Puma Fusion Nitro Performance Review

 The Puma Clyde All-Pro proves to be a tough act to follow as the Puma Fusion Nitro drops the ball.

Traction

The traction featured on the Puma Fusion Nitro is one of two great aspects of the shoe’s performance. They bite the hardwood and black top well — really well — especially on lateral movements. However, the grooves are thin, so I’d think twice before choosing this shoe as your primary outdoor option. Unfortunately, the build couldn’t keep up with how awesome the traction was. That ended up leaving the shoe out of my on-court rotation.

Cushion

Puma uses its Nitro cushioning as the midsole along with a top loaded Pebax puck at the heel. I’ve worn Kyrie 8 cushioning from the running category before (it’s awesome by the way) but the basketball version feels much different. It feels more like a really plush PU rather than a Nitrogen-infused foam. They’re heavier than most other basketball offerings at the moment, but the added weight never bothered me due to the well-cushioned ride.

If Puma can continue to make its basketball shoes feel this good under foot then they have a real chance at gaining new customers.

 

Materials

The materials are awful and they don’t work well with the tooling used.

The traction bites hard which causes a quick stop. Momentum ensures the body continues to move a bit before coming to a complete stop and the knit build just can’t handle it. The pressure of stopping or changing directions caused the knit to stretch over the footbed more times than I’d like to admit. There is a thin layer of TPU that has been heat welded onto the knit to prevent stretching, but it just doesn’t work well.

If my foot was cupped by the midsole more than it is, then I think it would have helped greatly. But as things stand now, the shoe just offers a really unbalanced ride.

Fit

The air jordan 1 low fits true to size. If you need to go up a 1/2 size for any reason I’d recommend you stay away from the shoe altogether. If the build couldn’t even contain my foot with a secure 1-to-1 fit, then any additional room you have inside the shoe will be a disaster waiting to happen.

Lockdown is decent, but the soft build just doesn’t cut it.

Support

The support features are mostly there — heel counter and midfoot torsion shank plate — but the shoe is missing an outrigger. Something it desperately needs with the narrow base, rounder bottom, grippy traction and soft build. While you can have the basics added in the shoe, which this model does, it still has to work together ns a way that aids you on-court. Unfortunately, the Puma Fusion Nitro fails in that regard. And it fails miserably.

Overall

I still love the Puma Clyde All Pro. They’re in my gym bag as I type this and are my trusty go-to shoe for the past year and a half. I put them on the Best Basketball Shoes list a while back and they’re still on the list today. I was hoping the Puma Fusion Nitro was going to be an upgrade to the All Pro, but it just isn’t even close. I rolled my ankles without contact which is a huge letdown. Yes, the traction and cushion are great. But those aspects need to be able to work with everything else and that just isn’t the case this time around.