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- May 18, 2009
I don't know if you guys recall, but last summer I did a dissection of the Zoom BB II Low and discovered that, despite being advertised as a full-length zoom cushioned, it only had a heel zoom unit.
Desperately searching for a time when Nike actually did things right, I ordered a pair of Zoom BB I Lows from solestop and got them in last week. Well, my search was in vain. There's only heel zoom.
I'll update with pictures of my dissection later on today. It's pretty effing sad. Jeez, I just knew something didn't feel right switching from my pair of Zoom BB I mids.
All you Zoom BB I Low owners out there who feel squeamish about a dissection, just perform a "mammogram": remove the sockliner, and press around with your fingers around the heel. You'll definitely feel where the heel zoom unit starts and stops.
There's a silver lining to this story, however. I invested in a pair of Zoom Talache's last winter knowing that they had full-zoom sockliner. So what I did today was rip out the full-length zoom out of that sockliner, then I ripped out the guts of one of my Zoom BB Lows and inserted the full-length zoom into my BB's. Walked my dogs this morning. Heavenly. Exactly what was intended with these sneakers. With a great deal of sadness, nonetheless, I can now say I have the best pair of low-top basketball sneakers in the world. It's a shame I had to pull a Frankenstein on them. Stay tuned for pics, but holler at me if anyone else can confirm my findings.
**UPDATE - 2/19/2010**
Here we are, the white-toe lows have been put through their paces in the short week I've had them. However, something felt off about these.
Here, the right shoe has already been modified with full zoom. Take a peek inside:
Now let's get to work on the left shoe. Let's start by peeling off the full-zoom from the zoom talache sockliner (best $25 bucks I ever spent):
Almost there.
And done.
Next, remove sockliner from zoom bb lows, cut away at some of the fabric in the left shoe, peel back and what do we find? Only heel zoom!
Luckily, all that gray stuff next to the heel zoom unit is just cheap foam (the same material as the sockliner) and you can scoop that stuff out. I used a variety of kitchen utensils. Wasn't very difficult.
As you can see, we're almost all the way up to the forefoot and it's still cheap gray foam. However, nike scored the forefoot area to preserve toe flexibility.
You get the point. You'll have to yank out the heel zoom on your own. I used a sturdy pair of pliers. Once all that cheap stuff is scooped out of the midsole, a full-zoom unit fits perfectly, as if that's how it was intended. I put the sockliner back on top and everything stays in place just fine. In any negative sense, I don't even notice that these have been tampered with. They feel heavenly now.
Morals to the story. First, beware of any tech specs you read. I know many of us are awaiting the full-length zoom unit in the Hyperdunk 2010, but I'll make sure to try it on in store because by this point, I know exactly what full-zoom is supposed to feel like. Yet, a dissection from a kind NT member would also be appreciated.
Secondly, nike has a practice of stripping down the cushioning in the low version of their shoes. I already experienced this with Zoom BB II Lows and the Lebron VI Lows. With those two shoes, I just returned them and got product vouchers. Unfortunately, since the Zoom BB I Low is so old, they didn't qualify for the voucher program. I had to get creative.
Lastly, if you got some full-zoom inserts laying around somewhere, I would try this Frankenstein experiment with a pair of Zoom BB I Lows, Zoom BB II Lows, or Lebron VI Lows. As long as you scoop out the junk they got in there, slot should already be primed to accept a full-zoom unit. I'd probably now be in the market for any of those shoes. Why is this experiment worthwhile? Not only is full-zoom nike's world-class cushioning system, it also extends the cushioning life of your sneakers FOR YEARS. I just couldn't cope with the fact that my BB Lows wouldn't be ballable after a month of two of heavy use. Now I can just pull out the zoom and put them in any shoe.
Some people may say, "Why don't you just put the full-zoom sockliner in your BB's? Cutting all that stuff away seems like a hassle!" Well, I've tried the simple replacement of sockliners and it totally messes up the court feel. Your foot sits way too high off the ground putting stability at risk. Plus, it's just too much midsole material to stuff in there--I'd be looking down at my feet and my shoes look like a pair of sausages about to burst. Not comfortable at all.
