Nike Lunar One+

I was doing some internet surfing and decided to search for Flyknit 2013. What I found didn't surprise me but I found it interesting and thought I would share. The Nike Lunar One+ is slated for release in early spring next year and will bring some exciting new features. Below is a comparison will compare the Flyknit Trainer+ and the Lunar One+.

The upper looks mainly unchanged. The Dynamic Flywire has not been moved and nearly every strand looks identical. No changes in the upper. The midsole and outsole is really where it varies. The name Lunar One+ derives from this shoe featuring Lunarlon, a foam Nike has developed that makes the shoe feel very soft when stepping but yet providing enough support for fast movements. From the looks of it, Nike has brought in almost the same cushioning layout seen in the Lunarglide+ 4 with the varying widths throughout the midsole. The arch area appears to be thinner than what is seen on the Lunarglide 4s but still looks nearly identical.

The Flyknit Trainer features Phylon, which is 30% heavier than Lunarlon so this innovation is definitely welcomed. I am not certain if the lower half of the midsole is phylon on the Lunar One+ but I believe it is because Lunarlon comes out of the factory as a volt color and is simply painted over. When the paint is scratched it reveals the green and makes a shoes colorway shift. I think this is why Nike has resorted to keeping Phylon on the lower half which is more susceptible to scratches.

The outsole is also completely reworked. The Flyknit Trainer has a very simple and narrow outsole. The heel strike is extremely narrow and eventually gets bigger past your arch area. This problem seems to have been resolved and now the Lunar One has a wider and more stable outsole. The grip areas (presumably BRS 1000) take cues from the Lunarglide+ 4 and Free Run+ 3 and only include grip where it is needed. This differs from the Flyknit Trainer because the Trainers outsole is almost completely covered with rubber and albeit is heavier. I could go on and on about how much in common the Lunarglide+ 4 and Lunar One+ are. The picture below will give you a good idea.

Other little notes: The midsole's bottom half has a specked paint job that makes it look like a child with a paint brush is running amok in the factory. This type of paint finish has been featured in some Nike iD shoes like the Air Max+ 2011 iD. Very little shoes have this finish from a general release.

I sadly cannot share any specific details on release dates but definitely be looking for this shoe in the first quarter of 2013. If I had to guess on price, it may go for anywhere between $149-$190. I do not think this shoe will be cheap. The current generation of Flyknits are $150 and I don't expect these to be any cheaper. The Trainer and Racer were limited releases but there is a slim chance that with the Lunar One+ being a mass produced shoe that by then costs will have been brought down and maybe Nike could cut their prices to $130. I don't see this happening but there is always a chance. I also foresee this shoe getting a Nike iD option sometime in the future. For iD releases as always, expect a $30-40 premium for the customization. I got my pictures from Niketalk.com and edited them myself for your enjoyment! Thanks for reading.

Shoe Weight Comparison in Ounces

Hey guys! A major trend in all running and soccer products now is being lightweight. The most recent running shoe out of the Nike factories in Taiwan and a product I own is the Nike Flyknit Trainer. A huge driving factor of the Flyknit series is it's lightweightness. In the video above I compare the weight of a portion of my sneaker collection. Below is an analysis of the numbers.

Lunarglide+ 4 size 12: 10.8 z

Free Run+ 3 size 11: 9.2 oz

Lunarglide+ 2 size 10.5: 11.6 oz

Mercurial Victory II size 11: 9.6 oz

Flyknit Trainer+ size 11.5: 9.2 oz

Coming soon

Later today I will have a CTR 360 Trequartista III in the sonic yellow color as well as an unboxing/review of the Nike Fuel Band! Special thanks to my friend Blake for letting me use these on my channel. I hope you will enjoy them and look forward to the video being up on my blog here and of course on my YouTube channel: Benzz4318

My gear recomendations

I have some people on my YouTube asking me about what gear I use for my games. As a goalkeeper your gear is way different than any other player on the pitch. So here it is:

