Category: Nike Freak 1

Today we want to talk more about NIKE ZOOM Freak 1.

The most disputing part of this sneaker is the supporting performance of insole. We deconstructed it now. Obviously, FREAK 1 doesn’t have TPU supporting plate on insole.

Some guys may don’t like it due to the loss of supporting plate. But after testing it, we find that the big advantage of FREAK 1 is the insole stability. It’s very stable not matter the longitudinal or lateral movements. It’s a big surprise.

So why is FREAK 1 so stable without anti-torsion plate? It may due to below reasons.

1. The nice outsole and insole design

The two separated crystal sole is thick and extends to vamp. It’s glued together with vamp. With the big reverse Swoosh logo, it can cover the outer side of shoe heel. It can offer good supporting performance.

If you see the sole clearly, you can find that the sole hasn’t been covered the crystal material on the two areas where are most easy to wear out. The separated outsole design of FREAK 1 assures the flexibility.

2. The big grooving of forefoot

After deconstructing FREAK 1, we find that there are three deep grooving lines on the forefoot. This kind of design is similar to Kobe 11 which also don’t have carbon fiber supporting plate. The actual feeling of FREAK 1 is similar to Kobe 5 which don’t have air cushion on forefoot.

For cushion performance, FREAK 1 has double layer ZOOM Air Cushion on the rear sole, but there is no ZOOM Air on forefoot. The Plylon on insole is soft, which is similar to PG3. There is almost no resilience on forefoot.

But the double layer ZOOM Air Cushion performance on rear sole is great.

The traction performance of FREAK 1 on indoor court is excellent. The feedback of outsole is fast. But the abrasive resistance is not good. We don’t suggest you to play on outer court.

FREAK 1 has the inner sleeve and also has the lacing design which is similar to Flywire. The lateral vamp is thick. It also has a layer hot-melting mesh on the vamp. The supportive is good. It is a little empty on the part of toes.

Although the orange one looks cool, but the actual shoes is not so pretty. So we suggest you to purchase other colorways.

Overall, as the first signature shoes of Giannis Antetokounmpo, the performance of FREAK 1 is great, except the abrasive resistance. We don’t need to worry about the anti-torsion performance of FREAK 1.

After getting MVP, Giannis Antetokounmpo get his first pair of signature basketball shoes. To have his own signature shoes, it should be the biggest affirmation to Giannis Antetokounmpo.

ZOOM FREAK 1 EP

Appearance: 8 scores

Giannis Antetokounmpo always wear the Kobe series shoes before getting his own signature shoes. So the shoe shape of his first pair of signature shoes is similar to Kobe series. It’s also low type.

The front view of shoes, the appearance is succinct. The shoe tongue is embroidered with Giannis Antetokounmpo’s exclusive logo.

The side view of shoes, the reverse Swoosh logo improve the level of appearance and the supporting performance. It looks cool.

The rear side view of shoes, the shoe heel has the uniform number 34 of Giannis Antetokounmpo.

Comfort Level: 8 scores

The material and design of FREAK 1 is still conservative. It should be a pair of shoes that is suitable for kinds of foot type for the engineering mesh vamp, half-sole inner sleeve design and opening shoe tongue. Whatever the configuration, if the basketball shoes are suitable for most of people, it would be a pair of half successful shoes.

FREAK 1 is also suitable for the guys who have high instep. The size is normal and the width of shoe tree is also suitable.

It feels good when jumping and bending.

Fit & Support: 8 scores

Freak 1 is low type. It’s mainly for flexibility. The engineering mesh vamp with 4 pieces of Flywire design can fit the foot well. The shoe heel has been filled with foam, so it’s stable after fastening the shoelaces.

The reverse Swoosh logo on the vamp has the supporting effect. Due to the soft mesh vamp, the vamp also has big deformation on big movement. The outside of forefoot has the design of anti-torsion. So we don’t need to worry about anti-torsion performance.

As it doesn’t have supporting plate on the insole of FREAK 1, so we have some doubts for it.

