If the Curry 2 is getting Charged only cushioning, then we should all get excited. Major upgrade over the Curry One cushioning set up.
Photo courtesy of Nice Kicks and Cassy Athena
It’s hard to break into my personal top 5 but the Clutchfit Drive shared the top spot with the Drose 5 as soon as it was introduced last year. I loved everything about it, including its looks. With Steph getting his own shoe and no longer rocking the Clutchfit Drive in sweet PE colorways, the cool factor has definitely dropped but has the performance?
Here is a link to the CFD 2 Low
Clutchfit drive low 2 Review
Pros: fit, traction, Charged cushioning actually works and feels great, plush ankle collar
Cons: cushioning is firmer than original CFD softer than Curry 1s, skimpy use of Clutchfit, boring design, heavier than CFD 1
Best for: UA’s version of the Hyperdunk fits almost any position, fans of plush ankle collars, firmer cushioning
Weight: 15.5 oz
For reference: all measured on my baby scale
Clutchfit Drive 1: 14 oz
Curry One: 15 oz
UA Torch: 14.5 oz
UA Lightning: 13.5 oz
The Cut
First off you’ll notice that the high collar is gone and the CFD2 is more of a traditional mid. I actually like the high collar since it isn’t restrictive but I have no problems with the lower cut of the CFD2.
Traction
Good ol’ full length herringbone. No story telling: the only story I want to hear is how great the traction is.
I loved the traction on the CFD 1 and Curry and these are just as good thanks to the simplistic design. The rubber and the groove design/depth/width are the same just in a different pattern.
Cushioning
The CFD 2 features Charged foam only, a first for UA basketball and what we should expect on the Curry 2.
I was not a big fan of the Charged cushioning in the Curry One. It was a layer of Charged sitting on top of Micro G and the result was a much firmer and much less lively ride than the pure Micro G in the Clutchfit Drive. With that experience, I figured Charged must be really firm if it produced a firmer feel on the Curry One versus the Clutchfit Drive set up.
Thankfully I was somewhat wrong; the CFD 2 cushioning set up isn’t as firm as the Curry One (2 levels firmer) but instead feels more like the Curry One Low (which I thought felt 1 level firmer than the CFD 1) but with an even softer feel and more responsiveness which is a good thing in my opinion. In terms of firmness it sits between the Curry Low and Clutchfit Drive 1
Insole is Otholite not Micro G like the CFD 1 or as the product description of the CFD 2 says on UA’s website
The insole is a hair thicker than the Curry One Low’s ( bottom one is CFD2)
Being the nerd I am, I put the Micro G insole into the CFD 2 to make sure I compared apples to apples and the Charged only setup still felt softer than the Curry One but not as soft as the Micro G in the CFD 1. It makes no sense to me as to how the Curry One feels firmer despite having less Charged than the CFD 2 unless they changed the formula of Charged foam.
What does Charged Foam feel like vs Micro G? Does it work?
Trying to accurately describe what Charged foam feels like is like trying to describe how a green grape tastes different from a red grape; it can be done in words but actually trying them would be best but I’ll try.
To me, Charged feels denser, firmer and not quite as responsive and bouncy as Micro G but I think that was the intent. The marketing of Charged Foam states that it is an adaptive foam that feels soft while stationary or moving slowly and firms up with quick movement. With the Curry One all I felt was a firmer cushioning set up with no noticeable difference in firmness between standing and moving. With the CFD2 Charged only set up I actually noticed a difference although I was really looking for that feel. It feels firm yet plush when walking but when you put hard pressure on it like cutting or landing, that plush feeling disappears. It isn’t game changing by any means but it could be and the foam does what it says. I would really love to learn the physics behind it.
Above: cushioning goes up to the “C” in Charged and everything above that the works to keep foot in place. It is the same thickness as what is found on the CFD 1
Below: If you wondered what Charged foam felt like to the touch, you can actually touch it now
Overall I really really like the Charged Foam only set up although I still prefer the Pure Micro G of the original Clutchfit but Charged only is growing on me a lot. Here is how I rank the set ups of the Clutchfit 2 (pure Charged), Curry 1 (part Charged/Micro G), Curry 1 low, and Clutchfit Drive 1 (pure Micro G)
This also coincides and ranks exactly with how soft and responsive the set ups play. This Charged only set up has really ruined the Curry One for me because now I can see what could have been.
All that being said, if the Curry 2 has this same set up, we will all be very happy. Charged reaches a happy medium for everyone and is a pretty awesome achievement. A few tweaks and UA might reach cushioning nirvana soon.
