THE OFFICIAL ADIDAS THREAD OF JAMES HARDEN - VOLUME 9 IN LOS ANGELES (CLIPPERS)

[sk33termcg33]

Is it just me or is this guy trolling now? I say pay him no attention - he's entitled to his opinion and I guess I'm entitled to think it's absurd haha.

@iks mod - I completely agree on your take. I've been PM'ing you about kicks for years now but as you frequent the forums more and more certain people seem to be consistent with reviews in the sense they come from an unbiased perspective. No two people will have the exact same experience so it's argue to say "no you're wrong, these are great!"

Anyone know a good way to clean the leather portion of the Pioneers? I haven't had full-grain leather on a pair of hoop sneaks in a minute haha...

 

[rayankawaah1]

 
Been enjoying playing in my Pioneers so I picked these up from FTL in San Diego (UTC Mall) today.  Didn't see the Dark Ops there btw.  These retailed at 160.  

For sizing talk, I have a slightly wide feet, so my Nike TTS in 11.5 works better for me than going down to an 11 (length fits fine, just cramps my toes on the sides).

Edit:  Looks like these are the X-Mas Hardens as noted on some well known sneaker blogs out there.

howd you get early?

 

[jrad]

 
howd you get early?

Went to my local FTL in San Diego (UTC Mall) to look at the Xeno Harden 1s, and saw these for sale instead.  

 

[roebee94]

I strongly disagree. Ever since I've started playing in the Hardens my game has somewhat mirrored his game... My defense is basically the mannequin challenge all game lol [emoji]128514[/emoji]

[emoji]128514[/emoji][emoji]128514[/emoji][emoji]128514[/emoji][emoji]128514[/emoji][emoji]128514[/emoji][emoji]128514[/emoji][emoji]128514[/emoji][emoji]128514[/emoji] same here!

 

[xplosivejeff]

At first I thought Adidas used inaccurate stock photos of the Dark Ops but it seems they released 2 versions. One with screen mesh like the homes and one with the same material as the Pioneers. Screen mesh an overseas release?

 

[Melo4deuce]

Hot damn, my discounted Pioneer order from nicekicks from yesterday came in today. Not bad haha. I went with a 10.5, my true size for length. Although I have some width in my right foot, so far there's no pinching from the mid foot or toes, which can be bothersome with some models. The low profile boost feel great. Only problem I have is that the bottom inner eyelits have a weird "pop" when my toe flexes.

 

[jaynev]

Hot damn, my discounted Pioneer order from nicekicks from yesterday came in today. Not bad haha. I went with a 10.5, my true size for length. Although I have some width in my right foot, so far there's no pinching from the mid foot or toes, which can be bothersome with some models. The low profile boost feel great. Only problem I have is that the bottom inner eyelits have a weird "pop" when my toe flexes.

That goes away fairly quickly once you wear them for a couple hours. Enjoy.

 

[hyunsoochoi3]

@duke40  knows his stuff. He may have lost a step or two due to age, but if anything, that gives more credibility to his opinion since we are more like him than we are Harden. And I know that I can always text him and ask him to compare what he's testing to other shoes that he's played in the past 10+ years. I know I can count on his honest opinion when I'm looking for stuff and I usually do, since he gets stuff before I make up my mind on whether I want to give something a shot or not. 

 

[jaynev]

Another 2 hour run in these tomorrow on court.. can't wait. No worries about hot spots.. burning quick.. etc.

 

[kaycurrency]

When do the white ones with the black toebox drop? Is that a limited pair? Did the "Nude" joints drop? Adidas release dates are all over the place. [emoji]128553[/emoji]

 

[jaynev]

When do the white ones with the black toebox drop? Is that a limited pair? Did the "Nude" joints drop? Adidas release dates are all over the place. [emoji]128553[/emoji]

I gotta agreed.. somewhat confusing when to expect new releases except 7 days prior.

 

[nhkb]

When do the white ones with the black toebox drop? Is that a limited pair? Did the "Nude" joints drop? Adidas release dates are all over the place. [emoji]128553[/emoji]

Tell me about it. I hate adidas release dates because it is very inconsistent just like the fit of their shoes. When living in Canada, I just got to wait for whenever adidas decides to release it here. Sometimes the same as the US but most times we are late in getting them. Just like with the Dame 3 Roots, it is to be released here in 5 days. I mean, I love adidas, but damn man, take our money!

 

[Melo4deuce]

That goes away fairly quickly once you wear them for a couple hours. Enjoy.

Good to know. I'll be wearing these to the gym this week to break em in.

 

[sk33termcg33]

The pop went away for me, also. These shoes really are a treat to hoop in. The remind me of the feeling I had when I wore Kobe 8's for the first time - something totally different as far as what I was used to before when comparing to what the 8 as a low offered.

The boost set-up is nowhere near as plush as the CE (the only other boost hoop shoe I own). If anything, it feels like a slightly more responsive Bounce set-up as seen on the Lillard 2. This is obviously open to debate as many will experience shoes different from the way I do, but they essentially feel like a more firm lunarlon set-up. After 2 hours of playing, my knees/ankles felt good, but I do wonder the longevity of these shoes.

Those who own the CLBs can probably speak to how the boost is holding up, but then again, those feature a prominent boost set-up than the Harden's do. I haven't had a combination of court-feel and shock absorption and responsiveness like this in a while. Again, I do wonder how long these shoes will last.

