Air Zoom Tennis Trainer Retro: Hybrid Esque of Trainer 1's and 2's Pics* Update: Hitting retail now

Update:

good observations and i agree cjb23. I just walked around my house with one 04 and one 08 on each foot. The biggest and only differences from just normalwalking, you can feel the heel of the 2008s on your ankle. is it the higher cut and lack of that extra padding, or either one? good question to ponder. Youfeel MORE support as its higher and tighter on your ankle, but does it come at a cost later on when you make cuts in the shoe. Making tennis like, bball likecuts with these, the ankle feeling doesnt go away. I can feel the digging and tension. This needs to soften up a bit to take it to that 2004 comfort level. Itsvery close though. It's not a bad feeling but with the 2004s, you dont feel anything, its just a shoe you put on and feel nothing really. thats a greatexecution of a shoe imo, when you feel nothing. The toebox is not as bad as i was expecting.. Stiff initially, i have a feeling these will loosen up a bit.Thats a big IF though. on my feet, unless i really focus on it, the stiffness isnt too noticeable. I think I would take the harder leather if its MOREdurable as a sacrifice to a bit more comfort.

lots of wait and sees and ifs with this model..

some photos of the toebox in "action". Both models are DS (albeit, being worn indoors for this "test")
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Above, you see the hardier leather in the tiptoe bend position not really flexing or moving. the 2004s on the right almost look USED, the leather is soflexible and soft, its just really geared for that comfort. Durability for the 08s, the biggest issue and concern here wont be realized until months afterbeing worn and compared to. so its really a month long test phase of pros and cons, lol.
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The positives is that, the midsole zoom air feel essentially the same in both shoes.

where itll get interesting later on is, looking at the tongue and seeing if it now shifts around without the booty construction.

This is a huge claim and may be a bit premature, but from the early goings, I think I have found the best of both worlds here. As cjb was saying each model isexecuted for a different crowd, and I think they've done an excellent job.

I now have outdoor training shoes in the 2008s with the hardier leathers and materials. and the very very very soft feel of the 2004s left for the indoor gymtraining.

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Then again I have never tested my 04s to its limits outdoors for its durability. so i really dont know how "BAD" they can get or how fragile theyare. these are just assumptions and guesses. The 04 leather may be AS durable as the 2008s and because of the COSTS for the 2008s they choseto use the hardier leather. even the outsole I did not put to its limit. It will be interesting in the next few months if this $80 dollar model is moredurable, even if I take it to the gym for what i did with the 2004s.
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The biggest CON of the 2008 is the black pivot point on the outsole, which I still think is NOT XDR rubber. That was the biggest durability concern i had withthe 2004s.
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The circular grooves are just a few centimeters wide and thick. I have feeling they will lose gripe rather quickly. I say the 2008s are not XDR rubber becausethe feel and look of the black pivot points on both 2004s and 2008s are identical. Now Im not an expert in chemsitry or material composition and dont have amicroscope, and UNLESS XDR rubber can be composed in the same way as the 2004 black pivot points, EACH shoe share the same feel, look, and imperfections, whenlooking closely. This leads me to believe, the XDR outsole claim, is restricted to the grey non see through bubble grooved middle.
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It'll be tough to take a wait and see approach to see if the harder materials PAID off, so i would recommend buying these right now before its too late,once again. But that recommedation comes with a warning. they are great SHOES, if and when the toebox softens up a bit and the higher heel softens up a bit.That would push them over that limit to where the 2004s currently are. so buy them being forewarned knowing the toebox and heel may or may not get better withtime.

Bottomline, as a basic shoe independent of what the 2004s were and without all the ifs, these are as comfortable as any other $80 dollar shoe Ive worn.

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cjb23, I would say these fit true to size. My sz 12 2000s have one finger width at the tip. my sz 12.5 tennis trainers 2008s have about 1 to 1.5 finger widths

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thanks for the info Wally, you're making me jealous with the pics of the '04, they look so comfy...ah well, you always want what you can'thave
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Well since I stumbled across this by chance, hopefully someone in this thread can help me out.....

I picked these up a while ago not knowing hat they were, can some one give me all the info on these....and if possible what they go for, cuz I am cleaning outmy collection....


(Trainer front right)

I know its a Air Zoom Trainer 1 MID....and its an early 2005 release....but it has some print on the inside..
 
when did zappos start selling nikes?

but good looking out to Soleaddict, they had a size 15 and upgraded me to next day shipping, so i should get them on monday.

i saw a few pairs on ebay with johnny mac's face on the tongue, what's the deal with those? samples maybe, but they looked pretty bad.
 
wow sole addict. I was expecting a darker royal maybe even a osdibian blue with really no pop at all. but that does work quite well. I wont be getting them asit will affect my wearing time and rotation with the OG colorway.