Fit
I went with my normal size 11 and had a little less (maybe a 1/8 to 1/4 size) than my normal finger width of space at the toe box and had zero deadspace at the toe box vertically or side to side. Under Armour tightened up the entire toe box a little from the CFD 1 so if you’re really wide footed you may want to go half a size up but if not, go true to size. I had no issues and I’m a wide footer.
I loved the CFD 1 fit because it really gave me a second skin like fit; Clutchfit sat right on top of my skin from heel to toe and really made the shoe feel like an extension of my foot. The CFD 2 still has Clutchfit but only in the windows featured at the both sides of the ankle and midfoot . Also it isn’t laying directly on top of the skin since UA made the overall silouette of the shoe “puffier” for lack of a better word. The Clutchfit is stuck in between the padding and fuse at the ankle while the Clutchfit at the midfoot does lay on the skin. There is a lot more padding in the heel collar and tongue which bloats the shoe’s looks but provides a great fit. I felt zero heel slip with minimal break in time. UA could have gone without any Clutchfit and I probably couldn’t tell a difference since there is so little.
Below: Nice quality Fuse materials in toe box and throughout the shoe
Below: Clutchfit in the ankle collar and midfoot. It is not one piece but rather two cut outs.
I think there is more Clutchfit on the Prodigy
Or Lightning for that matter
You can see the difference in the collars and tongue
Sadly, the pics I showed you display all the Clutchfit material you get with the CFD 2. The rest of the shoe is Fuse which does provide a little extra rigidity but that’s about it. The Fuse did not pop or flex weirdly which is a positive though.
Overall the fit is great but I still prefer that second skin feel of the CFD 1.
Support and Stability
Nothing fancy, just a nice stable flat outsole, heel counter and forefoot outrigger. No tippiness so these passed my heel test. Thanks to a lockdown fit as well these get the job done just like on the original Clutchfit Drive. Between the original and CFD2 these feel more supportive due to the tighter fit and padding. The original allowed a lot more freedom due to the ultra flexible collar.
Containment
Clutchfit is supposed to be flexible normally and tighten up with pressure to keep the foot locked in and I had no issues with containment on the CFD 1. Same goes for the CFD 2 but instead of Clutchfit, most of the shoe is Fuse.
My foot stayed in place on hard cuts and I didn’t feel any sliding thanks to a tighter toe box and stiffer fuse. No complaints here.
Conclusion
The Clutchfit Drive 2 is a great shoe. It provides the same traction, great cushioning, support and containment all for $125. But looks wise, these look like they came out of a the team shoe vending machine. A big part of buying shoes is emotional and these elicit zero emotion from me. I’ve been a big UA fan since day 1 and seen a lot of blah designs but some seriously sick designs too. Yea I’ve heard the ol ” I don’t care what they look like as long as they perform” but if you had to pick between two similar performing shoes and one looks better, the prettier or cooler one almost always wins.
To go from the sleek, beautiful and innovative Clutchfit Drive 1 to a very generic shoe with no real upgrades in performance is disappointing and loses that UA feel. Having interesting and unique looking shoes with serious performance is one of the reasons I love UA
Btw if anyone sees some Anatomix Spawns at Marshall’s or Ross please hit me up I’ll pay extra. Heard they’ve been popping up for $39.99 just not at my local stores
Now these lows look a lot better but very Run the One esque
I think a better and more appropriate name for these would be the UA Charged Drive since there isn’t much Clutchfit but plenty of Charged cushioning which is the true highlight of this shoe. If they would kept last year’s upper with new color blocking or colorways with this Charged only set up, UA could have knocked it out of the park. I expect these to hit below $90 soon
Update: Look what I found on eBay for $90 today 9/9/15 seller “teamsports58”. Full size run
and discount retailers in a year for under $60 despite being a good performer on the court. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a great performing shoe but if you have last year’s Clutchfit Drive, there really isn’t any reason to upgrade unless you want a firmer cushioning set up or experience Charged before the Curry Two comes out.
Nice review, you are right on the design and how they look. IMO, they wasted the momentum they had with CFD1 and curry 1. They should have stepped it up big time now that people are talking about under armour a lot more than before. Excited on the curry 2 and will patiently wait for your review before copping. Sorry if I’ll sound demanding lol…, but can you have more retro performance reviews? Read from one of your posts that new isn’t always better so I’m guessing sneakerheads like me who goes for value and performance (and with less money lol) will benefit a lot. Thank you for all your help on the Kobe X id and I hope it won’t be the last one =-).
