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The Nike SB Air Max 95 is a controversial shoe, for a handful of reasons. For starters, it’s an Air Max 95 that’s made for skateboarding. They’ve made SB sneakers with Air Max in the past. Think Janoski and Koston. And Eric Koston’s first signature sneaker with eS was based off the Air Max 1, complete with an Air unit. In the past, DC has also based sneakers off of the Air Max 95. And skaters such as Kareem Campbell, Eric Koston, and Stevie Williams all wore and skated in 95s back in the day.
A photo of the sneakers from the late ‘90s of Williams wearing the sneakers in Love Park has become a mainstay in online skate culture. Williams’s phrase from the 1999 Transworld skate video The Reason—where he says, “run, skate, chill” —was used in an ad for the shoes without Williams’ consent and it caused an uproar online. I spoke to Williams about all of it. You can read that here.
With that said, we got our hands on a pair of the sneakers and we wanted to compare them to the Big Bubble version of the 95s that released this year to see the differences.
For starters, the upper is built for skating on the SB 95. The typical gradient panels have been reinforced with double stitching, and the padding on them has been increased too. The top panel layer is covered with leather, making the shoe more durable all around.
The outsole on the SB 95 is much different than the Big Bubble pair. The lugs are flatter, making for a better board feel. Also the tread print is also different. The design on it was also taken from the tissue paper on the original SB boxes.
The bubble on the SB 95s is much smaller than the Big Bubble pair. I think it’s even smaller than the 95s before they juiced the size of the bubble up. It’s definitely small and slim, and you can really see the difference on the heel.
The toebox on the sneakers is marginally wider on the SB 95s and also the toe is flattened out compared to traditional 95 build. This gives the sneaker better contact with the board, allowing them to be more skateable than the running shoes.
The lining of the SB 95 is much different than the Big Bubble pair. The Big Bubble has a traditional mesh-like liner, whereas the SB is almost a neoprene, sweat wicking fabric. You can notice it most drastically on the tongue. The tongue on the Big Bubble just folds over. It’s firmer on the SB.
The 3M hit on the back of the SB 95 is much more pronounced and almost exaggerated. It looks flat on the Big Bubble pair.
The PSI rating that’s on the Big Bubble—25 for the back, 5 for the front—is missing from the SB pair. It just says PSI on the outsole on the plastic piece.
The SB pair feels much firmer on foot. It’s not bouncy like Big Bubbles and doesn’t quite feel like a skate shoe. But it doesn’t feel like a running shoe either.
Read the full article here
