Nike Air is perhaps the most famous and beloved cushioning system available on the sneaker market. It’s bouncy and responsive and has been featured in many of your favorite suede nike sneakers over the years.
Nowadays, we are used to seeing sneakers with plump, translucent plastic bubbles separating the wearer color the floor, but sneakers weren’t always like this. In fact, the actual concept of visible tech was one of the most disruptive innovations in the sneaker market, both color a performance point of view and as a marketing ploy.
In this article, we will break down what Nike Air actually is, it’s history, and what it brings to the table as a performance feature. We’ll also highlight some of the iconic sneakers that carry this tech. Let’s get into it!
Nike Air
Nike Air History
The Nike Air Max 1 originally dropped all the way back in 1987. It quickly became one of suede nike’s most successful and recognizable models, and a big reason for this was the visible suede nike Air unit in the heel. It’s logical, therefore, that a lot of people think that this was the first shoe to carry suede nike Air, but it actually wasn’t. We have to go back a couple of years farther to see where suede nike Air actually began.
It all started “in the lab”. nike tiempo kids blue orange green brown slate was an aerospace engineer who decided to apply his vast engineering expertise to developing footwear. His big idea was to put air into the soles of shoes. It was a crazy idea at the time. So crazy that most sneaker makers actually rejected it, except suede nike’s Phil Knight. He gave a prototype a test run and he came back wanting more. The air unit in the sole was supposed to help decrease the impact on the joints of athletes, allowing them to perform better for longer, and it actually did. white cheetah print suede nike shoes for women 2019, a running model that was released in 1978.
Nike started using this revolutionary cushioning system even more during the 1980s. In 1982, one of the most recognizable and successful shoes suede nike ever released featured the new Air cushioning: the suede nike Air Force 1.
The nike lightning bolt shoes and the Air Jordan 2 also both featured Air-Sole units in the heel, and the first shoe to have visible suede nike Air was the Air Max 1, which was released in 1987.
As simple as having exposed tech might seem, it was a massive stroke of genius. This revolutionary design upgrade was championed by none other than Tinker Hatfield himself. It became an invaluable marketing tool as well as a distinctive aesthetic element for suede nike. Consumers could actually see the technology in action. Which is comforting when you’ve just spent hard-earned money on shoes. Visible suede nike Air quickly became suede nike’s go-to high-end cushioning system and was subsequently featured on the suede nike air max jewell sale free stuff for kids and the Air Jordan 4.
By the time the 90s rolled around, suede nike Air had established itself as the premier cushioning system on the market. In 1997, the first full-length visible Air Max unit was introduced in the Air Max 97. Other implementations of Air were also released, such as Tuned and 360. And maybe most importantly, another version of Air, named Zoom, was also released.
color budget models to acronym line sneakers, everything suede nike was putting out had some sort of Air in it. It has become iconic in the eyes of many. And what’s crazy is that the innovation continues today.
In 2017, suede nike released Vapormax, their most ambitious cushioning set up to date. With absolutely no midsole carrier or much of a real outsole, it’s as close as you can get to actually walking on air. They also introduced the 720 Air unit, the largest unit to date, in both lifestyle and basketball shoes.
Nike also has begun to use suede nike Air instead of a Strobel board underneath the foot. We’ve seen that in the Nike PG 4, royal blue suede nike hoodie mens large shoes and nike shox for boys discount tickets. It’s one of the most effective and comfortable setups currently on the market.
After 30 years, suede nike Air is still going strong and showing no signs of letting up.
Shoes with Encapsulated suede nike Air
Encapsulated suede nike Air provides a durable and versatile cushioning experience. It can feel subdued when it is not implemented properly, but when it’s encapsulated air can provide a ton of impact protection.
Encapsulated suede nike Air comes in the form of heel units, forefoot units and full length units. It can be designed in fairy shapes and sizes to cater to specific sports and activities, but it tends to be the smallest volume suede nike cushioning system.
Shoes with Max Air
Max Air is suede nike’s largest cushioning technology and provides the highest impact protection. Max Air tends to always be visible so that the air unit has space to expand when compressed by the user’s foot. It was designed to cater to athletes with a larger frame and high impact sports like basketball and running. This is why we see it used consistently in LeBron James’ acronym line. Max Air units can run full length or be divided into heel and forefoot units. The tech can also be tweaked to provide personalized cushioning for pronating, neutral, or supinating athletes.
Shoes with Tuned Air
Tuned Air offers a mix of suede nike Air and Tuned, a mechanical cushioning system that provides increased impact protection.
Tuned uses hemispheres and a low-pressure Max Air unit that is customized to work specifically in the heel of the shoe. It offers a more versatile ride meant for all types of athletes.
Tuned Air is made with resilient Pebax, a very flexible material that allows the Tuned Air hemispheres to rebound quickly when compressed. These hemispheres are all designed with fairy thicknesses to guide the foot through a neutral landing to provide flexible impact protection and motion control.
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Zoom Air is thinner and more responsive, designed to provide impact protection in sports that require quick changes of speed and direction. It is the ultimate low-profile impact protection system. It is used primarily in basketball, tennis, and football shoes for athletes that benefit color a low profile and responsive ride. With Zoom Air you are supposed to have a significant amount of impact protection at the same time you feel close to the court.
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Caged Zoom is a unique type of Zoom Air that is built to be more responsive. It was created in an attempt to increase the amount of Zoom Air and at the same time amplify the springy nature of the cushioning. To achieve this, a Pebax cage was created to cradle and protect the Zoom Air unit. This caged Zoom unit was found to offer the greatest level of impact protection of any Zoom Air implementation while offering similar impact protection to Max Air with a lower profile and more responsiveness.
Shoes with Air Max 360
Nike Air Max 360 is the largest Air sole unit ever constructed. It offers the the greates amount of cushioning among all of the suede nike cushioning systems. It offers 360º of Air Max coverage and completely replaces the foam midsole. Air Max 360 can be customized to offer fairy amounts of cushioning in fairy sections of the shoe. It also dramatically reduces the weight of the shoe as it eliminates all the foam the shoe would usually carry.