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Ha no problem ! What shoes are you interested in me reviewing ? I’m trying to go in order with regard to Kobe and Lebron but i can dig up whatever
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I’m intrigued by the Under Armour Juke or may be the lebron V? haha thanks very much.
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Haha I don’t think the juke looks great . Might as well get the micro g pro that Duke reviewed on Weartesters. The Lebron v is pretty good to ball in.
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Great review. Love the comparisons to the CFD 1s and Curry 1s. I find that very helpful. These sound like great performers. Too bad the design isn’t very sexy -UA really played it too safe with these. Now I’m torn if I pick these up or just wait for the Curry 2s which look nicer and hopefully perform even better for a little more scratch. Maybe I should just get both. 😉
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I’d wait . CFD 2 will always be around. Currys will sell fast and look much better IMO
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Great review and i agree With jef_duls can you do more retro performance reviews? if you have anything from the adidas fyw series maybe those. I’m not forcing you or anything, I just love feet you wear.
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Waiting on those torch 4 review though
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Torch will be up next week !
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Hsha ok . I don’t have much Adidas aside from Rose stuff
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Oh ok what do you think of the spawn 1 or 2s? Looking to get a low top pair soon when they hit 50 off real close in my area…
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I like the lows better than mids. Very supportive shoe awesome fit . Traction isn’t as good as I hoped or read online . Cushioning is great
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I’ve got the breast cancer awareness pink anatomic spawn in sizes 9 10 and 10.5 new with box if u are interested
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Ha thanks I’m good without the pinks
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Hey Schwollo, I have a request!!! I know that you have done a performance review on these, but looking on eastbay, the CFD 2 “Highlight” editions look JUST like last year CFD 1 and have a FULL clutchfit upper!!! I would love to see a performance review on those because seemingly, the CFD 2 and CFD 2 “Highlight” are completely different shoes just based off of the full clutchfit upper alone!
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Ha I’ll take a look. I’m only going to test them if they cushioning is full charged not the curry set up. Maybe they used an old pic but it looks like curry set up .
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yo,
having trouble picking up a shoe. currently on kyrie, and they are narrowish. had kobes also feeling narrow.
would love to switch to UA soon, yeah i have duck feet too.
i like lows, so spawn 2 seems like a good deal at ~ 100e ? do u think
i only have the option of spwans and torch 1and2 at same price of 80
is the 20e difference worth it? should i wait?
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I like the spawn low a lot . Actually going to put a review on it soon since I never wrote one (had the mid). Clutchfit drive low is my favorite if you can find those?
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The spawn has a significant slope from back to front in terms of cushioning while torch and Clutchfit don’t . Just FYI
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hello sir. performance wise, what would you recommend? clutchfit drive 2 or torch 4?
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Clutchfit drive 2. Too much space at the toe box and containment issues with the Torch.
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The Spawns are at Marshall’s for $40 in my area. I bought many and still have some, what size are you? They also got Anatomix Anomaly models at that price, which is, incidentally, a much better shoe IMHO. Nice review, very detailed. If you want more Clutchfit material, buy the CFD 2 Highlight, full Clutchfit. Also the Highlight TR from last year (not high top) was an incredible shoe, easily the best CF model to date.
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I’m an 11. What colors do they have ?
I actually did get a pair of the highlight 2 (just reviewed it on here see what it was like. ) still has curry 1 cushioning . Haven’t tried the highlight tr. is that a trainer ? Thanks for reading !
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Great reviews sir! Two questions for you:
1) CFD 2 or Curry 2 now that you’ve had time with both? It seems you prefer Curry 2 but I’m seeing CFD2 for $30 cheaper, is there a major difference for a shooting guard? I prefer shoes that support for the quick square up & shoot.
2) Ever since playing 3 hrs 2-3x weekly, my toes have been pretty much black from runners toes no matter what shoes I try. I’ve tried right size (7) and a half bigger, no help. Any advice? Get shoes with tighter or bigger toe box?
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these started poping up at marshalls for 34.99 full size runs in burgendy or maroon color, also silver and lime green, just scooped up a pair
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For 35 bucks ?! Hell yea (didn’t I say they’d show up on clearance ? Lol)
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Hey Schwollo I’ve played in the CFD 1 and I love it, it’s my favorite shoe. By any chance do you have any extra pairs of them for sale that you’re trying to get rid of?? I’m a size 11 like you
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What colorway ? Low or mids? New or slightly used lol . I do have a few I might part with
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What would be the best way to directly contact you? I’m looking for mids, could you send me the list of what colorways/prices you are willing to sell?
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Hit me up on Instagram or Twitter dm @schwollo
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