The area of improvement for me is definitely the durability of the materials used. I really like how the shoe comfortable wraps around my feet and keeps everything snug.

In addition to a very premium looking and pleasing aesthetics, the traction of the shoe and the overall stability have also exceeded my expectations. I am quite impressed with the Nike Zoom Freak 2. I really love the traction that Zoom Freak 2 provides, but it is unfortunate that the rubber compound used is not very durable. I definitely would not recommend using the Zoom Freak 2 outdoors because I can imagine the outsole getting destroyed very quickly. I played my first few session with the Zoom Freak 2 on an indoor gym so I was really surprised that there was already pretty significant wear on the outsole. After just a few sessions on the Zoom Freak 2, I noticed that some of the ribs of the outsole at the toe box area has been chipped away. These are two areas where you would usually get stepped on so they are also the location at which the glue is first to fail.Īnother durability issue with the Zoom Freak 2 is the rubber compound used on the outsole. On my pair, the critical areas where the glue is failing is at the toe box where the upper is glued to the outsole, and at the outside edge where the upper is glued to the TPU side piece. However, that is not the case with the Zoom Freak 2. Getting stepped on the basketball court is not unusual so you would imagine that a good quality shoe should be able to withstand the typical pressure coming from being stepped on. I immediately noticed that rubber outsole at the toe box area got ripped apart from the upper. During the first few sessions I played on Nike Zoom Freak 2, my foot got stepped on by my defender. I noticed that the glue used to combine the outsole and TPU piece to the upper has very low adhesive properties. The biggest con of the Nike Zoom Freak 2 for me is its durability. When I was wearing the Nike Zoom Freak 2, I felt that I was relatively low to the ground and it was pretty easy to do quick explosive steps.

The overall cushioning feels comfortably firm with adequate impact protection and pretty good court feel. The Air Zoom unit at the forefoot area definitely helps with the responsiveness of the shoe.

I would say the cushioning on the Nike Zoom Freak 2 is not spectacular but above average. My ankles felt secured on the Nike Zoom Freak 2 especially with the semi-dense foam at the heel area which comfortably wraps around my ankles. The moulded TPU and the rubber outsole ridge at the outside edge of the shoe helps in containing lateral movements and preventing ankle rolls. I have not tested these outdoors yet, but I imagine that if the traction of the shoe performs very well on indoor gyms, it won’t have any significant issue performing on blacktop courts.Īnkle lockdown and support of the Nike Zoom Freak 2 felt pretty good in my opinion. With that said, the traction of the Nike Zoom Freak 2 will probably not be as great on poorly maintained indoor gyms, but I would imagine that it will not be terrible either. However, I would like to point out that the indoor gym floors I play on right now is always dust-free because the gym staff cleans and wipes the floors in between ball sessions in efforts to prevent the spread of the pandemic. I definitely felt the rubber biting very well against the indoor gym floor which enabled me to stop at a dime. Initially, I was very doubtful of the radial traction pattern the shoe has on forefoot area but it turns out to be very good. The traction on the Nike Zoom Freak 2 is amazing on the indoor gyms I play on.

Do zoom freak 2 run small