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Li-Ning Way of Wade 3 Lite Performance Review

Much better than the original…

Li-Ning Way of Wade 3 Lite Performance Review 1Traction – The tooling hasn’t changed at all between the WoW 3 and the WoW 3 Lite, so we’ll keep this short and sweet. You’ll still get the same great traction. You can use them indoors, outdoors, and even alternate between the two as it’s durable. As far as traction is concerned, they won’t let you down.

 

 

 

Li-Ning Way of Wade 3 Lite Performance Review 2Cushion – Cushion on the WoW 3 was so bad that I gave it a Benched badge. This time around, however, they did much better. The 4 layered foam system is much softer than it was on the WoW 3, so they compress and bounce back much better – resulting is shock absorption and an overall nice ride. The difference between the two models is pretty much night and day. These are the most comfortable Wade’s within the Li-Ning brand – besides the Wade 808 Low – so if you were wanting a pair of Wade’s that will offer some good cushion then this is it.



Li-Ning Way of Wade 3 Lite Performance Review 3Materials – The Wade 3’s offered premium materials throughout, while the Wade 3 Lite features what I’d call a more modern take. Synthetic Fuse is used in conjunction with mesh and they’re much more comfortable than the original. The Fuse is soft, yet supportive. It’s also pretty durable and breaths much better than the premium pairs – this was a plus when taking these out on the blacktop. Most end up thinking that synthetic uppers equal cheaper uppers. While that might be true from a monetary standpoint, performance wise… they still get the job done so you really can’t complain. Especially when they aren’t raising the price while using less premium goods.



Li-Ning Way of Wade 3 Lite Performance Review 4Fit – They do not fit true to size, they actually run 1/2 size small. Once you get your size down though… really great fit, and a complete 180 compared to the original WoW 3. Containment and comfort are one in the same here as there is nothing lacking from either end. No pain at all either. Well… except for the fact that I wore a size 9 during testing when I could have used a size 9.5. But other than that… these were awesome. The original WoW 3 had my feet hating me after each wear, whereas these just felt like any other shoe.



Li-Ning Way of Wade 3 Lite Performance Review 5Support – No issues with support this time around. Like other aspects of the shoe, these were a complete 180 compared to the original. They let the materials and fit do most of the supporting, along with the wider outsole, while they removed the Carbon Fiber that caused a huge problem for me in the regular pair. The shank was the same in this shoe compared to the regular version so I think the really thick resin coat made the shank way to rigid for lateral movement and caused the entire to to flex around it instead of it haling the shoe flex properly – they way this new TPU shank does.



Li-Ning Way of Wade 3 Lite Performance Review 6

Overall – I absolutely hated wearing the WoW 3 on-court, and surprisingly wound up loving the WoW 3 Lite. They’re one of my current go-to shoes right now when I head to the park to play outdoors because they’re tanks that offer me plenty of cushion while on the blacktop. I don’t think I’ve ever tested a shoe and had such a lopsided outlook between the different iterations. Usually the changes between models like this are very minimal, but as I’ve said above a few different times… these were a complete 180 from the original WoW 3. While I still wouldn’t recommend the Way of Wade 3 for on-court action, the Way of Wade 3 Lite is a beast on-court.



Li-Ning Way of Wade 3 Lite Performance Review Score

21 comments
  1. Nightwing, why did cushion get a 6th man when it has plenty of cushion for outdoor use, which to me says a lot since outdoor floors are harder on knees? Was it because of lack of responsiveness?

    1. It’s a 4 layer system, and the plush portion is on the thin side. Good enough but not worthy of starting 5 with other great cushions. 6th man isn’t bad though. Just bc something isn’t outstanding doesn’t mean it’s bad. If that’s how people keep reading the score system then I may consider removing it completely. Don’t want further confusion for no reason.

  2. You sold me then I returned them when you says tanks, a guards shoe cannot be metaphors for tanks if I’m gonna cop! Nightwing?

      1. True. Like I know plenty of guard type players that liked the Lebron 11 including me. They didn’t feel bad while moving but they were durable as hell.

  3. too expensive for what they offer.
    Linings are weird. was just looking at my old conquer pair. and they had so many layers in that shoe, covering the vents they had with 1 layer of something + 1 plastic + 2 cloth layers
    i was wtf. why even put those vents there.
    the whole design is cool, but the way they made it not so much.
    spent a few hours cutting and ripping all the nonsense from them.
    anyway, dont see myself buying anylings soon. rather buy some replicas from aliexpress

  4. Come on li Ning yall got great cushion there is no reason with other brands out here yall are nobody’s even peak is doing better than yall got to step it up very disappointed yall need to quit if yall gonna keep this up bad business for d wade

    1. What are you referring to here? Are you saying these shoes suck or Li-Ling as a brand isn’t good, or are you just taking shots at the WoW 3s for not being playable on court for D-Wade and lots of other people?

      Also, I always thought that Li-Ning had average cushioning compared to a lot of the other top foams. You seem to give credit to their cushioning as if it’s one of the best?

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