4:02 leather can stretch a lot so sometimes they add a more stiff fabric to the back so it doesn't stretch as much. Not sure if that is the reason that they did it here though.
When I was a teenager the coolest thing in sneakers, that was not as out of reach for poor folks as Pumps, were Reebok Blacktops. Supposed to be the toughest sneakers Reebok ever made. Yeah that honeycomb stuff was in them too and there was about as much of it as in those Pumps. I pestered my parents for over a year to get them. I got them as a birthday gift and I was the proudest peacock when I wore them to school. A month later when the honeycomb stuff came loose in one then the other I spent the rest of the time I had them NOT wearing them when it was wet out. The holes would pump water in the shoe which was gross. I can still remember squelching along and feeling so let down. I never bought another pair of Reebok's after that pair, put me off the brand completely.
The Hexalite patch has always been that small. it has never covered the entire sole. I first noticed this back in the early nineties when I took a shoe apart to see the hexalite cushion. The original Hexalite had rounded corners and thinner walls, and I assume that it is different today because the original tooling was disposed of.
This shoe has a special place in my heart. I literally just found a pair while riding my bike around downtown almost ten years ago. I was kinda transient and between places and probably wouldn't have spent that amount on shoes at the time. They were in great shape, couldn't believe someone had just thrown them out. Thanks to that person and thank you Weston for your detailed breakdowns.
I had a pair of reebok sneakers back than in the late 90’s and i just would like to reassure you about the hexalite technologic there wasn’t more back then than it is today. I cutted out the unit and i found the same what you have found now. I also had two pairs of z pumps from 2014-2015 and it was a very cool feature altough it didn’t last long cause the faulty release valves didn’t hold the air anymore. Overall reebok shoes were always the most comfortable shoes i ever had. So i still love them and would buy some if i would find some retro from the 90’s again.
I would love to see an Asics teardown. Speaking of Hexalite, the amount of gel in an Asics shoe looks absurdly minimal despite that being their "technology."
@@jahmanborneo1343 I fell like what makes them great is just the basic shoe construction and not fancy technology. They are on the cushy side but the basic last and motion control feels far more important than whatever fancy buzz term they might add. That said, I haven't liked the changes to the heal counter over some of the years in the 2000 series.
It's been like 26 years now, but for what it's worth, when I tore apart my first or second pair of Asics, the gel cushions were at least big enough to look like they were functional.
I had the first pump… it was 169.00 which was insane back then. The tallest white high top with the air release on the heel was the only one with the air bag all around your foot. All the others after were tongue only. Great video. Love those shoes.
Your almost correct. The all foot was the Double Pump that was recognisable by it's switch on the ankle. The 🏀 boots were as you say mostly midfoot pump but runners and others had ankle with/or midfoot pump. FYI The OG's price when new back then here in the UK was £120.
Rose Anvil, I have a pair of OG Reebok Pumps that I would let you cut up. The soles are disintegrating do I can't wear them. I am an OG Reebok fan from back when I played football in the 90's and would love to contribute the shoes to your video.
I'm from Colombia, I pay my internet for see you Destroy all my favorite shoes...you have a piece of my heart ;). I broke a lot of this hexalite and I never find a full piece inside.
Great review Weston! I'm also a massive fan of the Reebok pump. I own a pair of retros of the original 89 pump and absolutely love them. One thing Reebok is notorious for however is using fake hexalite in their retros. I've seen them use a hard plastic substitute before but we'd never know that they've only used a tiny little hexalite patch on this retro unless you actually cut them open so well done. Would be great to cut open a vintage pair as I think you'll find them a lot more functional and it would just be great to have a proper look at real hexalite and how it performs.
Once upon a time in the '90s, there was a shoe brand called L.A. Gear that was all the rage among teens and pre-teens. They had soles that lit up when you walked and, me and everyone and their friends wanted and probably owned a pair at some point. Would be cool to slice 'em up and see how they worked!
I work for Reebok and had to laugh a bit when I saw you pump it by hand. The commitment!! We have little machines that imitate that (which are hilarious to watch), they are supposed to endure a lot of pumps.
When I was like 6-7 years old, all the way back in 1993, I literally thought I could run faster when I got my first pair of Reebok Pumps. I owned so many pairs/models of Reebok pumps when I was a kid, really nostalgic seeing these shoes. Really makes me want a pair!
If they are putting this back out with some new tech a full length hexalite would be a nice gimmick. I'm a pumps fan but I wish they just refined them. The ones Rodman used to have in the commercial were amazing. The Nike pumps had a run for their money.
