Nike Kobe AD vs Adidas Harden Vol 1

 Hadn’t done one of these in a long time so here you go. I’m not enamoured with either but I compared each aspect so you can pick and choose what works for you.

Here are the original reviews:

Price: 

$160 Kobe AD

$160 Harden PK

$140 Harden non PK

Similar prices across the board although Adidas shoes will always go on sale faster and harder than Nike. These are both on the high end and are about average for superstar sig shoes but as I said earlier Hardens will be get cheaper more quickly. Nicekicks had a nice deal for $98 already.

Weight: 

Kobe: 13.5 oz

Harden: 17 oz

Traction 
Both shoes provide excellent traction on clean floors or when freshly wiped so it really come down to sub optimal conditions.

I’ve found that any dust just makes the Harden traction slippery so constant wiping is needed while the Kobe 6 protro just hums along and sticks with minimal wiping.

Winner: Kobe 

Cushioning

Boost has been getting a lot of press and love on sneaker sites and rightfully so. Addictive feel and just fun to wear.

Lunarlon isn’t my first choice but it does a good job overall, however I’ve found Lunarlon wears out out quickly compared to other cushioning set ups. I can’t say in the long term for certain but pretty sure the Kobe AD will suffer the same fate even with its “microtuned” set up. The Zoom in the heel isn’t what you actually see on the midsole it is a typical 8 mm Hyperdunk esque Zoom and can barely be felt.

In the shoe’s current state, the AD isn’t bad at all but the Harden’s Boost easily just feels better.

Winner: Harden 

Fit

Although there is a lot more to the fit than the exterior size of the shoe, look at the huge discrepancy in size between two size 11’s. The Harden looks like at least a size 12. I didn’t even line them up perfectly.

I wasn’t even going to bother writing this part because finding the right size and getting just the right fit in then Harden was the most time consuming thing I’ve done with shoes in the past few years ..that and the Crazylight Boost 2016.

With the Kobe AD, I bought my true size 11, put them on and was done. No heel slip, no side to side movement. I could have gone up half a size and still been fine.

Adidas really needs to look into standardizing their sizing or at least making it more similar to Nikes. There is nothing wrong with being the same size as your competitor.  Most first time Adidas customers will just say forget it because they bought the wrong Adidas size and bought their normal Nike size. Which is better keeping a customer or keeping your pride? Granted it would cost a lot to change their manufacturing process and machines etc, so time to call your finance department to do a cost benefit analysis.

Winner: Kobe

Materials 
I feel I need to remind people I only include materials because readers want to know how they feel. The Harden Vol 1 materials are excellent and  easily feel and look better than the mesh on the Kobe AD. They provide a nice value to the consumer. Primeknit or mesh Harden, the materials are easily nicer than the Kobe AD

Winner: Harden

Support and Stability

Both shoes use TPU cages on the lateral side to keep the shoe stable. I’ll give the edge to the Harden Vol 1 because they feel wider and the AD has the occasional forefoot outrigger rolling which is anything but a plus.

Winner: Harden 

Containment 

The Harden looks like it would run away with this category but the Kobe did a decent job even without any physical barriers. However in the end, more is better

Winner: Harden

Conclusion 

What do you want out of a shoe? That’s what it boils down to. If you want a more comfortable ride and better materials and value, go with the Jordan Zion 1. If you want a better fit and traction go with the Kobe A.D. For me, I weigh traction most heavily and the Kobe A.D. worked far better than the Harden. The cushioning isn’t as good as the Harden but it works well enough for me.

If you want to save money, just wait for sales as they will both get to the $100 price point or below.