Sometimes, companies have years that are just terrible — sales drop, signature shoes fall flat, technology doesn’t work out as it was designed or advertised. Under Armour had that year — in 2012.
Way past that year, UA has been producing KILLER product — Spawns in 2013, ClutchFit Drive in 2014, and then, in February 2015, Haley’s Comet in shoe form hit — the Curry line. Actually, the ClutchFit Drive is one of the best shoes I have EVER played in, and most reviewers agreed.
Now we get the ClutchFit Drive 2, mine in lowtop form. Jarron did the midtop a while back, and although the scores were a little lower, the shoe still performed. How will the low hold up? Let’s hit it…
MATERIALS – Clutchfit — says so right there on the side. It isn’t the rubber overlay like last year but a real evolution — the Fit is inlaid in a mesh panel that gives better breathability while keeping the flex from the original design. Solid rubber outsole with herringbone traction. The external rubber heel counter isn’t not too hard, nor too soft. Finally, open mesh tongue and Fuse reinforcement on the eyestays and toe cap. All in all, solid but nothing new.
FIT – On my first try on, I said true to size. After wearing for just two games, it was obvious I could have went down a half size. The heel and midfoot was dead spot on but the length was a little longer than I like and I normally want about a half inch on the toe. This extra room didn’t affect game play but it did cause the shoe to buckle over my toes when pulled tight.
Again, heel slip was a no-no and the ClutchFit panels locked my foot in solid on cuts and slides. One thing done right: the Fused overlay on the lateral side along with the solid ClutchFit underlay along the pinky toe does great in keeping the foot over the footbed. Very simple but very helpful.
TRACTION – Man, one thing UA has ALWAYS done right is traction. When I saw the original Juke, with the diamond traction, it should have sucked but didn’t. Moral of the story is that I don’t doubt UA traction. Since this outsole is the tried-and-true Curry 1/CFD1/CFD 2 herringbone, it works. The only issue I had was on REALLY dusty, Pig Pen courts, the red logo under the forefoot grabbed dust like a sorority on dollar night at a college bar. Not a big deal — it was solved with a quick wipe while playing. It is just that the rest of the sole didn’t have the same issue.
CUSHIONING – This is almost the same as the Curry Two, which makes sense. However, after asking some very knowledgable Under Armour minds, I was told my thoughts weren’t off — the forefoot is definitely more responsive than the Curry Two. While the Curry is built for him, where in court feel and low ride is more important, the CFD 2 is built for EVERY player and has a little more bounce. Not Boost bounce, but more like the Curry One low with the Micro G insole.
The CFD 2 still rides low, but coming down on jumpers and rebounds, there was no jarring or popping. The one thing the Charged does extremely well is transition, and the CFD is no different; the low ride and Charged foam lets you change directions on a dime, stutter-step, and start with no wasted time. I still wish the basketball Charged felt like the running Charged, but I can’t make that change.
SUPPORT/STABILITY – I gave this area a lower score than I probably should have, but for someone looking for a supportive shoe, I didn’t want to mislead. For a lowtop, fast shoe, the ClutchFit Drive 2 is a solid, supportive shoe. For a big post or wing, you may want to look elsewhere. The heel counter is rubber and very flexible, which is great for range of motion. I didn’t have any rolling issues because the heel and forefoot base is set wider than the upper, stopping any uneven tipping or instability. But I could see, with the size of some centers/big men, that ClutchFit not being enough to stop your foot going over. For me, a 5’9″, 200 pound guard who drives and pulls up, it was a perfect running shoe feel. Just wish I had gone a half size down to get the full support of the ClutchFit material.
OVERALL – I have graded higher shoes, and I have played in more advanced shoes, and more expensive shoes, but I have a hard time naming a shoe that was easier. Easy on, easy to run in, easy to forget about on court. The grades may not reflect it, but ClutchFit Drive 2 low is easily one of my rotation shoes. If you like the Charged from the Curry line but can’t get one of his shoes because of sellouts, you are fine to grab a Drive to play in — you will miss nothing.
