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

My 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

My 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:

The pressure chamber seemed no more conformal than typical shoe materials.
The rest of the shoe was excessively stiff.
The shoe did not seem to integrate well with my foot.
- Great shoes feel like they're a natural part of your feet.
- Reebok Pumps felt like something my feet were trapped inside of.
The pumping mechanism has only a very limited adjustment range.
The pumping mechanism adds weight to the shoe.
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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