adidas Crazy Explosive 2017 Primeknit Performance Review | AnotherPair

Before I get into this review, I just want to say that the adidas Crazy Explosive 2017 Primeknit is my favorite hoop shoe (as of right now) of 2017 — by a wide margin!

You can find the adidas Crazy Explosive 2017 PK available at Eastbay.com

adidas crazy explosive 2017 primeknit performance review traction

For some unknown reason, the adidas Crazy Explosive 2017 Primeknit outsole looks a lot like an ant farm so I have dubbed the pattern then “ants in a maze traction pattern.” The only issue I had with the traction was when I played on a tiled floor and dust was present I had one or two slips here and there. However, I wiped my shoes and that phenomenal traction emerged once again!

On the dirty hardwood courts, the traction was cutting through the dust like a hot knife to a stick of butter! I was out there wood grain grippin’ and wiping was very minimal.

Now, do I even need to comment on how the Crazy Explosive performed on a clean court? Can you say super glue? It was that bomb. I even played on a plastic court and the Crazy Explosive 17 was great. I do not recommend hooping outside in these.

adidas crazy explosive 2017 primeknit performance review cushion

The adidas Crazy Explosive 2017 Primeknit retains the same setup as last year’s Crazy Explosive — full-length Boost with a soft TPU cage on the lateral side of the shoe while the medial side exposes the Boost. Like its predecessor, the cushion is beast-mode. I love it!

I did have one or two guys tell me that the Boost bottomed out in last year’s model but I didn’t experience any bottoming out on any of my pairs. All I know is #Boostislife, life is boost, and whenever I put these on I just want to Boost my life.

adidas crazy explosive 2017 primeknit performance review materials

The adidas Crazy Explosive 2017 Primeknit features a one-piece bootie upper featuring the newly forged Primeknit that uses a raised wave pattern. I preferred the materials of the previous CE model. The original CE offered a nice plush feeling and now that feeling is missing. adidas removed the GeoFit inner sleeve on the adidas Crazy Explosive 2017 Primeknit in favor of a sock-like ankle collar with soft inserts at the tongue and around the ankles for comfort.

Forged Primeknit is dope, and I’m not saying that the materials are trash. They are far from trash, and I love the setup. My feet just miss that GeoFit sleeve.

adidas crazy explosive 2017 primeknit performance review fit

The adidas Crazy Explosive 2017 Primeknit fits true to size and is wide footer friendly. Of course, you should still try and try on the shoe before purchasing.

This here was the bee’s knees in terms of lockdown. Last year, adidas put just four eyelets on the Crazy Explosive and it worked (to the surprise of many). This year we now have five eyelets and everything from the forefoot to heel was contained nicely so I had no issues.

adidas crazy explosive 2017 primeknit performance review support

Support was great. Like last year, the adidas Crazy Explosive 2017 Primeknit has a pretty broad base. Moreover, your foot sits inside of the TPU roll cage to offer the lateral support we loved so much in the Crazy Explosive last year. There is also the huge infinity shank plate to keep you stable and boost torsional rigidity. It acts like a spring all at the same time, giving you that crazy explosiveness when you need it most.

The newly forged Primeknit uses supportive reinforcement sections on the shoe that stop the materials from stretching too much and keep the foot dead center on the footbed. Amazing!

adidas crazy explosive 2017 primeknit performance review overall

The adidas Crazy Explosive 2017 Primeknit is a great shoe! I love this thing like crazy and it is by far my favorite hoop shoe of 2017 so far. It’s number one in my rotation and I’m pretty sure it will be in many of yours as well. I recommend this shoe to everyone that hoops — I don’t give a diddly-damn how big or how small you are because the adidas Crazy Explosive 2017 is fire!

adidas crazy explosive 2017 primeknit scorecard

 

To compare the new build to the original model check out our adidas Crazy Explosive performance reviews.

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57 Comments

  3. Love this addition to the team! AnotherPair is a beast! 🙂 Great job weartesters on bringing him on

  4. But is the outsole more durable this year? That’s probably gonna be the real make or break for this shoe.

    2. The tooling is the same, look at it. Outsole in the same, Boost is the same essentially, encapsulation is very very similar. Same pattern, same material and no versions come with solid rubber, which is stupid. I love the shoe anyway but I don’t get how a fatal flaw like that could be let slide not once but twice.

  5. Great review! Much respect and appreciation for the review…I didn’t recognize the name of the reviewer but someone said welcome to the team so that must be why, good to see new tam members that deliver the same quality reviews! Anyways, everything sounds about what I expected in these compared to last years primeknit version but I just have one question. Since the geofit sleeve is removed, are these 2017s lighter than last years model?

