Agreed. Air max wildcard has great cushioning and support, but durability is bad. Bring back the 4.3 and give it an outsole warranty, Nike has transcended reality.
Totally agreed. The newer cages just simply suck.
I hated how the 3 stretches out after awhile. The 2 has a weird midsole shape, and the 4 looks to be stiff and not comfortable. I can see why Delpo continues to use the air max cage.
Right now he’s using the cage 3, but during the entire lunar ballistic phase he used the 4.3 with a lunar ballistic upper. It had fake flywire, and what’s interesting is he had the rubber built up to cover the air max bubble on the inside. But he’s stuck with the 2.3 outsole since 2010, but I hope he fixes his problems with the cage 4 and uses that. I looked at some of his 2018, 2019 pictures of his shoes and the foam looks lower and shaped differently than retail cage 3.
I remember the threads about the CB4.3's eyelets breaking, or the Air Max bubble in the heel cracking or popping. I wouldn't mind seeing the original Air Max Cage back with a tighter heel, but the durability wasn't amazing. The outsole was grippy but pretty soft below the toe box.
I think it would be smart of Nike to do what Nadal does and have a rubber wall over the inner side of the air bag. That’s where most pops happen I presume.
The wildcard gets wider as you wear it. The durability is crap, but I went from painful narrow to comfortable wide after a week. Make sure you get a comfortable size and then it will get wider.
Air max Cage was a good shoe but too wide for me, the 4.3 was amazing, the cover around the ankle, the comfort and secure fit is one of a kind. The perfect shoe for me, is true that the eyelets were a flaw but still was a great performance shoe, that why I put the 2.3 or 4.3 in this post because 2.3 have even better outsole and eyelets but heavier and thats something most people don't like and now we have sole good stable shoes without the extra weight
Those are the air breathe free’s, but they are very similar.I'm shocked he's not still wearing the same pair he wore when he won the '09 US Open:
Just add some Shoe Goo and you're good to go...
I realize that. You obviously missed the joke.
I like the tongue in the Air Max Cage forget about that detail and agree with traction on the Breathe Cage 1 and 2 is AMAZING, but still the best for me was the 2.3 had everything a nike durable shoe must have plus the comfort, close is the 4.3. Nike should listen to this and reissue this shoes, I'm glad for the people who asked for a reissue of the ATC and updates of those shoes but is clear they lack at some point the need for performance (Breathability-Durability- Weight) and are made in nice colorways. Even the wildcard is a poor shoe and just for the air unit is getting good sales, hopefully we can also be lucky to get some 2.3 or 4.3 reissues just like Adidas did a few years ago with barricade 5. Nike is also the most succesfull company in avoiding customers suggestions so keep the nice pics of this shoes and the samples some have thay are cool asfHere's my airmax rankings (I've worn a ton of them):
1. Airmax Breathe Cage 1 (2007) - the best combination of speed and cushion ever in a nike shoe. Totally flexible upper with lots of mesh (so breathable). Really lightweight upper due to the mesh cutouts and thin plastic cage overlay. The airmax is executed perfectly, not stiff, just enough give. The bread and butter is the forefoot, the only post-2007 cage shoe to feature zoom in the forefoot (correct me if Im wrong there). Sweet color options too:
2. Airmax Cage (2014 - Del Po favorite) - heavier offering, but just fantastic comfort/traction. GOAT shoe tongue. This baby is like a cold pillow on its first voyage. Plush and really welll done. Cushions the front of the ankle with a high rise. This traction pattern is a good on hardcourt and meh on clay. Great for sliding on hardcourt, a little less dig in the forefoot traction lets the foot really glide then come to a halt as soon as the rubber around the midfoot pattern catches the ground. Only criticism is that it never really did it for me in the forefoot. The cushlon foam has a tendency to compress, making it sort of mold to the foot after a few months, in a bad way.
3. Airmax Breathe Cage 2 (2008) - great shoe. Just a few fatal flaws. Firstly the bootie was way more restrictive than the 2007 version, esp in the mid/forefoot. Just totally cups you there (will breakin over time). Traction is as excellent as the BC1, same pattern. The removal of the zoom forefoot is this shoe's ultimate fatal flaw. It completely destroyed the cushion's longevity, as the foam in the forefoot was less impressive than most midsoles of shoes sold at Target. Great colorways and design stylistically, sick looking shoe. Upper breathability was good, esp in the forefoot.
4. Aixmax Courtballistec 1.3/2.3 (2009) - What a surprise from Nike. The lunarlon is the forefoot was a brilliant move. Really well done. I think some of the best things about this shoe is the traction and the last. Really wide/stable last that made every step secure and comfy. Traction on inside of the toe could have been better (shallow cross pattern). Ventiliaion on the 1.3 was poor, 2.3 is better ventilated, 1.3 slightly more durable because of that more thick plastic upper.
5. Airmax Courtballistec 4.3 - similar to the Breathe Cage 2, but with a smaller toe box and less plush tongue. Weird thing about the tongue is that it's locked in place. Hard to pull-up after initial insertion of the foot. Still a solid/well-cushioned/comfy shoe. Big fan of the fitframe on the heel, lightweight but so good at containment. Traction on clay with the hardcourt version is surprisingly excellent. I'd play a match in these anyday.
Lol, Nike truly is the best when it comes to not giving a flip about what customers say. Though technically they listened when people said they burned holes into their cage 3’s at the toe, so they beefed that up.
The closest I think they’ve gotten to the old school cushioning of the breathe free’s was the zoom zero and air max wildcard, along with the air max cage.You'd hope they'd listen. I created a thread with 88k views and over 22 pages of content essentially calling for Nike to make more cushioned shoes. Haven't seen much since I published that thread in 2014
Decline of proper cushion
Zoom zero was refreshing. Especially on the heels of them discontinuing the lunar ballistic, which was a really well cushioned shoe. Air max wildcard or any “budget” offering tend to disappoint me. Not sure if anyone here has worn a pair
I own a pair of the wildcard. The cushioning comes from the insole, which is extremely plush and has a very soft forefoot. The only one problem is the fit, which is very narrow out of the box but after awhile it stretches and feels amazing, even for my semi-wide foot.
Well cushioned, terrible traction and as stable as playing with bare socks. I'm glad nike discontinued that shoe to be honest
FWIW, I'm 99% sure that the BC2 has Zoom unit in the FF.
It’s interesting in the 2009 AO Final it looked like Fed was also wearing the Vapor 6’s instead of the 7, so they both had a hard time transitioning. Then again the 7 could have just came out after.
Yeah, I’ve wondered why so few tour players(besides Nadal’s modifies cages) actually use the cage on tour. Edmund uses it but the only other player I ever saw wear a cage 3/2 was Dan Evans and Benoit Paige. I wonder why, maybe to keep the marketing focus on Nadal?
The Cage 3 isn't particularly comfortable (can't speak about the Cage 4, never wore it) and the Cage 2 had a rather singular fit. As a Top 100 pro, you probably can wear whatever shoe you want as long as you can afford lugging dozens of pairs around across the world. You probably would use more comfortable or lighter shoes than these with custom orthotics. I recall Dolgopolov saying he changed shoes almost every match as he threw them into the crowd.
Same! Found a great condition pair of the silver/navy/yellow ones at a thrift store in Dallas.
LOL I thought you meant you were still wearing em hahaha my bad.I meant that as Delpo's still wearing them...
Does Nike still produce this shoe just for him or he still has a bunch of it to keep using?I meant that as Delpo's still wearing them...