DublBagn, those are nicknamed or titled the "gentlemans pack" zoom trainer 1 mid. they released with a free trainer that had orange accents. unlikeother packs, they werent exactly a matching set. as far as inspiration, all i have been told and seem to know is that the heel padding has a plaid likematerial. something that is seen on tailored suits and apparels. hence that gentleman's pack nickname. as far as release goes, it came and went. most urbanaccounts seemed to have gotten them. i have never seen them on ebay or anywhere else go for much more than $120 bucks. the demand just isnt there even with avery small supply. most trainers are like that.

an interesting side note is that a promo air trainer 1 titled the beautiful ones, which was created for talib kweli and friends and family, whiuch featured thesame colorway inspirations.... those promos are limited in the dozens and go for hundreds and hundreds. now the unknown question is, which one came first? the2005 zoom trainer 1 or the trainer 1 talib kweli's?

what print are you talking about presicely? the insoles just feature a tinker hatfield sketch of the originial air trainer and the new zoom trainer. every2004-2005 originial release had that "print". its nothing special.. Selling wise, I would market it as a premium leather zoom trainer luxury shoe,set at around 80 to 120 bin

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took em out to the court to hit around/ play a light set, only complaints i have are the heel area. i usually wear no show socks, and it rubbed my achilliesheel area. the tongue is pretty stiff; i don't like that for casual wear, but fine for performance purposes. hopefully i can get another to play in, untilthen, i'll stick to my oscillates.
 
^ did you play in them straight outta the box? for me, I also had the achillies heel issue, but after a bunch of casual wears, it wasn't a problemanymore...

I could never play in the oscillates...
 
i got em and wore em casual monday, then played in them tues (yesterday)

oscillates are the best tennis shoe ive ever played in (only played in 1 other pair, some random $60 nikes my team wore in college. wore them for one match.then went back to my oscillates)
 
my '04s are still pretty fresh, but i'll definitely scoop up a couple pairs of these when they hit the sales racks. they make great workout and weekendshoes.
 
Originally Posted by DownyBoy

Originally Posted by richiecotite

they'r already down to 59.99 at a few local retailers

of course they are. there was no reason to pay retail for these.

You could get them from NDC for $60 when they released (with the coupon code for 25% off).
 
Just got these in the mail today. Out of the box and onto the feet, feel is very nice, cushioning setup feels soft yet responsive. Very promising. Shoe feelsflexible and extremely stable. Heel is a little loose; I suspect that will fix itself once I switch out the stock insoles with my orthotics, which have adeeper heelcup.

The laces only go down to the midfoot, and the toebox is very roomy. Irrelevant for casual wear, hopefully won't be an issue while hooping or whatever.

I am going to try to play hoops in these this weekend and will try to post some further comments. My major concern is that the traction on hardwood will suckdue to the dot pattern, which doesn't look to offer a large contact patch with the floor, and the XDR rubber, which is supposed to be more durable andtherefore (I assume) less sticky.
 
after two hours of play, indoors, on a moderately clean floor (7.5 out of 10 for cleanliness)

weight - wow these shoes are light. they feel light in your hands, and even lighter on the foot.

cushioning - awesome. great courtfeel, never bottomed out, very responsive.

flexibility - very flexible shoe. the shank seems pretty soft, midfoot support is less than I thought it would be, and the forefoot is extremely flexible. kindof halfway between a fairly flexible hoops shoe and the free trainer. I don't mind this, as i run a lot in the free 5.0s and so my feet are used to it, butit might not be good for some people whose feet aren't prepared. The flexibility contributes to the responsive feel and great transition.

transition - awesome. felt like running up and down the court in lightweight running shoes. you can really get out on the break in these.

traction - not so good. this is the shoe's biggest weakness, although admittedly indoor traction is not what this outsole was intended for.

fit & comfort - comfort is great, no complaints at all. my feet felt great before, during and after. there was a significant amount of heel slip, though. Iretightened the laces a number of times and it improved a little each time, but the best it got was just okay. maybe it will keep improving, we shall see. Ithought these fit true to size. Note that the forefoot strap is actually moderately useful.

stability and support - like i said above, midfoot support was lacking. but stability was awesome, the outrigger really does its thing. the combination oflow-to-the ground construction, outrigger, moderately wide forefoot and higher than expected cut provides a very stable platform, no hint of rolloverwhatsoever. the only negative in this area was the heel slip, although as noted above this improved as time went by.

overall, awesome shoes. one of thoes "fun to play in" shoes that come along every once in a while. if not for the traction, i would pick up more ofthese. I will probably bring these and XX1s or XX2s with me to the gym most days and bust out the zoom trainers if the floor seems pretty clean.
 
thanks for the input... but yeah, these have outsoles for tennis hardcorts, so expectedly, the traction on indoor wooden floors won't be so good...incidentally, I didn't have the heel-slippage problem you mentioned... I had some initial 'digging' into my achilies heel, but after a few wears,the material softened up and its not a problem anymore... I'm not sure if this is relevant to your mid-foot comments, but I have flatfeet and for me, thesefelt great... I have yet to test them on the tennis courts...
 
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