Lunarfoam...

[hminer]

I know everyone hates this form of cushioning and thinks zoom is superior but here's my take on it.
I'm in my late 30's and have played in everything from the original jordan vi's when they came out ,to foams, to HD's, you name it and it'sa top end nike shoe I've played in it. Well the last 3 years I've really started to develop a jumper's knee or a light case of tendinitis in myright knee.. in that time I played in zoom exclusive shoes, including the KB1's, 2's, and 3's as well as the Nike BB1's. I figured that I'mold as $$*% and it would eventually happen. The pain was starting to get real bad where I could only run twice a week and almost never 2 days in a row. Ifigured for my last year of competitive b-ball I'd do myself a favor and get the supposed best b-ball shoes.. the AJ 23's which is another zoom basedshoe, well I wasn't really feeling those shoes as they were cutting my pinky toe and the knee problems continue. My rotation was just the AJ xx3's andthe KB3's, then the hyperdunk came out and like most people i got mine and started running in these exclusively for months, then I got a Bull Terrierrescue and if you know anything about these dogs a tired pit is a good pit, so I run my dog 3 to 4 miles a day, 5 days a week, and based on recommendations Igot here I got the Lunar Trainers. so now I run every day for 3 to 4 miles pretty hard and have started playing 5 days a week for about 2 to 3 hours at a timerunning full court most of the time and I have no.. I mean zero pain in my right knee whatsoever?!? Kind of weird right?
I know zoom has great bounceback and really gives you the energy that you put in, but maybe you don't need all that bounceback? Maybe that energydoesn't really help your knees or joints? I do believe the Lunar foam works like Nike said it would , which is to provide a pillow(y) soft limo ride and ithas done wonders for me and better than that my knees. I'm not playing any different, in fact I'm almost exactly my high school weight of 145lbs. AllI'm saying is I personally believe in this stuff, more than shox, or 360, and certainly any adidas crap. It has worked for me and I haven't felt thebottoming out effect, I notice that it's not as soft but I bottomed out my zoom stuff all the time and I haven't w/ the lunar forefoot cushioning.I'd like to see nike continue w/ this because it's as of right now by far and away my favorite forefoot cushioning for basketball andworks for runningas well. I now have the kb IV's and I think they are light years ahead of the kb3's and 2's and 1's and no pain in my knees. Coincidence? Ithink not.

 

[mt3130]

^^^i love my lunar trainers too...the problem is that the implementation of lunarlite in the hyperdunks was horrible. it bottoms out super fast and you feellike theres no cushioning under your forefoot.

oh and by the way, the lunar trainers big sole is all phylon. theres only a lunar wedge within the monster sized phylon midsole thats thick in the heel andthins out towards the front of the shoe (picture baseball/football cleats). i too found pain relief for my jumper's knee by running, but didn't use thelunars when doing so. jumper's knee sucks because its an overuse injury. when you over work the quad muscles, an increasing amount of the impact isabsorbed by the knee, resulting in inflammation of the knee. once that happens, because you are trying not to aggravate the inflammation, the quad muscle inthat leg deteriorates. this results in a lack of muscle in the inflammed leg which will ironically increase stress on the knee. running is a great way tonaturally increase strength in your quads without putting a ton of stress on the patellar tendon...the cartilage however, is a different story.

 

[phillmatic]

I totally agree with you Hminer. In another post about choosing a basketball shoe with knee problems, I tried to make the point that the trampoline affect ofair zoom may be bad for your knee. I've also tried all the high end shoes after getting knee surgery and I found that the shoes that I could play in thelongest without my knee swelling were Converse Triple Deuce, which was merely a foam based shoe.

Right now I'm playing in the Kobe IVs and they feel great even afterplaying in them over 10 times for extended hours. They feel really low to the floornow, even more so than when i bought them but it hasn't translated to any pain in my leg or swollen knees. My only gripe is that I wish the support of theupper was more durable.

I hate to say this but I'm almost convinced Air Zoom's responsiveness is just a gimmick for people to know the cushioning is "working."

 

[hminer]

Originally Posted by mt3130

^^^i love my lunar trainers too...the problem is that the implementation of lunarlite in the hyperdunks was horrible. it bottoms out super fast and you feel like theres no cushioning under your forefoot.

oh and by the way, the lunar trainers big sole is all phylon. theres only a lunar wedge within the monster sized phylon midsole thats thick in the heel and thins out towards the front of the shoe (picture baseball/football cleats). i too found pain relief for my jumper's knee by running, but didn't use the lunars when doing so. jumper's knee sucks because its an overuse injury. when you over work the quad muscles, an increasing amount of the impact is absorbed by the knee, resulting in inflammation of the knee. once that happens, because you are trying not to aggravate the inflammation, the quad muscle in that leg deteriorates. this results in a lack of muscle in the inflammed leg which will ironically increase stress on the knee. running is a great way to naturally increase strength in your quads without putting a ton of stress on the patellar tendon...the cartilage however, is a different story.

have you seen the zoom in the forefoot of the 2k4's? it looks like a nicotine patch. Have you seen adiprene +? that may actually be a nicotinepatch. All I'm saying is sometimes things feel good but aren't necessarily good for you... like drugs or zoom in the forefoot for me.

 

[mt3130]

^^^its funny you say that because i agree. i got some zoom phenoms that have zoom in the heel but not the forefoot and i feel no knee pain whatsoever afterplaying in those, but in my
zoom soldiers my knees always get a little swollen and feel aggravated.

oh and i definitely feel like adiprene+ is the worst "cushioning" technology ever created. its so dense and firm that it defeats the purpose ofcushioning--impact protection. i would rather play basketball in a pair of indoor soccer cleats before i played in another pair of adidas featuring thatgarbage. the only adidas ive bought recently was the ts commander because the adiprene+
was in the insole so you could take it out.

 

[hminer]

Originally Posted by mt3130

^^^its funny you say that because i agree. i got some zoom phenoms that have zoom in the heel but not the forefoot and i feel no knee pain whatsoever after playing in those, but in my
zoom soldiers my knees always get a little swollen and feel aggravated.

oh and i definitely feel like adiprene+ is the worst "cushioning" technology ever created. its so dense and firm that it defeats the purpose of cushioning--impact protection. i would rather play basketball in a pair of indoor soccer cleats before i played in another pair of adidas featuring that garbage. the only adidas ive bought recently was the ts commander because the adiprene+
was in the insole so you could take it out.

Yeah I bought the TS whatever the hell Derrick Rose and T-Mac was wearing and they are terrible!! I've said it many times but really the worstshoe I've owned or played in in 8 years at least. That Adi-Nicotine + is just hard rubber and that back thing they call formotion I think had a namebefore, it's called plastic. I can't get over that someone in this world would choose to play in these shoes.
Before the kids come in here and start ripping me, I'm saying for me.. an older dude, Lunarfoam is great and no cushioning changes the way you play, but atthis age recovery is very important and this Lunar Foam definitely works for my knees better than zoom/shox/360 over the last couple of years... for me.

 

[mattyg13]

Interesting. Might have to grab a pair of kobe's at the next employee sale and see how they treat my knee.