One thing to note - I had a pair from DSG and a pair directly from Adidas (one I got for way cheaper after I bought the other so I am returning the DSG pair). Both were the same size, yet one was way way tighter in the forefoot than the other. Both were Pioneer CWs, and I had to double and triple check that they were the same size. Anyone had any weird sizing issues like this where you might have tried on one pair at your size, and tried on a different pair of the same CW and size at another store and they felt completely different?

 

[kapla27]

Footlocker says White/Gold is dropping tomorrow? 

 

[dubnation]

The pop went away for me, also. These shoes really are a treat to hoop in. The remind me of the feeling I had when I wore Kobe 8's for the first time - something totally different as far as what I was used to before when comparing to what the 8 as a low offered.

The boost set-up is nowhere near as plush as the CE (the only other boost hoop shoe I own). If anything, it feels like a slightly more responsive Bounce set-up as seen on the Lillard 2. This is obviously open to debate as many will experience shoes different from the way I do, but they essentially feel like a more firm lunarlon set-up. After 2 hours of playing, my knees/ankles felt good, but I do wonder the longevity of these shoes.

Those who own the CLBs can probably speak to how the boost is holding up, but then again, those feature a prominent boost set-up than the Harden's do. I haven't had a combination of court-feel and shock absorption and responsiveness like this in a while. Again, I do wonder how long these shoes will last.

One thing to note - I had a pair from DSG and a pair directly from Adidas (one I got for way cheaper after I bought the other so I am returning the DSG pair). Both were the same size, yet one was way way tighter in the forefoot than the other. Both were Pioneer CWs, and I had to double and triple check that they were the same size. Anyone had any weird sizing issues like this where you might have tried on one pair at your size, and tried on a different pair of the same CW and size at another store and they felt completely different?

Not really surprising but that's a first on this thread

 

[tr707]

One thing to note - I had a pair from DSG and a pair directly from Adidas (one I got for way cheaper after I bought the other so I am returning the DSG pair). Both were the same size, yet one was way way tighter in the forefoot than the other. Both were Pioneer CWs, and I had to double and triple check that they were the same size. Anyone had any weird sizing issues like this where you might have tried on one pair at your size, and tried on a different pair of the same CW and size at another store and they felt completely different?

#adidas

 

[thapointguy]

Footlocker says White/Gold is dropping tomorrow? 

Yeah it's on their release calendar. I'm gonna guess it's the Christmas pair since it's Primeknit and they have it priced at $160. Disregard that color description has gold in it. Also guessing the white/cardboard is the black toes. I'm just putting 1+2 = 4 together
View media item 2267898

 

[thapointguy]

View media item 2267928

 

[kapla27]

Primeknit? This the toe cap will be suede?

Nevermind, it defiantly looks like leather. Dang

 

[604al]

One thing to note - I had a pair from DSG and a pair directly from Adidas (one I got for way cheaper after I bought the other so I am returning the DSG pair). Both were the same size, yet one was way way tighter in the forefoot than the other. Both were Pioneer CWs, and I had to double and triple check that they were the same size. Anyone had any weird sizing issues like this where you might have tried on one pair at your size, and tried on a different pair of the same CW and size at another store and they felt completely different?

Yep... I asked my local store to bring out the two pairs of 11.5s for me, and found the best fit by swapping the left from one box to the other... definitely inconsistent sizing.  

For those that are having additional fit issues, skipping the second hole on the last set of lace holes on the medial side helped me to get a tighter fit for little to no heel slip.  And moving to flat laces helped with the pinching on top of my big toe.  Weartesters also showed a Chinese company doing a deconstruction and even cutting out the first hole on the medial side to relieve that top of toe pressure... that pain almost put me off to this shoe entirely, but they just look too damn good.  

IMO it's too bad that companies don't simply improve on a shoe from gen 1 to gen 2, instead doing complete overhauls that bring about all other sorts of issues.  If they fixed the above two issues and added better traction for vol.2, it'd be the perfect shoe for me aesthically and performance wise.  

 

[kg21]

When do the white ones with the black toebox drop? Is that a limited pair? Did the "Nude" joints drop? Adidas release dates are all over the place. [emoji]128553[/emoji]

I've mentioned it before, late Jan. And no, not limited, though probably not Pioneer numbers.

 

[Melo4deuce]

Seen the Xeno's in person the other day. The material on the toe looked and felt pretty nice for it not being leather or suede...just not a fan of Xeno shoes in general.

 

[sk33termcg33]

Yep... I asked my local store to bring out the two pairs of 11.5s for me, and found the best fit by swapping the left from one box to the other... definitely inconsistent sizing.  

Man, I knew I wasn't trippin. It seriously made me triple check the size on the inside of each shoe from DSG because there was no way they were both 11.5s just going off of feel. I'm talking to the point where I wanted to call Adidas customer service and explain I ordered a pair from DSG and I think there's some manufacturing mistake. I can't believe a company as big as Adidas can have such inconsistency with the same size of a shoe in reality being different from another identical size of the same shoe within the same brand.

And to top it all off, my pair from NiceKicks came in that I ordered my TTS 12 in and that fits just as snug as the 11.5 I have from Adidas (not the DSG pair) so I am probably going to return the Adidas pair since I got the NK ones for $98.

My head wants to explode typing this but I guess it's worth buying 3 pairs to find the perfect fit (sarcasm)

 

[titanium tea]

Held these in store finally. 

They wont handle dust.

I dont even need to try to know