Shirts: I have matching Adidas kits with my shorts but in my opinion, what you wear under is most important. Now I live in Texas where it is hot and the goalie box is not that well preserved. Fear of diving into rocks should not be a problem in your ear. I never liked wearing the long sleeve "Goalkeeper jerseys" with the pads in the elbows. It restricted my movement and got very hot. I use the Under Armour HeatGear fitted longsleeve crew shirt. It gives me enough protection on my forearms to make me feel more secure but it also includes an added bonus: UPF 30 sun protection. You may be thinking you could just put sunscreen on if that was a problem but my point is, direct sun is a lot warmer than shade. It keeps your arms cool and flexible with giving you the sense of safety on hard surfaces. You can purchase the shirt here for $35.

Shorts: Typically I will use what ever shorts I have that are clean and black but again it matters what you have under. I use the Under Armour Boxerjock. It fits just right and kill not run up your pants. Runners know what I mean there! I recommend the 9" model since it fits longer and can assist you if you make any slides. It is available here for $20.

Socks: This is one that varies. I personally like the tighter fitting Nike Dri-Fit Classic socks. They give me good padding and good thickness in the heel so I do not get blisters. Some other people prefer to have looser fitting socks so they can slide their shin guards in easily and then tape them down at the base. I don't like taping my shin guards because it makes me feel constricted so I just get tighter socks. You can get the Dri-Fit socks here for $20 for 2 pairs.

Cleats: Oh boy. This one varies severely! I own the Nike Mercurial Miracle III but people have different preferences. The entire Mercurial line fits narrow and the T90s usually fit wider. It also depends on the type of material. This section will eventually be extended into a full guide because this is simply such a big topic and is hard to sum up in a a post dedicated to a bigger picture. Anyways, you can buy the Nike Mercurial Miracle III here for $130.

Gloves: I have the Nike GK Classics for training and Nike Vapor Grip3s for matches. I prefer having a glove that fits like a glove and the Vapors deliver. They give me the responsive feel I'd expect from a more expensive glove and make me feel very confident. Both gloves are available at the Nike store for $20 and $120.

FlyKnit Trainer+ Review

Phew! The FlyKnit Trainer+ has finally arrived. I have been losing sleep like a child on December 24th for the past week in anticipation for these to come in. Anyways you didn't come here for storytelling, you came here for the review. So let's dive in.

I guess we should start with the namesake of the shoe. The FlyKNIT. This shoe is made out of strands of yarn finely knitted by machines never made before. When Nike set out to be able to manufacture this shoe, they couldn't. No human technology could make the shoe in large quantities before and resulted in something really special. The shoe is listed on Nike's "Considered-Design" line meaning it is made of recycled material and is part of Nike's movement to making all of their shoes completely made of recycled materials by 2020. The Flyknit is the latest innovation to come out of that movement and uses yarn and other types of fabric that are knitted in a unique pattern to create a strong yet light upper.

 From a performance standpoint, since the upper is strong but also flexible, it conforms to your foots shape and also protects it. Also included is Nike's new Dynamic Flywire. As a refresher, Dynamic Flywire is made of threads of Vectran that connect from the bottom of the upper to the laces to wrap the foot and create a customizable fit. This technology is also found on the Lunar Hyperdunk, LunarGlide+ 4, Air Max 95s, and some other exclusive Nike shoes. It makes the shoe a lot more comfortable by "hugging" your foot and holding your foot in well. The knitted material also makes for  great moisture wicking and ventilation. It adds to the whole "fits like a sock" mantra that Nike has been pushing.

Now to the midsole. I am assuming it is phylon, the same material used in the Free Run series and almost every other non-Lunarlon shoes. There is a small groove in the heel area for increased flexibilty when your foot first strikes. It provides good cushion but I think Lunarlon would've been appreciated there. The shoe definitely is more flexible than say a LunarGlide+ 4 but not nearly as flexible as a Free Run. It is a nice mid-point and makes for a really comfortable step.

The outsole isn't the most elaborate part of the Flyknit Trainer but definitely deserves some attention. It has a lot of grip surpringly. I expected Nike to reduce the amount of outsole to reduce weight but I guess since this is technically a trainer shoe they needed to put more. It features Nike's Waffle Grid technology on the whole outsole but only with varying colors. 2 horizontal cuts in the forefoot provide flexibility while the the back has no large cuts at all.

