Executive Summary: This is a brief review because I’ve had a lot of time with the Curry One and these perform nearly as well with a more durable upper and slightly better cushioning.
I really wasn’t going to even bother picking these up but I tried them on at Dick’s and thought they felt better underfoot than the Curry One. People will pass on these since they are a take down model but that’s too bad for the uninformed because these are pretty good especially if you liked the Curry 1.
Here is my Curry One Review:
Pros: traction, slightly improved cushioning, fit, stability, containment
Cons: old style synthetic upper looks plasticky, cushioning on the Curry 2 is still better
Sizing: true to size, same as Curry One
Buying advice: wait for sales or clearance stores $69 and under
Weight:
About the same as the Curry One.
Traction
Exactly the same as the Curry One. Great on clean floors but needs wiping on dirtier floors. These are about as low as I will go in terms of dirty floor traction performance. Anything worse than this and I don’t even bother.
If you’ve ever played in the Clutchfit Drive one or two, these play the same way.
I know they look like they are exactly the same set up but the Lightning 3 feels better to me than the Curry One. Even without this non descript sock liner (not even Ortholite) the cushioning has a little more give to it than the Curry One.
As Weartesters’ Duke0405’s interview with Dombrow stated, there is always a mix of Micro G and Charged and it changes from shoe to shoe. To me, these feel better than the Curry One Low which had an Ortholite sockliner rather than a Micro G sockliner in the Mid. It feels like a mix between the Curry One and Two cushioning.
I didn’t really like the cushioning of the Curry One because I felt it didn’t give much bounce and felt much harder than the Clutchfit Drive. The cushioning on the Lightning 3 is slightly better especially in the heel.
Materials
Obviously this is the biggest difference between the Curry One and Lightning 3 but surprisingly it doesn’t make a huge difference. I thought the upper would play super stiff since the upper looks like shiny plastic but it doesn’t have the cheap crunchy feel I expected. UA did a nice job eliminating the stiffness and weight by removing some of the synthetic and using straps instead.
There are some weird flexing spots but it didn’t affect the fit since the strap system holds the foot down in those areas.
It doesn’t conform to the foot all over like Anafoam but this upper is perfectly acceptable to me.
Fit
Exactly the same sizing as the Curry One which is true to size size 11 for me
The materials do not conform to your foot like Anafoam but they don’t need to with the strap/wings in place.
There is no movement at all side to side or front to back. Even the deadspace in the toe box of Curry One has disappeared.
There is no dogbone or contours in the ankle collar like the Curry One but I didn’t even notice their absence as my foot was locked in perfectly. You can see the nice padding of the tongue as well.
Well done UA!
Support and stability
Support is about same as the Curry One, maybe a little better since the upper is slightly stiffer. The external heel clip looks short but there is an internal one as well
Also has the same plastic midfoot shank as well.
Stability is excellent just like the Curry One. It features an outrigger in the forefoot as well and easily passes my heel test.
Straps and synthetic ? Yes please
Containment is excellent on the Lightning 3.
Well done UA!
Conclusion
Want to play outdoors in the Curry One? Well here is your shoe. No need to worry about Anafoam ripping or tearing. You don’t even have to worry about depreciating a highly sought after collectible. If someone asked what you’re rocking, just say it’s the Veteran’s Day Curry One or S.Curry One (S is for Seth).
As with all take down models, these will go on sale soon and then hit Marshall’s, Ross etc. for $34.99 by next year but if you’re really itching for a Curry One like shoe, the Lightning 3 will do the job.
Oh shit you can play outdoors with these! Thenn they’re a cop.
What should these be called then…Curry 1.5? Curry One (2016)? Curry One Mentality?
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lmao..nice dig!i really love that. great to know I am not the only who is hating on this current trend. under armour is starting to look like a follower instead of an innovator. if they keep making really nice performance product at a competitive price like models from 2 years back, i think they might dethrone Nike in the next few years. it is a shame they are recycling tech and rebranding it as a different ‘model’ i think its just poor strategy, especially in the price range they offer, an extra 30$ would get you something much better. the release of the ‘lifestyle’ brand is also a sad excuse to copy Nike. The Curry Lux model is a sad excuse to follow Jordan Brand’s trend of nostalgia items and the sneaker reseller market. I really hate the Curry lux and what it stands for…I would like to reiterate that I love UA pre-Curry and pre-Curry one, their performance products were always spot on, their compression is by far much more superior than Nike, though the quality has also diminished since their rise in popularity. UA should stick to performance product and pave it’s own path, not be copycats. they might face the same fate as reebok since Nike has such a huge foothold in sports worldwide. we’ll just have to wait and see. cheers.
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Their compression and fabric technology is great. Incorporate more of that into the shoe to remind us what UA came from. Yea all shoe companies copy each other but UA products all copy each other which is so dumb. There’s curry shoes clutchfit drive then mish mash of outlet stuff. I love the pre curry stuff as well. Going to have to write a retro review on the black ice bloodline, and juke one day !
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1.5 is appropriate . They are made well and should hold
Up outdoors
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Would love to see a bloodline review – contemplating whether to get one off ebay
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Haha ok I’ll work on one .
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Bloodline reviews please, as there are some I can get my hands on! My first UA were the black ice mid. I like the fit and lockdown. Though the traction is sub-par especially on dusty courts and the cushion is decent, it is purely a guard shoe, little impact protection. I only like it because it was low to the ground and very light, plus it was something new and different than the swooshes, and crazy light whatever it was back in the day. I’d give it 3/5 stars at best. Any chance you would do one for the new UA Jet?It is a budget model that looks like it might perform well. It could be a sleeper like the Adidas Light Em Ups..
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One thing I do to break in Charged foam setups is to shoot around outside on a hot sunny day for a little bit, just shoot around though nothing to really break down the outsole. I did that with my curry 1 low and that broke them in nicely, they now have a nice bounce whereas before they were pretty dead feeling. As always good review, I always appreciate a good review on these lower tier models. Keep it up!
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Thanks, yes warm conditions will usually make them feel a bit softer. Thanks for reading
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hey schwollo,im sorry that i asked here,but i figure since the reply in this article is not much ,it may be easier for you to replied it here
my question is :
kd9 blackout just release here,and at the moment i cant tried them on personally
so,how good or bad is their containtment???
and regarding sizing,i do not know what size to get,i normally use size 11.5 for performance shoe,but i fit very nicely in hyperrev size 11 and ,11.5 in lillard 2 is to big for
so,if i were to get them,should i get size 11 or 11.5??thanks
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Depends on width of your foot for kd9. Sounds like an 11 though to me. 11.5 will most likely be too big. Containment isn’t bad it just isn’t as good as the KD 8 or adidas recent shoes.
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is there a shoe that comparable in term on containment??
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I can’t think of one that is exactly comparable. Much better than melo m12 and brandblack Jc 3 but worse than the KD 8. Sorry I took awhile to respond. Was trying to come up with a good answer !
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hey man,no problem,thanks anyway, i hope i could get some time to try them to see how they feel for me!!
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Hey man ,i just tried kd9 ,at size 11,the lenght feel perfectly,however i feel like my feet cramped in them,at size 12, while the tightness is lessen,the lenght feel unbearable,my question is ,in size 11,will they stretch and fit me better??or should i get size 11.5??(the store do not have size 11.5 so i have to order online)
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They will stretch a little. 11.5 will fit longer and wider. I’d probably get the 11.5 but that’s just my preference.
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hey man thanks,since so far they do not have 11.5,and size 11 (length wise)feel great, i might pull the trigger on them and see if i caould stretsch them
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