A Mile in Self-Lacing Shoes
Back to the future I didn’t know I had… or will have.
From owning my own mobile phone at age 11, I got used to charging my phone, as we all are accustomed to doing. As a tech enthusiast, I was an early adopter of many new technologies. Suddenly, charging my watch became commonplace. My first car was, and still is, my trusty and fully electric Nissan Leaf (yes, I passed my driving test at age 27), so charging my car took some getting used to but was probably easier for me than for others. Charging my shoes, however, is another level of pretentiously futuristic.
When the Nike Adapt BB shoes were announced last year, the news filled the tech news websites I frequent. All the tech YouTubers had their say on the Bluetooth-connected self-lacing trainers — and I was hooked on the idea. I’ve recently come to seek out ubiquitous technology that blends itself seamlessly into the background, quietly doing something unexpected. These shoes would make a nice addition to my setup, though they proved very difficult to get one’s hands on.
A year on, I stumbled across the Nike Adapt BB 2.0, the second revision of their original consumer-grade self-lacing shoe, and I was reminded of the desire I had a year prior. So, I looked on eBay and found a pair of 2.0s in the even rarer UK size 10 variety — opened, but unworn.
That wasn’t going to be the case for much longer.
The Review
I bought these shoes to wear, and wear them I did. After a month, here’s what I think of them.
“Hey Siri, tighten my shoes”
I must preface this section by pointing out that these shoes are clearly meant for basketball players (hence the BB) or other people more active than me. In fact, the effect that the self-lacing aspect has on the relative motion between the foot and the shoe has been researched¹. I don’t play basketball, a fact to which all 5'5" of me can attest, nor am I particularly active, though I’m working on fixing that. Therefore, this review is from the perspective of a person who’s into tech enough to own a pair of shoes whose laces can be tightened by Siri.
Seriously, saying “Hey Siri, tighten my shoes” into an Apple Watch does just that. “Hey Siri, loosen my shoes” does the opposite and “Hey Siri, release my shoes” lets me take them off.
Mad.
Unboxing the shoes (pictured above), I was greeted with each one wrapped in paper, some paperwork to explain how to get them up and running, a wireless charging mat wide enough to charge both shoes at once as well as a USB type C cable and charger.
The setup process was fairly quick and easy, consisting mainly of downloading the Adapt app, pairing each shoe to my phone via Bluetooth and then inserting my feet to begin calibration. That’s right, the shoes calibrate themselves to your feet when you set them up for the first time. The app even asked if I wore insoles so it could take them into account, which is great, as I do.
The Electro Adaptive Reactive Lacing system (shown above), affectionately abbreviated to E.A.R.L. by Nike, is what sets these shoes apart from your standard trainer. The ability not only to self-lace, but to change the fit mid-wear (hence the name Adapt) means that comfort is a swipe on your phone, or a button press on the shoe, away. For example, if walking the dog at a leisurely pace, I might choose to set a relaxed, loosened fit, around 10 on Nike’s tightness scale. However, when driving (where shoes slipping around on the heel isn’t great), I’ll quickly set them to 45, the tightness recommended by the app’s calibration system.
The Pros
I love these shoes. They’re comfortable, more comfortable in fact than any shoe I’ve owned. That might be due to the tailored fit the E.A.R.L. system gives, or it might just be that I’ve never paid over £20 for a pair of trainers before — I live quite close to a Sports Direct.
The novelty has not yet worn off. It greatly pleases the techie in me to know that my shoes can do what they can do, even if it’s not apparent to everyone else (and I wouldn’t necessarily want it to be). I am reminded of my excited inner child whenever I unlock my phone and see the Adapt app on my home screen. They’re also a great talking point among friends.
Lastly, and thankfully this doesn’t affect me personally, they would cater very well to someone with difficulties tying their laces for dexterity reasons. Granted, slip-ons would be as easy to put on, but they wouldn’t offer the locked-in, secure feeling these shoes provide.
The Cons
Though I love them, they of course have their downsides. The self-lacing mechanism is quite loud, and though it’s hard to hear them when out and about, they signal when I am going out or getting home to the whole household. Usually a laugh or two follows, so at least they have entertainment value.
The fact that I either have to take out my phone or use the side buttons on the shoes to take them off is not always as fun as the first time. Sometimes, when you get in, you just want to kick off your shoes and relax, and the mechanism slightly elongates this process. Not by enough to stop me from wearing them, mind you.
The biggest drawback of these trainers is the price, as they retail for £399, though I paid less than this on eBay. Yes, owning interesting tech is expensive, and it wouldn’t be so bad if these shoes weren’t entirely and unashamedly pointless. The real drawback is that they have added very little value to everyday life besides the novelty, even if that’s a hard truth to admit for a techie like me. I could easily have spent less on a pair of shoes that are probably just as comfortable, that are easier to take off and that induce less anxiety that they’ll break.
Final Thoughts
The novelty of these shoes is outstanding and the comfort they provide is impressive. They’re a great conversation starter among tech-minded people, and they make you feel like you’re back from the future. They also disturb everyone, including the dog, when they come on and off, the lights on the side make you look like you’re 5 years old and they cost a fortune.
Bottom line: unless the tech will help you, don’t buy them.
They are fun though.
References
[1]: Casey A. Myers, Weldyn Allen, Peter J. Laz, Jake Lawler-Schwatz & Bryan P. Conrad (2019) Motorized self-lacing technology reduces foot-shoe motion in basketball shoes during dynamic cutting tasks, Footwear Science, 11:sup1, S189-S191, DOI: 10.1080/19424280.2019.1606326