Some side notes..... I noticed the sockliner is made by OrthoLite. This is not a Nike company but they make custom inserts for shoes. The Free Run+ 3 comes with an OrthoLite sockliner as well but a lot of other top-of-the-line Nike shoes do not. I am not sure why but I prefer this one over the others. It feels like memory foam and feels really good to curl your toes into when you are idle.

 Also, the heel cup is very solid but does a good job of keeping your heel in place. It was a little weird at first since the back part of the shoe does not have the knitted material seen in the front. My most logical explanation is that the heel moves a lot and needs more security and who complains about their heel sweating? May just be me but only my toes and bottom of my foot only sweat. That is my best guess.

 Another thing that is odd is the shoelaces. They are rounded and kinday stringy looking. They are a chore to tie! It is a little difficult to get them to stay down. Once you do they work good but you can't just overlook tying them carefully.

Next thing is the tongue of the shoe. It is a little stretchy but is very functional. It is very thin but once you slip the sneaker on all you have to do is lift the tag on the tongue a little and they fit just right.

That's it for this review guys! The shoe is nearly sold out on the Nike online store but your best bet is to go to a local Nike store (Not the outlet) and be sure to call ahead of time to check on sizes. I personally recommend trying one on personally before ordering online, I held a 12 and it turned out to be too big and luckily Nike Town NYC had a few of 11.5s. Of course if you have a lot of money to blow you can buy them off of eBay but expect to drop a couple hundred dollars. Thanks so much for reading and be sure to check out my YouTube for more shoe and gear reviews.

Today is the Day!

Well folks, today is the day. My sold out pair of Flyknit Trainers are coming in! I was fortunate enough to get my hands on a pair before they ran out. Video will hopefully be up before the end of the day, depends on Fedex!

Partnership

Hey guys, thank you so much for all the positive feedback on my YouTube videos. I am currently working on partnering with an online retailer to bring more shoe and apparel review to my channel. Again thanks so much for being supportive and look out for more reviews soon.

Microsoft Arc Touch Mouse Unboxing / Review

As many of my close friends are aware, I am a gadget nerd. I can pick out phone names out of a crowd as well as I can Nike sneakers. I follow many websites such as Techno Buffalo and Engadget and occasionally 9to5mac. I love technology and love having the newest thing. When the Microsoft Arc Touch mouse came out it tickled my interest with its beauty and brilliant engineering. The part that makes the back snap has over 100 pieces. Lets get onto the good stuff now.

I ordered this from Best Buy and tracked the package religiously. Every 5 minutes I checked, that's how excited I was to receive this. The box eventually came in and like a child at Christmas I opened it. The box is detailed in the video of course, but I was very impressed with the quality of the packaging. Everything from the way the front lid has a magnet and how there was a window to see the mouse and the way the batteries and receiver were tucked in the box seeped with quality. How about what you are reading this for now?

The mouse flexes in the back to create an arc(h). Covering the mechanics to make this possible is a nice matte faux suede like material that feels nice in the palm. The arc moves smoothly and then clicks when put into travel or use position. The clickers at the front of the mouse really do need the term "front" to describe them. The buttons are near impossible to click farther towards the middle of the mouse. This problem doesn't take long to get used to but should be noted for people with smaller hands.

The reason why the name of this mouse includes the word "touch" is because of the scroll wheel. There was not enough space to include a hardware scroll wheel so it features an iPod Classic like click wheel. The strip is just wide enough for your finger to glide over it. It also features small finger tricks. Double tapping the horizontal strip opens the link your mouse is hovering over in a new tab. This comes in handy if you don't want to navigate away from pages yet. Scrolling faster on the touch pad will intelligently move you down or up a page faster. Additionally, double tapping the very front of the touch area takes you a page's length up and double tapping the far back takes you a page's length down. These tricks when known make your browsing experience much more enjoying.

