First Impression: Ektio Post Up

“The Ektio Post Up is a doctor invented/clinically tested basketball shoe is designed to prevent roll over of the ankle that leads to ankle sprains. No more need to wear tape or braces.”

This was the description for the Ektio Post Up found on Eastbay; will it truly be an answer for inverted ankle injuries? Only one way to find out…

Hit the jump to find out what my initial First Impression is on the new performance brand…

Traction – Full length herringbone. Looks and feels good… the grooves are flexible and shaped like a “^” so it should offer some pretty good grip on the court. Herringbone isn’t as solid as it once was but these are reminiscent of the Zoom Kobe IV so that should be a good thing as far as on-court traction is concerned.

*Note: there is Carbon Fiber in place in the arch under the outsole. This is not something you typically see in most brands let alone a new brand so this is a nice feature and pretty surprising.

This is also the Indoor version; there are Outdoor specific versions available as well.

Cushion – There is a full length foam midsole and a thin foam insole in place. I cannot confirm if this is Phylon but I will just assume it is. It feels light in weight even though they weigh in at 15.1 oz. and they don’t feel heavy on foot either.

The midsole is ribbed which gives it the ability to compress & do so evenly given that it’s utilized across the entire midsole. These are pretty darn comfortable after a simple try on, even after rocking back and forth and jumping around a bit which is promising.

Materials – A full on synthetic upper is in place. From what I was told, it’s a vinyl material. There are some patent leather coated panels along with mesh side panels as well. Overall, the materials are lightweight and flexible which the shoes build doesn’t look to emphasize so that is another surprise that I am pleased with.

Fit – They fit true to size and as stated above; they’re very comfortable.  Padding is decent throughout but nothing too spectacular. They also look very restrictive yet they feel great once on your foot.

They came with instructions; believe it or not this is much needed as these were a pain in the butt to get on and strapped. So far this looks like the only real downside to the entire shoe until I actually step onto the court with them. I’d love to get more in-depth with how to put them on but that will have to wait for the video review as these will require me to physically show you how to do so.

Ventilation – This is another aspect that looks and feels pretty good. The tongue is a single layered mesh which is nice but there is also an inner sleeve within the shoe. The sleeve is thin – much thinner than Neoprene – so it shouldn’t restrict too much air flow.

The side panels are a double layered mesh – both medial & lateral sides – but again, its light and “airy”. I still don’t know if airy is an actual term but my spellcheck doesn’t highlight it so I’ll let it go.

Support – This is the key component to the shoes build. There are dual straps in place which have been strategically placed to provide the wearer with an unmatched lockdown fit in the heel along with an additional outer strap for additional stability around the ankle.

This is what the interior looks like. You can see the inner sleeve with the single layered mesh tongue resting above it. Under the sleeve – inside the shoe itself – is where the first strap is located which keeps the heel drawn into the shoes base. In between the sleeve and tongue is the additional strap. The way that the straps are installed seems almost backwards, at least it seems that way due to how it looks on the outer appearance… the Blue strap is what locks your heel into place while the White strap gives additional support; confused yet? I’m confusing myself trying to explain it so I will leave it at that and just show you what I mean in the full video review when the time comes.

As stated above; there is Carbon Fiber for arch support but the pronounced outriggers are what will draw you eye to the shoe.

They look bulky… almost as if they’ll get in the way. They’re actually placed just above the outsole so it’s almost like having training wheels for your kicks. When I tried them on I did try to see if I could roll my ankles outward otherwise known as an inversion. Basically I couldn’t… the bumpers stopped me at a certain point and wouldn’t give.

Since my right ankle is still a bit weak I will forego wearing my adidas SpeedWrap while I play in these just so I can really test the support and see if there is any chance these can actually replace using a brace or tape.

Overall, these are pretty cool. Something so simple yet it has never been done until now… to my knowledge at least. To say the very least, I’m pretty excited to take these on-court and see what they are capable of.