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I played in my Nubuck XIIs 3-5 hours a night, 3-4 times a week. At first, they were in rotation with a pair of retro V fire reds and Hyperize Billy Hoyles. The retro Vs fell apart very quickly, and I made the mistake of going with size 10.5 on the Hyperize because they ran longer, but were too narrow and tore up my outside/little toes, so I had to stop wearing them. That left me with the XIIs full time for at least a good 8 months, so I have a pretty good feel for how they perform.
Pros
Pros
- Padding in the soles and cushioning in the sides better than any other retros, and even some modern day Nikes.
- Excellent ankle and all around support.
- Grip is more than adequate, even for cutting/slashing.
- Surprisingly durable. Held up much better than expected despite constantly getting stepped on and tripped up.
- As others mentioned, they can feel a little stiff at times, which to me almost seems like is due to the leather they used.
- The upper/ankle collar can sometimes dig into/hurt the ankles. This didn't bother me often, but I DID sometimes feel it.
- I was somewhat disappointed with how quickly the tread in the forefoot wore out.
That might have been true back in the day for the originals, but that is absolutely false as far as RETROS are concerned. In reality, they are for casual wearing these days, and even THEN, some of them STILL have issues holding up......to walking.