The mouse feels really good in hand because the arc creates a gap underneath that your fingers easily find and gives you more control. The thumb rests nicely on the side of the battery area. Overall, the mouse is designed very well and is made to last.

You can buy the Arc Touch Mouse from the Microsoft online store for $60. Thank you for reading.

Nike Classic Glove Announcement

I recently picked up the Nike GK classic glove for training. I start glove training next week so I will be posting pictures with hours of use on them to demonstrate the wear and tear over time, not days. I will do the same for my match gloves but that won't come around until September or so. You can find my review for the glove here: http://bit.ly/PbeEO3

CTA Digital Steering Wheel Case Review

Well this is a slightly different review. I got this as a gift from my grandparents. Huge shout out to them, they give me all sorts of stuff and make my life so amazing. This product was made by CTA Digital and can be bought at Amazon or a Frys near you.

Open the box and you are greeted by a large plastic mold. It contains the wheel and 4 different slots. Each slot is for a different device and thankfully I happen to own a few that fit. Wonder how that happened? Well anyways.... You receive one for iPhone 3G/ 3GS, one for iPod Touch 2nd/3rd gen, one iPod touch 4th gen, and finally one for the iPhone 4/4s. For $10 I am happy that they decided to include adapters for every Apple model in the past 3 years. Putting your iDevice in is as simple as snapping it into the adapter and then into the wheel. How easy was that? Takes about 5 seconds. It also just so happens that the iPhone 3GS adapter fits an iPod touch 4th gen with a case perfectly. While probably not intended that turned out perfect. I hate taking my iPod out of the case since I have scratchaphobia (Yeah, I just made that word). I have a Zagg InvisibleShield under my case. Maybe another post I can rant about that but for now lets get back on track. I really like the idea of the case and it is very helpful for beating that last level that you could never beat. It actually helps with stability. It takes a little bit of getting use to but becomes an essential tool once you get acclimated to it.

Buy it now from Amazon here for $10. Thanks for reading and as always, check out my YouTube at youtube.com/benzz4318 and stay tuned for more!

Nike Dri-Fit Review

I recently embarked on a 7 hour long excursion to the Nike Store Dallas in the Northpark mall. My main mission was to get my pair of Flyknit trainers. However, I held a size 12 but 12 was too big and the only size 11.5 in the color I wanted was hiding in Nike Town NYC. Moving onto the main part of my story, I did not want to have driven an hour to get to the store and leave home with nothing! A guy was folding the shirt at the front desk while a Nike employee was calling Nike NYC to ship me a pair and the logo caught my eye. It was a US Soccer shirt! Not only am I a soccer nut, I like Nike obviously! It was perfect. My mom agreed to get me the shirt. I left that store proud that I at least got something.

Fast forward to today: I have clocked at least 6 hours of training with this shirt, and boy am I impressed. Besides that it looks great and supports a team I like, it performs extremely well. I am a bigger dude so I sweat a little (a lot). I left training with very little sweat on the shirt at all! Probably the only wet spots were from my water bottle leaking. The shirt kept me cool and dry amazingly. I must confess I am dropping my Charged Cotton shirts by Under Armour and using Nike Dri-Fit shirts for training now.

Rankings: Comfort 9/10, breathability 10/10, style 9/9, performance 10/10

Free Run+ 3 review

I have had this shoe for 6 months or so now and I though I'd finally get around to reviewing it. As always hit up my YouTube channel at: http://bit.ly/NnVLJE   I picked this sneaker up at my local Sports Authority.

This shoe is incredibly light. At 9.3 oz for a size 10, it is the lightest Free run to date. Nike really redesigned this one to make it a true running shoe. I owned the Free run+ 2 and the 3s really feel like a supreme shoe. Its like driving a Lamborghini after owning a Prius for 10 years. It's that much of a difference. I mean build quality, feel, movement, and design really stepped up that much. The 2s felt stiffer and the whole cage overlay held your foot in, almost too well. The free run 3 really changed that in introducing new elements such as the dynamic support fingers and a completely redesigned midsole.

