Charlie's Hall of Shame - Disappointing Sneakers

This section discusses Charlie's most disappointing sneaker purchases. Not all of them have been wonderful!


Nike Air Huarache "high-tops" [1992 version]

Really unusual white, blue, and purple sneakers, with a number of black straps. The straps were the undoing of the shoe. They wore out rather quickly. Nike did make them again, but I passed this time. I did like them.


Reebok Phase I

Reebok Phase I tennis sneaker: off-white with gray trimMy first pair of Reebok Phase I sneakers were great, I wore them a long time. The second pair I bought disintegrated. The soles didn't want to stay on. They kept coming unglued at the edges, resulting in a very unstable shoe with random grabbing propensities.



The Reebok Pump

Reebok Pump high-top basketball shoe: predominantly whiteMy opinion: A great idea that didn't really pan out. After wearing Reebok Pumps for a while (my friends said, "You have all sorts of sneakers but no Reebok Pumps?"), I didn't like them.


Here's why:

  1. The pressure chamber seemed no more conformal than typical shoe materials.
  2. The rest of the shoe was excessively stiff.
  3. The shoe did not seem to integrate well with my foot.
  4. The pumping mechanism has only a very limited adjustment range.
  5. The pumping mechanism adds weight to the shoe.
  6. As far as I am concerned, the technology was a solution in search of a problem.

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Last Updated: 20 July 2017


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Charlie's Sneaker Pages copyright 1995-2024 by Charles L. Perrin.

READERS PLEASE NOTE: Names of athletic shoe manufacturers, shoe styles, and technologies may be trademarked by the manufacturers. Charlie's Sneaker Pages uses these names solely to describe the shoes with the same familiar nomenclature used by the manufacturer and recognized by the reader.