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Air Jordan XXXVI PF ‘First Light’ Performance Review

One of the most anticipated basketball shoes of the year is Jordan brand series. The inspiration of the brand-new AIR JORDAN XXXVI ‘First Light’ (AJ36) is from ultraviolet ray. AJ36 also contains the elements and details of Air Jordan VI.

Testing Information:

Model: AIR JORDAN XXXVI ‘First Light’

Size: US10.5

Testing Court: Outdoor cement court

Air Jordan XXXVI- Detail

From the preliminary sketch of AJ36, we can find the elements and details of Air Jordan VI.

The vamp of AJ36 is thin and ventilated.

The AJ36 keeps the traditional elements. It keeps the classic ‘AIR JORDAN’ and ‘NIKE AIR’ of Air Jordan VI on the shoe tongue and shoe heel.

The JUMPMAN logo on the outsole echoes the outsole of AJ6.

The hollow-out design of outsole echoes the visible Air cushion of AJ6.

It absorbs the elements of AJ6 and uses the innovative technology to make the brand-new AJ36.

  1. Eclipse Plate 3.0

The Eclipse Plate technology was firstly used on AJ34. And AJ35 expands the Eclipse Plate structure. Now AJ36 still use the Eclipse Plate technology.

The Eclipse Plate technology of AJ36 is designed to be lighter and better.

  1. The simple and durable Leno-wave vamp

The vamp of AJ36 uses brand-new Leno-weave vamp. The knitted vamp can reduce the weight, and also can guarantee the good supporting performance.

  1. It uses full-length ZOOM AIR STROBEL cushion. It also adds a piece of ZOOM Air cushion on the forefoot sole.
  2. ‘∞’ on the shoe heel represents the infinite possibility of the new stars.
  3. The shoe box design of AJ36 is special.
  4. Do you know what does the spiral symbol on the insole of AJ36 represent? Does it represent the 6 champion rings that MJ got in his career?
  5. The buckle on the shoe tongue has 36 dots.

On Court Performance-Upper material & Support & Fit

The brand-new AJ36 uses wear-resisting Leno-Weave material. And it’s matched with flexible shoe tongue.

AJ36 vamp uses brand-new Leno-weave. The knitted way of Leno-weave is intertwining two pieces of warp yarn and a piece of weft yarn.

The knitted vamp not only can reduce the weight, but also keep the good supporting performance. I’m satisfied that AJ36 has moderate lining on the shoe tongue, shoe collar and shoe heel. The lining improves the comfort level, fitness and supporting performance. For the size, you can choose the standard size. The shoe heel is suitable for most of people. The vamp has high air permeability. It’s flexible, light and tough. When playing basketball, the shoe heel is not easy to loose, it fits the foot very well. The shoe heel of AJ36 has built-in TPU.

AJ36 is middle type. It has enough foam surrounding the shoe collar, which can offer the support to ankle.

On Court Performance-Midsole

AJ36 uses full-length ZOOM AIR STROBEL, ZOOM Air cushion on forefoot sole and Eclipse Plate 3.0 technology. I’m satisfied at the configuration of the insole.

Eclipse Plate 3.0 technology has big change comparing with previous ones. It needs time to break-in the previous ECLIPSE PLATE.

But the Eclipse Plate 3.0 of AJ36 has obvious change. It solves the previous problems. And it can offer better stability and anti-torsion performance when exercising. It cooperates with the ZOOM Air cushion very well.

The ZOOM AIR STROBEL cushion is built-in design, so it becomes a part of the shoes. It adds a extra ZOOM Air on the forefoot sole. So you can feel the good resilience of ZOOM Air after wearing.

The hardness of AJ36 insole is moderate. And the appearance design of insole surrounds the vamp, it has upturning design on the middle position, which can improve the supporting performance and anti-torsion performance.

The shoe-pad of insole has many holes, which not only has good air permeability and  skid resistance, but also reduce the weight.

On Court Performance-OUTSOLE

The outsole of AJ36 uses traditional herringbone pattern. The outsole area of AJ36 has enough space and can reinforce the balance and supporting performance.  The traction performance of AJ36 is better than my expectation.

Overall:

The AJ36 is very light. The LENO-WEAVE vamp has high air permeability, translucency and suppleness. The shoe collar has enough foam padding which can offer good support to ankle. You don’t need to worry about the overall supporting performance of AJ36. AJ36 can satisfy the request of flexible players. It can keep the good flexibility and supporting performance. But I’m doubt the durability of the vamp material. The adjusting Eclipse Plate technology can offer good stability and anti-torsion performance when playing basketball. It can satisfy the request of most of people. The insole configuration of full-length ZOOM AIR STROBEL and ZOOM Air cushion on forefoot sole can offer great resilience and cushion performance. AJ36 is not only light, but also has good stability and resilience.