Now about the midsole. The feel of the midsole when you run is exactly how you imagine your foot moving but with a much more plush feeling. I enjoy every minute of wearing these shoes. The heel strike area is smaller but has a deeper, smaller cut. If you just look at the shoes from the bottom you can tell how long Nike designers took to make the shoe. Every cut is expertly placed to optimize the feel of the shoe. The sipes in the arch area are much closer and also are curved to match the movement of natural pronation. The increased arch support and flexibility is greatly welcomed and provides a much more natural feel. Towards the front where your toes lift off are wider cuts making it flex more. Every area on the midsole seems well though out.

Now the upper. I will admit I wasn't crazy about the star pattern on the upper. It has proved itself to be good and bad. I won't spoil the positive mood just yet so lets start with the good. It is incredibly breathable and I would find myself riding my bike and think "Who is blowing air at my feet?". Ok now to the bad. They get soo dirty! Since the star pattern is an overlay to the mesh, it has a smaller than 1 mm depth that can easily trap dirt. The only way to get them out is to press a wet towel onto every little star to suck them out. That is annoying. Moving on, the dynamic support is a welcomed new feature but does not necessarily do its job. I have played soccer in these shoes (school not competitive) not knowing the problems I would encounter. Not only do they lack grip in the bottom but since the upper is so thin and flexible you easily roll your ankle. I found myself falling anytime I did a simple trick or tried to change directions. To simplify that, these are no good for training! Do not expect to be able to run suicides and change direction good. They just are not good shoes for that.

Durability is a problem I have not encountered with my Nikes, but that's because I take pretty good care of them. However, as detailed in the video, the heel strike pad has torn on the inside.  I am very disappointed and I did not expect that to be a problem with these shoes. By the time I outgrow these hopefully the Free Run+ 4 will be out!

Thanks so much for reading and be sure you visit my YouTube and maybe even subscribe? Thanks!

Flyknit Trainers

Hey guys! Just a heads up, I will have an unboxing and review of the Nike Flyknit Trainer up on my Youtube and eventually on this blog by next Wednesday. For now check out my channel at http://bit.ly/NnVLJE. Thanks

Review of the Nike GK classic

Link to YouTube channel: http://bit.ly/NnVLJE '

First soccer post! Expect more. Anywho, this is the Nike GK classic in the new green colorway for 2012/2013. There is not too much to this glove so don't expect a long review. So lets get started.

The Classic glove is an entry level gloves for amateurs or in my instance for training. It is most definitely not a match glove. soccer.com lists the durability and grip at 3/5. To a normal person you may think "well hey that's a glove thats 60% good". Nope. Basically this glove is the benchmark for cheap gloves. Really it is a 1/3. There are no gloves that are 2/5. None. With this in mind don't think that this glove is good for actual games. If you are a keeper on a budget, sure this is a glove for you! My match gloves, the Vapor Grip 3s are $120. They rank 4/5 for durability and 5/5 for grip. I will use these gloves only for practice. Practice fields in Texas are not the prettiest things, especially in the box. Comprised mostly of dirt and rocks, they will tear up your gloves, especially these. I saw reduced performance after 3 training sessions. Making game changing stops in practice is not nearly as essential because practice is practice. Midway through my last season with the blue colorway the thumb and palm area began to separate. This problem cannot be solved by simple stitching and requires buying a new pair if it bothers you.  I highly recommend to get two pairs of gloves if you can. Again if you are a keeper on a budget, beg to get two of these! They will not last you.

Size and fit: These gloves do not feature many cuts for flexibility so they fit out of the packaging flat. No finger saves or anything. While this is expected of cheaper gloves, the plastic spines cost all but $.03 dollars to make. Your hand fits in nicely but when you flex your hand don't expect a glove like response. They kinda fold oddly when you put your hand in a punching position. The mesh that walls the inside next to your skin is soft but after sweating in them for 6-10 hours separate from the latex outer and become less comfortable. This quality is widely expected from an entry level glove.

Rankings: Value 8/10, fit 7/10, comfort 7/10, color 8/10, build quality 7/10. You can pick them up at most local sporting goods stores and of course online for $22. Thanks for reading and check out the video for more.

