For the 2019 TOP 5 basketball shoes which are suitable for pitcher, I must choose Adidas Crazy 98 x BYW.
Material: Leather vamp, nylon mesh fabric, foam padding, normal rubber outsole and midsole anti-torsion plate and separated Boost insole.
The material is solid, but not stiff. It’s better than the vamp pf Kobe 1 Protro. The leather is good. I always like the leather basketball shoes. The leather of Adidas Crazy 98 x BYW looks much better than other leather basketball shoes. Except the leather, it also uses nylon mesh fabric to keep the flexibility of vamp. So it’s easy to break-in. But in the beginning, the comfort level of Adidas Crazy 98 x BYW is not better than Primeknit.
Cushion Performance:
The insole of Adidas Crazy 98 x BYW uses Boost, which is the same as Crazy BYW X. If you already have Crazy BYW X, you will know the cushion performance of Adidas Crazy 98 x BYW. But if you haven’t tried this kind of insole before, the cushion performance is not so obvious as your imagination, especially the forefoot part. The Boost on the outboard forefoot sole is surrounded by a piece of big soft rubber to avoid the deformation of Boost. Although the forefoot sole looks thick, but the center of gravity is not high. The rear sole Boost of Crazy 98 x BYW is softer than traditional Boost. It’s soft but also elastic. The cushion performance is excellent.
Traction Performance
The traction performance of Adidas Crazy 98 x BYW is great. The forefoot sole of Adidas Crazy 98 x BYW uses multi-directional herringbone, and the rear sole is cloudiness. It doesn’t need to describe the traction performance of traditional herringbone sole. It can grip the ground well when moving on lengthways and landscape.
Fitness
I suggest to purchase half size bigger for most of guys. I always think that the size of Adidas shoes are bigger than normal size. But Crazy 98 x BYW is very compact. Although it looks big, but the shoe tree is not wide, unless your foot is thin and narrow. I suggest you to purchase half size bigger for this model. Crazy 98 x BYW has full-length inner sleeve, and the traditional lacing system can prevent the foot sliding. It also filled a lot of padding in the upper. After fastening the shoelaces, it will press the instep, it needs times to break-in for the ideal comfort level.
Supporting Performance
As I mentioned, the center of gravity is not so high as it looks. The sole is wide and flat. And outside of Boost has been surrounded by soft rubber. The inner side of shoes has a piece of long arch supporting plate. And it has the mid-sole anti-torsion plate inside. The crosswise supporting performance of Crazy 98 x BYW is great. It’s close to the supporting performance of adidas D Rose 7 Primeknit.
Durability
The same as Adidas BYW X, I don’t suggest you to wear Crazy 98 x BYW to play basketball on the outer court. My Adidas BYW X is multi-color semi-transparent rubber, but the sole of Crazy 98 x BYW uses black rubber which should have better durability. As a pair of upgraded retro shoes, I wish that Adidas can improve the durability of outsole. So that we don’t need to worry about the durability of outsole and play the basketball games on the outer court.
Air Permeability
The material is mainly leather and mesh fabric. But the air permeability is better than my imagination. I think the air permeability of Crazy 98 x BYW is better than Marquee Boost Low. I think that the main reason is, the shoe tongue is long and thin, so the interspace between the shoelaces holes can improve the ventilation, but it’s not suitable to wear on Summer.
Overall:
The overall performance of Adidas Crazy 98 x BYW is great. It likes a pair of Adidas version Kobe 1 Protro. The cushion performance is upgraded. The leather vamp looks excellent. Although the insole is changed, but the shoe shape still keeps the soul elements of Crazy 2.