So there it is NTers. Let me know if you're bold enough to try this.
Desperately searching for a time when Nike actually did things right, I ordered a pair of Zoom BB I Lows from solestop and got them in last week. Well, my search was in vain. There's only heel zoom.
I'll update with pictures of my dissection later on today. It's pretty effing sad. Jeez, I just knew something didn't feel right switching from my pair of Zoom BB I mids.
All you Zoom BB I Low owners out there who feel squeamish about a dissection, just perform a "mammogram": remove the sockliner, and press around with your fingers around the heel. You'll definitely feel where the heel zoom unit starts and stops.
There's a silver lining to this story, however. I invested in a pair of Zoom Talache's last winter knowing that they had full-zoom sockliner. So what I did today was rip out the full-length zoom out of that sockliner, then I ripped out the guts of one of my Zoom BB Lows and inserted the full-length zoom into my BB's. Walked my dogs this morning. Heavenly. Exactly what was intended with these sneakers. With a great deal of sadness, nonetheless, I can now say I have the best pair of low-top basketball sneakers in the world. It's a shame I had to pull a Frankenstein on them. Stay tuned for pics, but holler at me if anyone else can confirm my findings.
**UPDATE - 2/19/2010**
Here we are, the white-toe lows have been put through their paces in the short week I've had them. However, something felt off about these.
Here, the right shoe has already been modified with full zoom. Take a peek inside:
Now let's get to work on the left shoe. Let's start by peeling off the full-zoom from the zoom talache sockliner (best $25 bucks I ever spent):
Almost there.
And done.
Next, remove sockliner from zoom bb lows, cut away at some of the fabric in the left shoe, peel back and what do we find? Only heel zoom!
Luckily, all that gray stuff next to the heel zoom unit is just cheap foam (the same material as the sockliner) and you can scoop that stuff out. I used a variety of kitchen utensils. Wasn't very difficult.
As you can see, we're almost all the way up to the forefoot and it's still cheap gray foam. However, nike scored the forefoot area to preserve toe flexibility.
You get the point. You'll have to yank out the heel zoom on your own. I used a sturdy pair of pliers. Once all that cheap stuff is scooped out of the midsole, a full-zoom unit fits perfectly, as if that's how it was intended. I put the sockliner back on top and everything stays in place just fine. In any negative sense, I don't even notice that these have been tampered with. They feel heavenly now.
Morals to the story. First, beware of any tech specs you read. I know many of us are awaiting the full-length zoom unit in the Hyperdunk 2010, but I'll make sure to try it on in store because by this point, I know exactly what full-zoom is supposed to feel like. Yet, a dissection from a kind NT member would also be appreciated.
Secondly, nike has a practice of stripping down the cushioning in the low version of their shoes. I already experienced this with Zoom BB II Lows and the Lebron VI Lows. With those two shoes, I just returned them and got product vouchers. Unfortunately, since the Zoom BB I Low is so old, they didn't qualify for the voucher program. I had to get creative.
Lastly, if you got some full-zoom inserts laying around somewhere, I would try this Frankenstein experiment with a pair of Zoom BB I Lows, Zoom BB II Lows, or Lebron VI Lows. As long as you scoop out the junk they got in there, slot should already be primed to accept a full-zoom unit. I'd probably now be in the market for any of those shoes. Why is this experiment worthwhile? Not only is full-zoom nike's world-class cushioning system, it also extends the cushioning life of your sneakers FOR YEARS. I just couldn't cope with the fact that my BB Lows wouldn't be ballable after a month of two of heavy use. Now I can just pull out the zoom and put them in any shoe.
Some people may say, "Why don't you just put the full-zoom sockliner in your BB's? Cutting all that stuff away seems like a hassle!" Well, I've tried the simple replacement of sockliners and it totally messes up the court feel. Your foot sits way too high off the ground putting stability at risk. Plus, it's just too much midsole material to stuff in there--I'd be looking down at my feet and my shoes look like a pair of sausages about to burst. Not comfortable at all.
So there it is NTers. Let me know if you're bold enough to try this.
