words // Brandon Richard
Earlier today, Nike Basketball footwear designer Leo Chang held a live chat on Facebook to answer questions about his newest creation, the Zoom Hyperdunk 2011. With the model officially set to launch tomorrow, Chang discussed everything from quality improvements over last year's Hyperdunk to the differences between the standard Hyperdunk 2011 and the upcoming Hyperdunk 2011 Supreme. He also spoke about Blake Griffin's involvement in the design process, brand competition and let us know that the new model will be available on NIKEiD next month.
Check out a recap of Leo Chang's Nike Zoom Hyperdunk 2011 Facebook Chat below courtesy of Facebook.com/NikeBasketball.
Tommy Mac: What makes the HD 2011 stand out from all the other great new shoes on the market, for instance the Hyperfuse 2011?
Leo: Glove like fit, lightweight, and responsive zoom air heel and forefoot cushioning... HD2011 is lighter than the Hyperfuse. Hyperfuse uses zoom in the Forefoot only.
Allen Derhovsepian: is the new hyperdunk more durable? is it more responsive and lighter? and 1 more question.... it looks like it shares the same upper as the kobe 6's without the scales of course. does that mean its going to be more breathable?
Leo: durability was an important part of what i wanted to improve... the skins in the upper should bond better on the 2011. the weight is the same as the 2010, but we drastically improved the fit by changing the last and materials used in the flywire composite package. we definitely learned a lot from the KB6 upper. the flywire layers are similar to it, minus the scales. the meshes are more durable than the KB bc we have more of it exposed.
Martin Garcia: Leo if you look at the hyperdunk 2011 really closely it reminds me of the hyperize.
Leo: There's definitely design elements that continue from the original HD, to the hyperize, to the 2010, to this one... trying to continue the legacy and make it better each time.
Eugene Fong: How durable will the sole be compared to prior HD's?
Leo: the outsole should be great for normal BB use... we addressed some lateral sidewall ripping issues by having more rubber in that area.
Omeed Rabani: Hey! will the upper on the hyperdunk 2011 be more durable than the hyperdunk 2010? will the shoe be good for people with wide feet or is it narrow like the hyperfuse 2011?
Leo: from the long term weartesting that we have done, we do believe the upper will be more durable than the 2010. Bc of the meshes used in the flywire composite upper, the upper should feel less stiff and narrow than the Hyperfuse.
Mac Nelson: Hey!, Who does the shoes represent if anyone, as in blake Griffin, Or rajon Rondo?
Leo: Blake!... it's a great versatile shoe for many types of players... anyone looking for a lightweight, glove like fit, with amazing zoom air cushioning... if there's ever going to be a NBA season, you'll see Dirk and Pau wear it too.
Brett Locklear: what position would you recommend this shoe for?
Leo: i typically don't like to classify shoes by position... it's more about what you like your shoes to feel like... as you can see in the League, big guys are wearing the lightweight shoes like the HD, and point guards are wearing heavier shoes... it's up to the individuals.
Marco San Juan: We all know that Supreme has a little advantage over the non-Supreme, besides the extra dollars on the price. What's the advantage of the Supreme editions?
Leo: on the Supreme, it has a durable Urethane (Kurim) application in the toe, similar to the KB6... so that version is super rugged.
Marco San Juan: Leo, the blake griffin hyperdunk was a hit. What should we expect in the upcoming months with Blake Griffin and the Hyperdunk?
Leo: let's pray for an NBA season first!! lots of hot colors of the HD will be out...
Lucas Carr: I don't know if you know this or not, but the 2010 hyperdunks were very poorly made and ripped very easily along the outside foot. I'm almost reluctant to buy the new 2011 hyperdunk because I don't want it to rip after 4 tournaments.
Leo: we started seeing and hearing about the 2010 upper skins ripping and parts of the outsole ripping from the midsole... so that was a priority for us to address with this one.
Lucas Carr: Thanks! Also is this shoe going to be IDable? If that makes sense...
Nike Basketball: yes indeed it is 9/13 the Nike Hyperdunk 2011 will be on Nike ID.
Muhammad Zaki Mohd Zainuldin: what is the weight?
Nike Basketball: the Nike Hyperdunk 2011 is 11.5oz.
Austin Andryshak: will the paint chip again because I bought a pair and the paint chipped within a few days use?
Leo: not much use of paint on this 2011... maybe the tiny logo on the tongue and small flywire logo, so don't expect much to be chipping off.
Graham McGilvray: you going to match the new derrick rose shoes? there pretty dam light!
Leo: I believe the HD2011 is the best all-round shoe in the market... it's lightweight, fits great, and has amazing responsive zoom cushioning. we won't sacrifice any of those things just to brag about being the lightest shoe in the market! I don't think the DRose shoe (btw- the one he stopped wearing the playoffs!!) has anything other than lightweight.
Justin Rubin: how limited was the blake griffin release?
Leo: i think it was either 5k or 10k...
Laura Garcia: What factors/things/athletes inspired you when creating this design, and how do you know when a style is ready to go into mass production?
Leo: I really love hearing what normal people and elite athletes think of past shoes... all things... good and bad. I just want to keep improving our shoes each time. we want to innovate and take risks, so sometimes we may have issues like on the 2010, but i'm always gonna try and fix it.
Jordan Taylor: what's your favorite new tecnhology on this shoe?
Leo: i love how the new flywire composite materials are less stiff and truly fit around the foot like a glove.
Sean Hill: Did you do away with the lace eyelet on the inside of shoe right at the ankle? Loved that thing! Locked your foot into the shoe.
Leo: the 2011 doesn't have the same deep notch at the ankle, it has a more even eyelet spacing. we only do the inside eyelet if there's a deep notch like on the 2010.
Erik Buddingh: Hey Leo, I just ordered 2 pairs of LBJ ps 8s for the upcoming season but I was deliberating about the Hyperdunk 11s as well. In the event that I need more shoes this season what is the cushion like in the new Hyperdunks?
Leo: springy thick zoom air in the heel and forefoot. if you like zoom, you will like these...
Pamit Sangha: Leo, are there going to be any possible player exclusives coming out?
Leo: yes... house of hoops... not sure which players or when.
Ricky Chu: You guys gave us a peek at this show during All Star weekend when Blake Griffin was supposed to wear them in the dunk contest. He ended up not, why is that? And did you do any tweaks from that shoe to the released version?
Leo: my bad Ricky, I had problems seeing a lot of the questions at the lower part of the page bc it wasn't loading fast enough. you should check out solecollector.com, there is a write up of why he didn't end up wearing them. Those shoes we made for Blake were WAY earlier than our regular production. There were some tweaks we made to the shank for production. We had the composite glass shank wrapping up on the lateral side and were finding weird cracks in it from loading stresses in our weartests. For production, we revised it so that the shank didn't go up on the lateral side.
