I’ve had more inquiries about this shoe than almost every other pair I’ve previously reviewed… so here it is, the Nike Zoom Hyperenforcer’s full Performance Review.
Hit the jump for more…
Traction – While herringbone is abundant, it wasn’t the best use of the pattern. Most of the surface was great – as expected – however, the section beneath the ball of the foot was flat in shape instead of being peaked ‘^’ so there was some unwanted slipping when moving quickly around screens or performing crossovers. The slipping wasn’t enough to make me fall but it was enough to delay my reaction time which wasn’t something that I had anticipated.
Cushion – The cushion is exactly the same as previous models within the Hyperfuse family. Forefoot Zoom Air and a Phylon midsole made for a comfortable and responsive ride, something a Guard or fast moving Forward would appreciate. There is some break-in time required with the midsole itself but once that’s taken care of its pretty much smooth sailing from there on out.
Material – The overall materials are nice but there is quite a bit of break-in time needed in order for you to enjoy the shoe completely. Once the break-in process is complete then there are no issues to be found with the materials themselves. Having Fuse and Flywire together isn’t 100% necessary – in my opinion – so it would have been nice to have one or the other instead of both. One thing you can always count on with a Fuse based model is their durability… you can’t go wrong with a shoe that can take a beating and keep on going as if it were nothing.
Fit – I had to go ½ size up – as I have with most other Fuse models – but other than that the fit was great. The heel offers near perfect lockdown while the midfoot is the most impressive with the almost independent lacing design. Each Flywire section acts as fingers to harness your foot into place for an almost custom-like fit. I would more than welcome this type of lacing structure if they decide to use it again.
Ventilation – You wouldn’t expect the latest Fuse model to suffer in the ventilation department but that’s what ended up happening here. I thought the original Hyperfuse offered a good amount of ventilation along the upper and hoped these would have surpassed them. Unfortunately that wasn’t the case here as all of the open vents were covered along the interior with a thick – yet durable – lining. This resulted in more heat being trapped inside the shoe than the thick lining could handle. While it does offer above average ventilation, it wasn’t an upgrade in my eyes.
Support – There are TPU panels placed at the heel acting as an internal heel counter. This offered a great lockdown fit in the rear section of the shoe which is something that the original Fuse models needed. In addition to the heel cup, there is support ‘wings’ placed on the medial & lateral sides at the ankle. The wings offered additional stability and did limit range of motion a bit. Had they reversed the placement of the wings it would have restricted movement in the appropriate areas while offering support.
Overall – They are a good all-around shoe but they fell short in certain areas while excelling in others. For the price, you can probably find something better both within the Nike brand and outside of the brand as well.
For those of you who play outdoors, there is an outdoor version that features thicker materials for increased durability and an XDR outsole. The traction pattern is also outdoor specific on the outdoor model as well.
Traction – 8.5/10
Cushion – 7/10
Material – 8/10
Fit – 9.5/10
Ventilation – 7.5/10
Support – 7.5/10
Overall – 8/10
hi nightwing, isnt it going to be awkward if the panels were switched? comparing it with an asymetrical collar the lower cut is at the lateral side. the higher or thicker medial cut compensates prevention of an outside or lateral rollover. an outrigger prevent a rollover too but i’m just sharing my opinion on the wings/cut. i was thinking that a lateral panel or restiction’s for prevention of a medial/inside rollover. am i overanalysing? i just thought to compare it with an asymetrical collar but the lower cut was on the medial side and it would become useless. you have a point too. if its a standard high cut, a thicker lateral panel would be good too. lol. great and informative review as well.
I gave it some thought and you have a point. Some of the better supportive shoes have restricted ankle movement on the later side, such as adidas, so i suppose it could go both ways.
looks like you changed your opinion on how high or low cuts support ankles. before you only consider them as restrictions. now they are support for you. haha. after suffering in one i think people will know the difference.
Not at all, theyre support wings so thats what i called them. Would sound funny if i called them restriction wings…
you have a point. silly me. haha. restriction does help in my opinion. billups, galinari, rose, severe ankle sprains with crazy light 1. too much restriction will be bad too. john wall broke his foot using zigslash during his rookie year. the top cut of those they said were so stiff. probably becuase of poor traction too.
hahah those zigencore’s and huarache bballs are just sitting there waiting to be reviewed and then thrown away. Haha are you actually gonna finish those out?
Eventually… Unfortunately lol
Just throwing in the link from Nike Store for the XDR version so you can all check it out:
http://store.nike.com/us/en_us/?l=shop,pdp,ctr-inline/cid-1/pid-463142/pgid-463144
Nightwing, really enjoy all your work!! Been following your site for a couple of months now…
One question regarding the shoe: I have fairly slim, could say “bony” feet and I tend to get hot spots right on top of my midfoot (above the arch). Usually what helps is a patted tongue. I thought that these had a very slim tongue, which concerned me, but here you briefly said it does have patted areas. Could you maybe “rate” the padding on the tongue and would you say that it becomes less of a problem anyway because of the lacing and structure of these, to have good lockdown even when loosened partially?? Thanks so much, might grab a pair of these depending on what you think!
Well the padding isnt significant compared to older shoes but when compared to other shoes that have thin tongues, these were better than most.
When you think about shoes that are harder to break in, you can’t help but wonder how some pros handle it. This march i saw a few teams in the NCAA that were sponsored by Nike and had the Hyperenforcer as their official shoe for the duration of the tournament. Do they just wear one pair and hopefully break it in during training until the tournament starts or they just go through multiple pairs and never really breaking one in properly.
It would be ironic if it would ultimately affect a guys’ performance.
Some people dont like broken in shoes believe it or not. They prefer that bran new shoe feeling. Im the opposite and dislike break-in periods an prefer shoes that are pretty flexible.
hey nightwing, i have a problem with the tongue on my hyperenforcers. they keep sliding around. how can i prevent this problem
Not much really.
hey how does the heel rubber crash pad feel?
I went over that in the video.
Ik that these came out just a few months ago but do you think they will have a hyperenforcer 2012 Because next year I want to get Hyperfuse 2012, and Hyperenforcer 2012’s
Not sure. Theyll most likely have more nee fuse models though.
Would I be able to use these shoes on concrete or will that ruin then
i would like to ask for opinions of what to buy between nike hyperenforcer and adidas misterfly.pls do include traction difference between the two. thanks. waiting for your reply before purchasing.thanks again
Hi Nightwing, you said that the lining prevented decent ventilation. Do you think that could possibly be because this is an all black model of the shoe?
No, the color of the material has nothing to do with it hindering ventilation… the material used hinders the ventilation as stated in the review.
Would you consider the Nike Zoom Hyperfranchise XD the “outdoor” version of this shoe? I’ve been trying to go through the hyper series and see which pair that you’ve reviewed is the closest. The pair that I’m referring to dropped back in Spring ’13; You had pictures up a long time ago.