nit-pick it is probably the fit. I went true to size with my pair and I had no problems, but the consensus seems to be that the Jordan 37 fits snug. This being the case I would say to go up half a size, or if you have the chance, go into a store and try them on and see how they feel for you.

For me, the fit enhanced the support and lockdown and I had no issues what so ever.

Support

Support was again, excellent. I was paying close attention to the support because of my wonky leg and it worked great.

The Kyrie 8 features what Nike calls the Dynamic Strap System. In this video, our teammate Rico takes an in-depth look at this setup.

The shoe features 2 interior straps that surround your heel and forefoot respectively. When you lace the shoe, you tighten both straps, pulling your foot down into the footbed and securing it.

I thought that it worked great. I am a heavy guard and when support on a shoe is terrible I really notice, and not only did I have no issues with the support, I would say that the Kyrie 8 is one of the most secure feeling shoes I ever hooped in.

Overall

I know some of my WearTesters colleagues have other shoes they would put above the Kyrie 8 performance-wise, but everyone agrees that it is one of the best basketball shoes of 2022.

I personally think that the Kyrie 8 is the best basketball shoe of the year. Admittedly, it has everything I WANT in a basketball shoe. You might prefer a different cushioning setup, different upper materials, or just different aesthetics, but you will enjoy playing in the Kyrie 8 on some level.

UA Curry 6 Review: Most Innovative Curry Shoe EVER

It is now 2020 and despite the fact that the Curry 7 is out for a while now, I have to bring the Under Armour Curry 6 review first. Yes, that’s correct – I must show this to the ballers out there who are looking to get themselves a quality pair of basketball shoes to play in for a good price and to enjoy every bit of it.

You’ll soon find out why!

I’ll be talking about the shoe’s comfort & performance aspects, its overall build quality, and check what kind of players will love these the most.

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SPEC SHEET

 

Model: Under Armour Curry 6 (Team)

Build: Low-Top

Weight: 12.3 oz / 341 g. (Size 10)

Retail Price: $130

Cushion: Full-length HOVR

I. COMFORT & FIT

 

Pretty much just like most of Curry’s shoes, comfort is something that’s usually not lacking.

The Curry 6 is not an exception here – I found the kicks to be very comfortable pretty much at all times, no matter the movement.

Thanks to the full-on knit upper, some nice internal padding, and a quality fit, I’d say these are literally one of the most comfortable Curry or any UA athletic shoes ever. Period.

I should point out that I’m a wide footer but I went true to size and found the shoe to be as comfortable as it can get just over 40-60 minutes.

That’s what knit and a good implementation of it does – takes all the bulls**t break-in time away and makes sure you experience the full 100% of what the designers intended almost right away.

Absolutely a killer job in this department. Let’s move on!

II. TRACTION

 

The saying “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” definitely applies to basketball shoe technology and innovations, and it seems Under Armour did not look back once while making the 6th Curry iteration.

No classic herringbone traction pattern here – though that’s fortunately not a bad thing in this case.

I’ve found the traction to be solid most of the time, minus a few minimal slips here and there during the times I was zoned into the game and didn’t bother wiping the outsoles for a longer period of time.

Yeah, I’d say be prepared to do some wiping to preserve maximum traction, though by far not as much as it can get.

This also depends on the court condition, I was mostly playing either on a medium-condition wood court or outside on a synthetic rubber surface.

I’ve had zero problems inside. Outdoors though – it was still fine, just needed to wipe from time to time to make sure I’m not sliding out where I don’t need to.

So, I’ve definitely experienced better traction before but if I said the Dunk Low is problematic here – I’d be lying.

And you can take these outdoors too! This is for sure not an outdoor model specifically as the rubber might start deteriorating pretty soon, judging from the shallowness of it, but, again, not the most terrible variant I’ve seen.

III. CUSHION

 

The 6th model introduced the brand new HOVR cushion and it’s implemented in a full-length fashion here – the whole midsole you’re sitting on offers some really solid cushioning.

Comparing this setup to other well-known full-length cushion setups such as Nike’s Zoom Air or Adidas’s BOOST, this one won’t be as overly bouncy or “fun” to play in.

But, once again, that’s absolutely not a bad thing, especially comparing it to the previous Curry models. Most of them were too stiff to a lot of people’s preference as they were targeting lower profile guards like Curry himself, obviously.

This time though, things are changed, rebuilt, and optimized for just about any build or player.

I’m a very explosive player, and I love playing aggressively when I can, and these didn’t fail me at all.

The way HOVR is implemented here is definitely stable, impact absorption is not lacking and my step transitions were smooth as butter, thanks to the full-length midsole, plus the new speed plate.

I would’ve liked a bit more forefoot cushion but this is totally understandable, as fast, multi-directional players such as the splash brother Curry himself need maximum mobility along with strong court feel.

In a nutshell, don’t overthink about the Curry 6’s cushioning – it will work for pretty much everyone. Just don’t expect you’ll be walking on clouds.

IV. SUPPORT

 

Support and foot containment is something the Curry models never fail in.

The Curry 6 is once again at the top of its game in terms of this.

We’ve got a very nicely built flat and wide base of the shoe to promote a stable foundation, to begin with.

Next, we have a nicely shaped outsole with cut out grooves in areas where it accommodates certain movements, and the sides of the sneaker are widened out, so it’s basically an outrigger, responsible for lateral support.

Lastly, there’s also the external heel counter and a TPU speed plate implemented right under your foot, which also enhances torsional protection.

The knit upper won’t add to extra support here but don’t worry – don’t forget about the shoe’s great fit that’s contained properly.

These pretty much check every box in terms of support technology and feature, and in a way that’s not promoting poor comfort.

You can leave your ankle braces at home, the Curry 6 will handle the load for you.

V. BUILD & MATERIALS

 

The upper is pretty much 100% knit with some synthetic overlays added on top throughout certain key areas to ensure durability.

I love soft knit uppers and this one is not an exception. We all know pure knit/woven is generally less durable but I see these ones are built very nicely.

Pair that with the fuse overlays, and the fact that they’ll be used mostly outdoors, and it turns out it won’t be as weak as it’s so commonly perceived.

I’d say this is a fantastic offer for $130 – you generally won’t see premium knit setups like this one for that price tag.

VI. OVERALL

 

The Jordan 37 is no slouch for sure – every single category is well-done I can clearly tell Curry & company did not overlook any single detail or scenario when making these.

Despite the versatility of the shoe’s nature, I’d still say quicker, lighter guards who play mostly below the rim and love to stop and pop will love these the most.

However, if you don’t fall into that category of players, these will still work for sure!