monologuist
Hall of Fame
well...I've seemingly run the complete gauntlet of tennis shoes in recent months, without a lot of luck. I play about 3 times a week, at about 2 hours a session.
I started out with Nike Court Motions : soles wore out in about a month, forefoot cushioning was abysmal.
Then I tried the New Balance CT 1001's : Good fit for my wide feet, but felt super clunky and heavy and unresponsive.
Next up was a pair of Nike Air Resolve Plus : These fit me very well, had a nice balance of support, comfort, and acceptable weight, but they had really poor ventilation, and I wore out the soles in just a hair over 6 months (too bad, since they had 6-month warranties!). I'd consider the Resolves again in the future though.
In search of something lighter weight, I picked up some Diadora Speedzones. While they looked slick and certainly lived up to their claim as being the lightest and quickest performing tennis shoe, it was at the cots of serious deficiencies in support : I really destroyed my feet in these at a tournament.
Thinking I'd give Nike one more try, I picked up some Vapor Speeds. Unfortunately me for me, just days after puirchasing them, a thread was started about the heel air units in these things popping. THe very next time out, POP. I sent them back to Nike a few weeks ago but have not heard a peep from them yet.
While their shoes didn't ever seem to fit my feet right in the past, I decided to give Adidas a try. The Barricades just never fit my feet right and felt really clumsy, so I tried the A3 Accelerates. While the upper of thes shoes appeared very durable and well-made, the bottoms didn't seem to be designed to hold up for more than a month, given the kind of use I put them through. There is also something strange about the way they fit on your heels, like the are about to slip off. I'll keep an eye out for future versions though; hopefully Adidas will put a 6-month warranty sole on them and redesign the lacing system to give a more secure fit, as these show promise.
Determined not to be stymied in my search for a consistent performing tennis shoe, I threw previous conceptions to the wind and went with a non-shoe company : Wilson. The review that is up on TW right now for the Crossfire 2's is pretty dead on. I picked up a pair and have only wore them out once, but so far, they seem to have the best balance of comfort, acceptable weight, support, and durability of any tennis shoe I've tried. The looks will appeal to some but not others, taking a page out of a George Lucas Stormtrooper gear catalogue, but these shoes are impressively well designed with an excellent, "locked down" feel, a fit that will most likely suit feet of various widths and shapes, obvious attention paid to durability (and a 6-month sole warranty), very solid support and cushioning, and a very manageable weight. They fit totally true to size and are competitively priced. Jury is still out on the relative level of breathability, but unless I post again to complain about this, assume that they are adequate in this area as well.
BTW, for owners of the previous Crossfire, these are well worth the upgrade IMO. I tired the old ones and they did not feel nearly as comfortable, the fit was not as secure, and they somehow felt clunkier.
I started out with Nike Court Motions : soles wore out in about a month, forefoot cushioning was abysmal.
Then I tried the New Balance CT 1001's : Good fit for my wide feet, but felt super clunky and heavy and unresponsive.
Next up was a pair of Nike Air Resolve Plus : These fit me very well, had a nice balance of support, comfort, and acceptable weight, but they had really poor ventilation, and I wore out the soles in just a hair over 6 months (too bad, since they had 6-month warranties!). I'd consider the Resolves again in the future though.
In search of something lighter weight, I picked up some Diadora Speedzones. While they looked slick and certainly lived up to their claim as being the lightest and quickest performing tennis shoe, it was at the cots of serious deficiencies in support : I really destroyed my feet in these at a tournament.
Thinking I'd give Nike one more try, I picked up some Vapor Speeds. Unfortunately me for me, just days after puirchasing them, a thread was started about the heel air units in these things popping. THe very next time out, POP. I sent them back to Nike a few weeks ago but have not heard a peep from them yet.
While their shoes didn't ever seem to fit my feet right in the past, I decided to give Adidas a try. The Barricades just never fit my feet right and felt really clumsy, so I tried the A3 Accelerates. While the upper of thes shoes appeared very durable and well-made, the bottoms didn't seem to be designed to hold up for more than a month, given the kind of use I put them through. There is also something strange about the way they fit on your heels, like the are about to slip off. I'll keep an eye out for future versions though; hopefully Adidas will put a 6-month warranty sole on them and redesign the lacing system to give a more secure fit, as these show promise.
Determined not to be stymied in my search for a consistent performing tennis shoe, I threw previous conceptions to the wind and went with a non-shoe company : Wilson. The review that is up on TW right now for the Crossfire 2's is pretty dead on. I picked up a pair and have only wore them out once, but so far, they seem to have the best balance of comfort, acceptable weight, support, and durability of any tennis shoe I've tried. The looks will appeal to some but not others, taking a page out of a George Lucas Stormtrooper gear catalogue, but these shoes are impressively well designed with an excellent, "locked down" feel, a fit that will most likely suit feet of various widths and shapes, obvious attention paid to durability (and a 6-month sole warranty), very solid support and cushioning, and a very manageable weight. They fit totally true to size and are competitively priced. Jury is still out on the relative level of breathability, but unless I post again to complain about this, assume that they are adequate in this area as well.
BTW, for owners of the previous Crossfire, these are well worth the upgrade IMO. I tired the old ones and they did not feel nearly as comfortable, the fit was not as secure, and they somehow felt clunkier.