    1. Thanks, I did not notice any weight differences on court. I am not sure how much the 2017 actually weighs, but I will find out I have to pull out the scale! haha

      1. We have the 2017s released early in Asia.

        From what I can tell at the store (they have both the 2016 and 2017s on the shelves) by weighing them in my hands, the 2017s are slightly lighter but, like anotherpair said, you probably won’t feel it on court.

        Great review by the way! Love your style and energy!
        (I did try listening to you @ 0.75 speed and it was perfect for me lol)

        1. Haha thanks man glad you liked the review, and you can’t tell any weight differences on court. I figured the 2016 version would be heavier.

  6. I was going to ask the same thing about the durability of the outsole. That would be a huge factor when purchasing this.

  7. Great review! Great shoes (minus the sock-like collar)!

    I wouldn’t really worry much about the durability of the outsoles especially if you are playing mostly indoors. I still don’t see any issues with my pair (CE 2016) and it is nearing a year already since I bought it, still my go-to shoes.

    Next up – the Non-PK Version Performance Review PLEASE!!!

  10. Enjoyed the review. Different pace and I perhaps different energy overall, lol, but there’s the same depth and detail.

    “Tad bit better” than the 2016 makes perfect sense. I mean all that the 2016 needed was some tweaks on the upper for some people, especially the lacing setup. The collar collapses funny around my skinny ankles, but otherwise as safe as choices go.

  12. nice review, gotta say this dude reminds me of that shamwow commercial guy for some reason.

  13. Great Review. Looking forward to more reviews coming from you.
    non PK version is already available here in the Philippines and there is also Explosive Bounce. Dual Threat 2017 looks promising as well. check out shop.adidas.com.ph/men/shoes/basketball.html.

  14. My dude, I love your style of reviews. Something different and brings more character to the Weartesters Style of review. Just subbed to your channel and will definitely binge on your content.

    Welcome to the team, homie.

  15. First of all, thanks for the fantastic review! But I still have a question: do they have any kind of reinforcement in the heel?( like tpu or something like that)

  16. This dude is so full of energy that i dont even need coffee for the morning. weartesters super team!

    good review! still waiting for the crazylight 2017 though.

  19. How would these compare to Crazy Explosive Low? I’m not too much of a fan of high-tops but these don’t look like so with the sock liner. I love the CE Low so would you recommend as an upgrade? Will there be a 2017 Low?

  20. Nice review. Just got my pair from amazon. Played in them 2 hours…. OMG….They are awesome GRIPS your heel(in a good way). Better one/one fit than last years and those were awesome. Forefoot boost is better.

  21. LMAO… I had to leave a comment, I def had to write this… man this guy is so funny… Oh man I laughed to tears… I like your style!!! Great work!

    I small recommendation though, sometimes you get carried away and miss out some small important details of the shoe… like the small addition or extension of the plate etc.

    I really enjoyed it and laughed a lot! Thanks a lot and keep up the good work! Cheers!

  22. I really enjoyed the review!Welcome to the team!I wanted to ask…Did you need a breaking period with them?I’m asking cause when you try them for the first time they feel a bit tight all over the foot.

  24. Great review Nate. I played in the shoe for the first time today. Incredible shoe. It’s wider than the 2016 low and the lockdown is perfect. I had slight heel slip in the 2016s plus the laces would loosen during play. These are incredible. Also, there’s very little break-in time and the primeknit is durable. The padding on the ankles and tongue is a nice touch.

  25. Hey man, first off nice review and I liked the energy you brought to the video review in particular. I thought it worked even better in that format though the info was pretty much the same.

    I don’t know what to think here as I have heard conflicting things. Some say that these play *hotter* than the 2016. Wow. 2016 did not breath at all and felt like I wear wearing a thick rug on my feet. That was probably the main critique I had of the model after the outsole, which was not built for outdoor play or durability in general.

    I also have doubts about the ankle sock setup. Generally speaking they don’t provide much support. That’s a big step down from the GeoFit sleeve they had in the 2016. What I do like is the stretchy material on the tongue, great for a wide footer on a shoe that has a somewhat narrow midfoot (though it didn’t bother me on the 2016 like it did on the D Rose 7).

    I do like the idea that there PrimeKnit is “forged,” should more durable than the 2016 which snagged and had issues. I also noticed that it has two layers, the forged external layer and a thinner mesh layer underneath. That’s a nice setup. There are also little “cables” inside, similar to Flywire. The two-layer setup with cables is MUCH better than using glue (we see you, Nike, with your sloppy azz Flyknit hoops shoes!).

    I am not entirely sure I will prefer this to the 2016 but I will give them a shot. I ordered a couple pairs of LVL3 ones but I’ll likely sell those. I got the Wiggins pair on the way to take for a spin whenever I can get some indoor court time down here.

