Here is a few points showing my opinion on the shoe, and how it appeals to me.
The first feel of the shoe
When I first tried a few pairs of Quantum’s at worlds, they felt so light, it was amazing. This is the lightest shoe of all. I’ve tried lavers, g-units and clima’s (barely clima’s). The first few tricks I attempted with them felt like I was barefoot, with better surfaces.
The first session however, had some bad coming. The insole is way too large. Whenever I wanted to spin out of an osis (zoom) I had a lot of difficulty. This used to be easy in lavers, or g-units.
The toe box is huge, there is way more space then needed, so the margin of error is significant. The inside and outside are almost exact to lavers. I think the Quantum inside surface is more round the laver inside.
No modification where required in order for the shoe to be efficient. This was a great asset. Just lacing them up, slip your feet in them, tie the laces.
After a few months of play
First thing, I cut part of the outside of the insole in order for it to fit the shoe correctly. It was too large and would place a bump on the clipper surface. After a month of play you will have holes in the toe area of the insole. The insole will loose all it’s thickness.
After one month of play, the insole was useless and I bought myself a pair of Spenco insoles at the cost of 25$+taxes. My suggestion to PlanetFootbag is to invest up to 20$ on the insole in order for the shoe to be complete. I don’t see the point to put a bad quality insole in the shoe, if the freestyler will have to buy a new one a month after. And either way, the money will have to be spent on an insole, might as well have it from the source. I, for one, would be more then happy to have a quality insole if the shoe would cost additional money. The goal is to have the complete and most efficient shoe, and I believe an insole is really important.
Another issue I had is the ankle support. There is absolutely no ankle support on this shoe. Every part of the ankle support on the shoe is foldable. I understand this helps for crank for those who have the average ankle. I got some good crank already and look more forward to support. One of the reasons I loved G-Units so much.
After 3 months of play, a hole appeared in the ankle area. No idea how this happened, I only wear the shoe when freestyling. The picture also shows how stretchable the ankle support can be. I’m pulling softly on the shown picture.
The inside and toe area have some flaws as well. I found the material to be bouncy at times. Sure this doesn’t happen on every stall, or on every string. It just happens once in a while. After 3 months of play it never happened anymore. Maybe I got used to it, or maybe the material got used enough for this to stop happening. I never had this effect on other type of shoes and thought this was weird.
On the inside surface, the inside mesh part is weak. It has been detaching itself just by playing with the shoes. It can be hard to see on the picture, but it’s just like if I used a scissor to cut the lower part of the inside mesh, resulting in the upper part floating inside the shoe. I’m worried after more then 6 months of play that the insides mesh could be completely ripped off. This would leave only the outside mesh to support your clipper area. This is alarming, and it gets worst.
Not only the inside, but the outside is also wearing off. It is slowly ungluing itself. Right now it’s still attached, but it doesn’t look like it will stay put safely attached. The surface seems to be extended.
This is the other problem with the materials, they are extendable. The shoe is about half a size bigger then it was when I bought it. But this didn’t take 6 months to happen. After barely a month my foot was already floating in this shoe. I’d suggest someone getting half a size smaller, at the cost of the shoe being tight, after one month it will be a perfect fit. But for further generations, maybe taking this into account for material choices.
The material isn’t too strong either, after hitting my foot on the ground (outside surface) when hitting far symple swirls, an hole formed itself on the outside of the shoe (kind of like lavers). I know I shouldn’t hit the ground, and forced myself not doing so after the hole as appeared, but not many hits where required for the hole to form itself.
Support and traction
Well not much to say here, no support offered, slippier then Lavers. The sole surface of the shoe is not really strong; I can see cracks forming in it already, which gives a bad feeling for the future of my pair of Quantums.
The weight of the shoe is a counter to those negative aspects, since it is the lightest footbag shoe around.
Overall thoughts
This shoe is one of the best footbag shoes I’ve used so far. It’s a mix of the lightness of the G-Unit, the surfaces of the Rod Lavers. I’m hoping future version to improve ankle support and traction. The materials should be strengthened a bit as well, to add life time to the shoe. A good insole would definitely be a great asset, but adding cost money to the final price. I can live with a bad insole and buy myself a better one for now.
I had a good time with these shoes for the past 6 months, anyone getting a pair should be satisfied, but may go back to is old favorite after not too long. I decided to stick to Quantums in order to judge them correctly, and see how they react to 6 months of intense shred.
I can imagine the perfect footbag shoe:
Quantums with:
- Good traction
- Ankle support
- Solid assembly/Strong materials
- A good insole
Looking forward to v2.
peace mate.