Nike LunarGlide+ 4 Review

I uploaded an unboxing / review of the brand spanking new Lunarglide+ 4! You can go to to my YouTube channel here:  http://bit.ly/NnVLJE . Text review below.

This shoe is a phenomenal step up from the LunarGlide+ 3 with the weight dropping 1.8 oz. While this seems minuscule the difference is something you can tell when you hold the pair in your hand. I have a size 12 and in the hand feels like a size 9. The weight is that awesome!

When you take a step the Lunarlon really becomes the star of the show. Each step feels like you are bouncing on a cloud. This is a result of the Lunarlon being nearly 1.75 inches thick at the heel. The toe is a little under 1 inch thick making the heel toe drop .75 inches. Towards the middle the foam becomes less Lunarlon and has a little more Phylite material. This arch area does not flex very much at all. I am a Free Run enthusiast so this makes the shoe feel very different. Towards the front both foam layers begin to minimize into the toe area. On the instep side is mostly phylite with a midsole rim with lunarlon. This features Nikes proprietary Dynamic Support technology. Basically it is a wedge inside the shoe that counter acts pronation.

On the bottom is a completely redesigned outsole. It takes cues from the Free Runs by using only necessary areas for grip. The grip is mainly in the heel strike area and the toe strike area. It also features exposed lunarlon but the color is not volt like previous models. Now the lunarlon is entirely the color on the outside not painted over. I think Nike chose to do this because previous models when scraped on the side would reveal the volt lunarlon and would throw the color scheme off. Thanks Nike for that! Unlike previous models, this shoe also features a brand new inner groove. Instead of having one small, main vertical groove it has a wider groove with less cuts horizontally. This makes for a smoother transition from heel to toe.

Onto the upper. Again starting with the back to the front. A redesigned heel clip holds your heel in for a snug fit so your foot doesn't fly out of the shoe. This feature has been seen in all 4 of the Lunarglide series and in some other Nike running shoes. It was a stiff, solid plastic but now appears to be hollowed out to reduce weight. In the very back we see some of the same mesh used in the Free Run+ 2 but he rest of the upper is entirely different. A 3M reflective swoosh is a standout on both sides of the shoe and really lights up in low light conditions. Great for all the night runners out there! Back to the new mesh, it is now a very serrated look. The breath holes all seem to have a different size and shape which I am sure took Nike engineers a long time to design.

This new upper highlights the new Dynamic Flywire technology introduced this year at the Nike Innovation Summit (2012). The new nylon cords replace the fibers seen in the Lunarglide+ 2 and many other shoes. The cords are thicker and provide customizable support. I own a pair of Mercurial Vapor Superfly soccer cleats and they were a pain! The fibers took a while to break in as they do not stretch very much. Thankfully in this generation they can move freely. A misconception for me was that these cords were elasticy. However, they are not. Still, it makes for a great fit. When you tighten the laces it definitely does make a difference. Replacing the laces is not impossible but takes a little bit of patience. One of the first things I did was change the laces to the (PRODUCT) RED laces by Nike. It takes more work than a normal shoe but those of you that like to change their laces will be able to with practice.

Now onto a key problem: size and fitting. My daily shoe is a Free Run+ 3 in a size 11. Granted I am still growing so I usually get slightly bigger shoes so I can use them longer. My free runs have still have a little bit of room. Maybe a quarter inch at most. I had to get these in 12! An 11 was way too tight for my comfort and an 11.5 wasn't quite big enough either. I was surprised because I though Free runs fit small. Now I am not saying to order a pair a half size bigger because I said so. Ultimately the best way is to go out to a local store (I went to Sports Authority) and try them on yourself. Never buy a pair of shoes online without trying them on personally. Everybody's foot is different.

Wow you made it this far into my review? Well thanks for reading. I would rank these shoes 9/10 for comfort, 8/10 for fit, 9/10 for comfort, 7/10 for price, and 9/10 for cushioning. The LunarGlide+ 4 retails for $110 and you can get them from store.nike.com or a local outfitter near you!