    1. Definitely a lot of padding and that feels nice. The top of my foot feels great with the sock. The wrap around the midsole is the part I don’t like as opposed to the 2016. Maybe they will adjust. So far I feel the outrigger more on the lateral side of my foot, it is not comfortable, feels like I am stepping on a peg or a tiny doorstop. Worse yet is the way it wraps around to form the heel counter. This is the worst aspect of “sock” collar midtops. Much like the Nike LunarEpic running shoe, the sock collar is compensated for with a harder, larger heel counter. Just like that model, these are a blister fest. I wore these to dinner and walked some friends to their hotel, half a mile tops. Huge blister on my right Achilles. Hopefully with some additional use and thicker socks it won’t be an issue but given the setup I am pretty skeptical.

  28. awesome review bro! appreciate the energy! Tried this on along with the CE PK lows and interestingly enough, this actually felt lighter than the lows. Fit wise tho, the lows still felt a lot more snug and just perfect. Like the shoe was really just an extension of my foot you know what i mean. Just wanted to know how you feel ranking 1-3 the CE, CE low and CE 2017. More power bro!

  29. I was wondering.Im used to wearing ankle braces in all hoop shoes is the protection good enough for me to not wear the braces also I’ve been strengthening my ankles.Thanks.

  30. I appreciate the review. This may have been mentioned earlier but would you (or anyone who has played in the shoe) consider it to be a true high top? How much ankle support is there and how high up does it reach? I am curious how rigid the shoe feels, as I have played in a couple (old hyper rev, and KD8 Elite) where it is essentially a low with a fancy sock. Thanks.

    1. There is no such thing as ankle support. You can only restrict the ankle from moving. The ankle itself supports the entire body while in motion. These feature a compression ankle collar. Its for proprioception. Makes those that feel like ankle support exists comfortable with wearing something that doesn’t actually restrict mobility within the ankle.

      1. @nightwing2303 interesting take on the proprioception compression collar- placebo effect? I had always assumed high tops had better ankle support due to the restriction. Im returning from 6 months ankle rehab, and am looking for the right shoe to pair with zamst ankle braces- would you recommend these or a more traditional high top? Open to any suggestion. Love you work!

    2. To answer your question directly, NO, it is *not* a true high top or even a true mid top. Think of a shoe like the original HyperRev model. Heel counter to enhance fit and support near the Achilles area, then the material above it is mostly for appearances. Those at least had a strap though I guess the compression sock here is another take on something that secures fit and gives *the impression* of support. For me the 2016 version felt much more secure around the ankle, much more. I don’t know if “there is no such thing” as ankle support but yes injury prevention stems more from how the shoes fit than how high they are. That said, the fact that designers have to compensate with exaggerated heel counters (these, lows like the Kobe 7) tells you that there is some benefit to height, no? Once in a while a low-top or low-profile shoe nails it (think Zoom MVP or Jet Flight) but overall I think secure fit and height are both important, and in that order.

  32. For me these are a pass, unfortunately. Aesthetically I like them more than most people and I liked several colorways (Vegas, Wiggins PE, yellow/black) so I bought them all. L. The heel counter is super rigid which not only caused minor injuries to my foot, it also ruins the flow of the shoe. The 2016 model, which I liked overall, felt at once more supportive and FASTER. These feel like the bottom of my foot is in a cage and the top part is in a sock. Too much contrast that makes for a slower, bulkier motion and also, for me, becomes painful very quickly. I sold my Vegas pairs and returned the Wiggins and yellow ones. Very disappointing. Save your money and go for the 2016 edition, which has dropped in price recently (though this model is already seeing 30% drops, which should tell you something!). The 2016 could have used a touch more forefoot cushioning and a way more durable outsole, but they did not fix either of those issues on the 2017, same exact tooling. So what is the advantage here? Stronger Primeknit material (2016 upper wasn’t very durable), I guess, but then you are dealing with what I think is a big fit and comfort issue. If durability is a concern, get the regular 2016 model, not the PK, which is dirt cheap now and not at all bad to play in.

  33. I played a few games in these. For the most part they felt awesome. Good court feel but very cushioned at the same time. However, when I would have to make a strong lateral cut I could feel my foot sliding off the footbed. I was guessing that they were just breaking in so I would tighten them up again. By the end of the run, I them so tight that it hurt my feet. I had to take them back. I haven’t heard any complaints like this from anyone else. Did I just get a defective pair?

  34. Cushion,support ,fit omg dis shoe is amazing!i switched from nike to adidas bcuz of dis damn shoe!More power weartesters!??

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