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Nike Kobe X Blackout | First Impression

Racing tires? Shark teeth? Zoom AND Lunarlon?  All of these contribute to the tenth signature shoe from Kobe Bryant as they make another historical classic with the Nike Kobe 10.  But is it up to the performance standards that were set high with the Kobe 8 and Kobe 9?  Let’s jump right in with my first impression.

[button color=”red” size=”big” alignment=”center” rel=”nofollow” openin=”newwindow” url=”https://kicksologists.com/2015/02/10/50-best-kobe-x-colorways-from-kobe-sneaker-history/”]50 Best Kobe X Nike iD Colorways[/button]

First off the sizing is true to size.  They might fit a little narrow, but it’s just like any other Kobe shoe.  I’ll tell you right now that the upper is absolutely horrible for me, but for some others it’s not a problem.  The upper is made out of this fuse synthetic material or in Nike’s words, “Textile Weave” mesh.  It creates a stable upper for containment but it sacrifices mobility and comfort.  Not really fond of this, but if that’s what the Mamba thought was best then so be it.  Definitely not the best thing at all for me as it took me a while to break them in.  My left shoe was fine, no pain but my right shoe flexes right into my foot and just digs in.  I couldn’t stand it and actually thought about returning a Kobe shoe for the first time ever. Thankfully, it gave in and now I’m looking forward to play in them.

With that aside, the cushion, traction, and lock down were the strong points of the Kobe X so far.  I have played about 15-20 hours in them and my favorite part of the shoe how well the foot is contained and secure within the footbed.  I am pretty mobile as I jab, cut, and run around stopping everywhere.  The Kobe X is able to keep my foot from sliding and going over the foot bed which is always a great addition to any performance sneaker.

Traction is a new rubber compound created by Nike Basketball and debuted in the Kobe X.  It uses nodules to grab onto various types regardless of how dusty the floor is.  However, the spacing between the pattern on the outsole allows dust to get trapped, but isn’t much of a problem on court.  So far, all of the outsoles are translucent as the theme these year is transparency.  Pretty interested to see a solid outsole in the future and see if that changes the grip in any way.

Anyways, I think I have said enough in this First Impression write-up.  Make sure to watch my video above for further in-depth details on the latest Nike Kobe X.  My performance review will be posted as soon as I get some time to play.  Going to be one of my favorites.

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