Only grab the Drive if you need a shoe that performs on court in all categories and won’t break the bank. If solid performance isn’t what you need, pass Go and spend your Monopoly money elsewhere. Just don’t say you weren’t warned. 
Thx so much duke. We can always rely on you for the reviews that normally wouldn’t ever get done by anyone else. Btw how’s your injury? Is ball still (a part of) life?
Got surgery in two days – after that, I’m done for 4-6 weeks. Ball will ALWAYS BE a part of my life, just not my life. Thank you for asking – much love.
Lol you really had me worried with well written article a few weeks ago. But family comes first always but it’s still good to hear that there’s a chance of you being back. Your refreshingly different from the other guys here …. In a good way lol
dead wrong on the fit, these run at least 1/2 size small
Duke, wont they be using micro g cushion similar to CFD1 on basketball shoes anymore? I really love the CFD1
I was told no by UA, but you never know.
Traction on outdoor courts?
Good performance review by Duke. I hope the Curry 2 lows perform better.
They sound solid, I wish UA was priced slightly friendlier in Europe(ClutchFit 2 ranges from 160-180 Euro’s, around $200), because they do usually make my kind of shoes.
so.. what makes you think these are cheap?
If by price, it is cheaper than almost every other high performance team or Sig shoe put there, especially since Finishline.com and the foot locker families already have them for sale well under $100. Granted, it’s nuts to think $90 is cheap, even $80, for shoes, but that’s our world.
If you mean build and material quality, they aren’t.
Duke, great review as usual, your writing voice coming through. Gotta disagree with you overall here, though. I hated this shoe, and that’s coming from a low top lover and UA fan.
I was in the market this fall and bought both this, the Curry One low and the CFD 1 low with the intent of keeping my favorite. Couldn’t return the CFD2 low fast enough. Curry One low was pretty good. CFD1 was the winner though, just such an amazing shoe.
Anyway, for these… The good: cushioning for sure, traction for sure, materials (love that these had more Clutchfit material than the CFD2 mids). The bad: FIT and stability. I found these to run very narrow and slightly short, I had to go up half size versus the CFD1 low which fit so perfectly true to size for me. In fact the Eastbay/FL recommend sizing up half on these. Even up half a size they felt tight in the forefoot and did not lock my heel in at all, basically the worst fit combo. The inner heel fabric is smoother and less grippy than the CFD1, and has more soft foam padding that compresses too easily. The worst thing is the ride height – to me these were way too high off the court, enough so to be borderline unstable. You can especially see this side by side with the low riding CFD1.
Surprising about the shoe being narrow – i have a larger d width and I almost had the laces touching through the midfoot.
But I agree – the CFD 1 was a better shoe.
Great review as always man! Great to see you back! So, I was wondering, for an outdoor player, a guard, which shoe do you recommend under $150 and as great cushioning? D Rose 6s? Thanks.
Rose 5. Completely. I saw the Chicago ice and the Brenda last week for $60 at my foot locker.
Hi Duke, I play in PG position (sometime SG), do you think this are better than the mid top CD2?
I’m totally confused: some say one should buy half size up, others half size down. Which way should I go when buying onlinr? I usually buy Nikes size 9,5-10 (depending on model & which feel i want tighter or looser, for example kobe mentality 9.5 are small for me and size 10 is good)
I got my first UA shoe which happens to be the clitchfit drive 2 because the currys were not in my size. I got them for a steal at 60 percent off. I immediately broke them in running 4.4 miles and I have no issues with the cushioning with charged foam. I decided to ditch my Nikes after they let go of Manny Pacquiao and go for other non swoosh labels. My only issue is that the shoes I got was narrow on the fore foot on my right foot since I am wide in that area. Might try to break em in again over the weekend after work to seen if fit improves.