Traction and Abrasive Resistance: 7.5 scores

The design of FREAK 1 outsole is special. It doesn’t use full-length rubber or crystal sole. But the outsole is combined with rubber and crystal sole. The grain of outsole is also special. The grain of crystal sole is the shape of Rose. And the rubber sole is irregular grain.

When playing basketball, the traction performance of FREAK 1 is excellent. The sole can offer great traction feedback when starting, urgent stopping and turning.

Although the combined outsole is good looking, but it’s not very useful. After testing in outer court about 2 hours, the outsole of FREAK 1 has obvious rough selvedge. Especially the crystal sole of forefoot need to undertake more effect of traction, so we don’t suggest you to wear it when playing basketball on outer court.

Cushion Performance: 8 scores

As the first pair of Giannis Antetokounmpo’s signature shoes, it’s doomed that the configuration of FREAK 1 won’t be high. As if adding many air cushion, the price won’t be cheap. So FREAK 1 only uses ZOOM Air Cushion on rear sole. But the double layer air cushion of FREAK 1 is already better than other signature shoes which only use a piece of rectangle air cushion.

The forefoot of FREAK 1 uses PHYLON sponge. The starting feedback is fast. It’s suitable for Giannis Antetokounmpo’s playing way.

The double layers ZOOM Air Cushion of FREAK 1 on rear sole has obvious resilient cushion feedback. It’s very comfortable when walking.

When breaking through, if the heel fall to the ground firstly, the double layer air cushion will offer obvious feedback.

Overall: 7.9 scores

As the first pair of Giannis Antetokounmpo’s signature shoes, the appearance of FREAK 1 is special. It uses normal mesh vamp, half sole inner sleeve, opening type shoe tongue and double layers Zoom Air Cushion on rear sole. It’s suitable for most of peoples. The traction performance is great, but the abrasive resistance is not good on outer field. It’s also a pity that it doesn’t have arch supporting plate.

Overall, FREAK 1 doesn’t have obvious disadvantages. It’s a pair of nice basketball shoes. The price is also not high. We recommend to the guys who prefer to breaking through.

When NIKE confirms to make the signature shoes for Giannis Antetokounmpo, many fans are interested in it, as the inverse Swoosh logo is easy to catch people’s eyes. Recently, the first pair of Giannis Antetokounmpo’s signature shoes NIKE FREAK 1 are released. We get the FREAK 1 GS version. Let’s have a close look at it.

The white shoebox is printed with Antetokounmpo’s logo and name on the side of shoebox.

The shoe tag on the side of shoebox

The vamp is mesh fabric. It has reinforced coating on the shoe head to protect toes.

There are 3 kinds of lace holes. The shoe tongue is embroidered with Antetokounmpo’s logo

The shoe heel is embroidered with Antetokounmpo’s uniform number.

The rubber of shoe head is printed with FREAK 1

The upturning transparent outsole on the lateral side of forefoot can improve the lateral support.

It’s printed with CHARLES+VERONICA who are Giannis Antetokounmpo’s parents’ name on the inner side of insole.

The outsole is made of stiff rubber and transparent rubber which has good traction performance and abrasive resistance.

It’s embossed with ‘I AM MY FATHER’S LEGACY’ on the outsole.

The lateral side of shoe heel is embossed with FRANCIS THANASIS KOSTAS ALEX who are Giannis Antetokounmpo’s brothers’ name.

The heel of black shoe-pad is also printed with Giannis Antetokounmpo’s logo.

The reverse side of gray shoe-pad.

The length of EUR40 GS shoe-pad is about 264mm.

The width of EUR40 GS shoe-pad forefoot is about 93.45mm.

The thickness of EUR40 GS shoe-pad is about 4.29mm.

The non-woven insole fabrics

The sewn-in label on the inner side of shoe body

The unit weight of EUR40 GS version is about 284.5g.

Overall, as the fist pair of Giannis Antetokounmpo’s signature shoes, the appearance with black and white colorway looks cool. It doesn’t have flaring design. We only get the GS version at present. Looking forward to the formal FREAK 1 version, which should be able to bring more surprise to us.