Jorden's Nucleus Shoe Review

[Jorden]

Pros/Cons/Suggestions:

Pros:
+ comfortable
+ true to size
+ great sole traction
+ front curved upwards
+ lightweight
+ playable out of the box
+ quality shoelaces

Cons:

X inside surface "padding" has low friction (rolly stalls), only covers some of stalling area
X ridge where instep meets sole is ROUNDED ( )
X outside surface not flat from sweet spot towards toes
X toe walls become asymmetrical when tightening/tying shoes with standard footbag lacing

Overall rating: 7.5/10

My ratings of other shoes for comparison - Laver 7/10, G-Unit 8/10, Q3 7.5/10, Clima 6/10

Suggestions:
1. Extend the instep padding to the full catching surface (see here: http://www.footbag.org/media/1487/Nucleus1padding.bmp)
and look into a duller, rougher/thicker padding material for better friction with the bag. (+0.5)
2. Add heel walls to the back of the shoe. It'd revolutionize the way we play. (+0.5)
http://www.footbag.org/media/1487/Nucleus2heelwalls.JPG
3. Reduce the "cut-away" of the instep so it conforms less with the shape of the foot and more with the angles needed for the game. As well, make a sharper edged-ridge between the instep and sole. (+0.5)
http://www.footbag.org/media/1487/Nucle ... pAngle.bmp
4. Add hard plastic inserts that attach on the inside of the 6th eyelet (a hole in the center of the plastic allows the eyelet to be used) on left and right side to keep the toe walls vertical and parallel. (+0.5)
http://www.footbag.org/media/1487/Nucle ... llcups.bmp
5. Improve the outside surface by keeping it flatter towards the toe and reducing the length of the toe strip so it ends at the first knuckle of the baby toe, thus not interfering with the catching surface. (+0.5)

= 10/10.

Comments welcome.
Thanks Queency!

Jorden

[brianbear]

Right on, Jorden!
This is a perfect review of the shoe. I don't know what heel walls are, but they sound like they would give some extra support
I agree with all your other shoe ratings, except lavers an 8, and I have never tried gunits! Thanks for putting some time into giving a thorough and accurate (imo) review of this hot brand new footbag shoe!

[Will Digges]

Awesome review Jorden!

I like your ideas, especially the one about the heel walls. Imagine the possibilities

[PoisonTaffy]

I hope someone comes up with a mod to fix the inside surface of the nucleus because other than that it's a terrific shoe!

[FlexThis]

I added a clipper rail using shoe goo and canvas. This has fixed the roll out problem. I also cut out an eyelet and used the same shoe goo and canvas to smooth out the surface.

These 2 mods have made the shoe that much more playable.

The heel rails are an interesting idea if you do a lot of heel stalls. I may try making the next set of clipper rails more rounded like the demo photo of the heel rails.

~peace

[ShredOnLawn]

X ridge where instep meets sole is ROUNDED ( Sad )

Yeah,

Pro's
-Soft sole with perfect tread.
-Excellent materials.
-Nice look.
-Amazing ridge system on toe built to keep the bag from rolling off.
-The mesh on the toe is under the canvas and therefore sinks in.

Con's
-The inside sole does not make a 90% angle with the ground, it's rounded inward.
-The mesh on the inside is over the canvas and therefore bows outward.
The above 2 completely ruin all of my clipper tricks
-The insoles are glued down with large puddles of glue which creates an uneven lump underneath ones heel and causes massive bruising.
-Underneath the glued down insole there is tic tac toe rubber grid specifically elevated mor and more starting mid shoe and increasing in height toward the heel where it reaches nearly 1/2 an inch. This grid is gave my heels grid shaped bruises even with 2 insoles.
-There is excess material inside the shoe beneath the insole.
A splotch of glue under the heal which is connected to the white undersole. Under the undersole there is the rubber grid elevating the heal. On top of the grid but only along the sides and mostly around the heal of the shoes is excess thin leather and mesh.


Solutions

I took out the insoles.
I tore the glue splotch off the insoles. Then I used Dr.Scholls Moleskin Foam Padding to patch the gouges the glue tore off.
Then I tore out the white undersoles and saved them for no reason.
Then I put the black insoles back in and another pair of my own insoles in and had a few fun sessions with them.
I feel full of energy and grip when I played in the nucleus shoes and all of my toe tricks were better than average because the shoes is so good.

Remodeling suggestion

Remove the excess dangling leather and mesh and canvas.
Remove the grid under the heel and allow the heal to lie flat equally throughout the shoe.
Use another technique to get the undersole to stay inside the shoe without moving around.
Don't glue down the insoles anywhere. They should be interchangeable.
Insoles should be much thicker and with a little bit of arch support like the laver insoles.
Have the inside mesh stitched under the canvas.
Add canvas walls to the insides that is similar to the canvas walls on the toe box.