As a matter of fact, it was still, as I said, "semi" experimental, meaning each shoe around this time with Zoom had a different feel to it. This was the first round of shoes with Zoom, as the Zoom 95 and Jordan XI had Tensile Air. Admittedly the same idea, but different name and newness led to my calling it experimental. And I am a heavier player, and can tell you the Zoom in the OG XII was hard as a rock and not only never had much feel to it, it bottomed out and left a low spot in the midsole when it flattened ( I still have a pair of Taxi's where the Zoom bag is flat to prove it). The Zoom for the Zoom 96 of the same year was way softer (to soft), and I feel the next year is when the formula was really perfected. I knew all about the environmental junk,but that never really affected the Zoom shoe as Zoom is more about the Tensile fibers. Air Max are more greatly affected by that change.Originally Posted by Nat Turner
Inaccurate.It was not still "experimental". The Zoom Air used back then was far more durable, then supported a wider range of player, regardless of bodyweight. It had more of a bounce as well. Nike was forced to change the formula for their "Air" products, due to getting in trouble with those who care about the environment. That said, the zoom used now does not last as long, then feels mushy, and is inconsistent from shoe to shoe, then is NON supportive, then NON responsive for a wide rage of athletes. It does not bounce back as quickly as the older stuff, which is bad for the bigger player and one in particular, Mr LeBron James. He suffered back spasms while wearing zoom shoes, then had to change to Max Air, which is a bit more supportive than the non responsive zoom air.
That said, the XII's still are a cool shoe, but has been stripped down to support the lesser quality zoom air. Funny thing is, Nike raised the price of this shoe, while taking out much of the "sole".
Calling it Zoom Air over "tensile air" was the marketing push. It had a sexier ring, then from interviews from the head of Nike Basketball at that time, it was a finished product. Jordan brand did not want to use Zoom Air too much, as per interviews, the head of that design team said " it's a great tech, but we use it in spots, as we feel it can be overused".Originally Posted by duke4005
As a matter of fact, it was still, as I said, "semi" experimental, meaning each shoe around this time with Zoom had a different feel to it. This was the first round of shoes with Zoom, as the Zoom 95 and Jordan XI had Tensile Air. Admittedly the same idea, but different name and newness led to my calling it experimental. And I am a heavier player, and can tell you the Zoom in the OG XII was hard as a rock and not only never had much feel to it, it bottomed out and left a low spot in the midsole when it flattened ( I still have a pair of Taxi's where the Zoom bag is flat to prove it). The Zoom for the Zoom 96 of the same year was way softer (to soft), and I feel the next year is when the formula was really perfected. I knew all about the environmental junk,but that never really affected the Zoom shoe as Zoom is more about the Tensile fibers. Air Max are more greatly affected by that change.Originally Posted by Nat Turner
Inaccurate.It was not still "experimental". The Zoom Air used back then was far more durable, then supported a wider range of player, regardless of bodyweight. It had more of a bounce as well. Nike was forced to change the formula for their "Air" products, due to getting in trouble with those who care about the environment. That said, the zoom used now does not last as long, then feels mushy, and is inconsistent from shoe to shoe, then is NON supportive, then NON responsive for a wide rage of athletes. It does not bounce back as quickly as the older stuff, which is bad for the bigger player and one in particular, Mr LeBron James. He suffered back spasms while wearing zoom shoes, then had to change to Max Air, which is a bit more supportive than the non responsive zoom air.
That said, the XII's still are a cool shoe, but has been stripped down to support the lesser quality zoom air. Funny thing is, Nike raised the price of this shoe, while taking out much of the "sole".
