crooked tongues magazine News Features

Our respect for the Nike Air 180 has been covered here multiple times, but at a time when Nike's updates on favourites have appalled a few purists, the reaction to first looks at this Air Lunar 180 have been pretty positive. Maybe its because the shape on this altered, lightweight variation is superior to that of the standard retro, or just because the curious trinity of Lunar Foam, that unique Air unit and Torch technologies looks good together. Seeing as the Mariah PR got the Lunar tweak, and because the 180 was the Max Air take on the Mariah, down to the white, ultramarine and bright pink, this makes extra sense.

The lack of visible Air bubbles on performance products beyond those aimed at heavyweight wearers on roads or courts in favour of the colourful ribbed foam indicates that bubbles the size of the once-outrageous 180 application are largely redundant in favour of big and bashy or completely concealed performance benefits. For all the expensive advertising and hype, the 1991 original wasn't particularly busy, playing with nascent versions of today's designs. This return to the drawing board let's them go to town with extra pink on the midsole (more Mariah styling), just in case the lines and extra transparency of a standard Air 180 weren't enough, but predominantly no-sew build keeps things clean too.

In a parallel universe, these would be the Air 180 2, embellishing the strong points with a certain dignity, but the hype is pretty strong on these. Will we get as hyped over the inevitable slew of other colours? Doubtful. Hardly a performance piece, more or a superior display of showboating from Nike Sportswear, these are a great, great release, and the best of the contemporary Max tweaks.

These Quickstrikes are available in the Crooked Tongues store now.