@@TheRetroManRandySavage yes. I remember but these should have gotten it as well. I wonder if it was actually full length in the Iverson's and other sneakers after seeing this tho.
I was too poor to get the pumps as a child but my dad surprised me with their competition LA Gear Regulators. Orange and purple double laces were awesome.
You can also find this pump tech in CCM Ribcor hockey skates, as it was a carry over from when Reebok was branding hockey equipment. CCM had a partnership with Reebok, while the competition, Bauer, was making Nike hockey gear.
Yo, that's awesome to see The Pump being used on another product still for performance. I had a pair of Nike Zoom Inline skates back from the Bauer days (late 90s), Black and Bronze, beautiful skates.
@@AntonyHollingworth Those Nike Zooms were legit. I'm still on the hunt for a white set of the ice skates to put together a full Federov kit. They pop up on sites like Sideline Swap, but they're either beaten to hell, or people want insane prices for them.
My grandma searched everywhere and finally found and bought me a pair of these in the early 90's when I was a little kid. I just ordered a pair of new pumps and i can't wait to show them to her
nice, looks like the tongue pump model is still pretty much the same as the original tennis pumps I had in high school, (pulled them apart in a similar way when they wore out) and though the hexalite was just in small squares back then too, it was a totally different material to what they're using now. It was a VERY squishy material made of a thinner plastic that bounced back well when you squeezed it between your thumb and forefinger. - I also had the very first pump which had an air bladder which wrapped around your heel too, not just the tongue. But alas, the curse of the crumbing midsole.....
As a person who had a pair in the 90s. I swear when they finally fell apart the haxalite was much larger. It coverd the whole heel section. But nostalgia has a way of distorting memories.
Hey man, my pumps I just got, from Reeebok Australia, they werent pumping, but I got them pumping. So if yours dont work, be persistent. Anvil mentions in the vid there is a "clicking" sound when you press the pump, well holding the toungue in a certain way allows that clicking sound which means its pumping. If youre not hearing the clicking its not pumping. Peace.
,,The greatest feeling you can get in a gym, or the most satisfying feeling you can get in the gym is... The *pump* Let's say you train your biceps. Blood is rushing into your muscles and that's what we call The *pump* You muscles get a really tight feeling, like your skin is going to explode any minute, and it's really tight - it's like somebody blowing air into it, into your muscle. It just blows up, and it feels really different. It feels fantastic. It's as satisfying to me as, uh, c.ming is, you know? As, ah, having s.x with a woman and c.ming. And so can you believe how much I am in heaven? I am like, uh, getting the feeling of c.ming in a gym, I'm getting the feeling of c.ming at home, I'm getting the feeling of c.ming backstage when I *pump* up, when I pose in front of 5,000 people, I get the same feeling, so I am c.ming day and night. I mean, it's terrific. Right? So you know, I am in heaven." (Arnold Schwarzenegger, Pumping Iron)
You have one of the best channels on TH-cam imo. The videos are very entertaining and satisfying to watch, they're informative, and I appreciate your sincerity. Just thought I'd mention it, cheers from the southeast
Enjoyed this. I was such a fan of pumps as a kid and I love buying them and rocking them as an adult. I think the leather feels much better than the average Jordan. I’ve had good luck with my pumps functioning well, but I’ve seen a lot of people complain that their mechanisms don’t work. I think the chalk colored pair is my favorite of recent years.
Reebok was originally from Bolton Manchester England 🇬🇧 & I was 1 of the 1st to have every single model of their pump basketball 🏀 boots (this includes the very 1st pump boots) before they were made available for general release why? because I used to know a sales rep who was a family friend even better for me is that I used to get them at discounted price there were a lot of colour variants for each model including USA 🇺🇸 exclusives that weren't available here in the UK but I was only able to get 1 pair of each model........visually pleasing yes durability? good value for money? 💰 no the soles on the first 1's lasted just barely 5 months
I'm a huge Reebok Pump fan and would love to donate a pair of original Pumps from 1989 or a pair of Twilight Zone Pumps from the early 90s. Just be warned that the polyurethane midsoles have started ro crumble though I believe original Omni Zone IIs have held up. Regardless, yes, they did skimp with the original Hexalite but it was also a lot softer than today's rigid stuff. As for whether the airbags wrapped around the foot or went under the arch, it depends on the model. The Omni Zone 2 was limited to the tongue. Retro pumps do not function as well as the originals. You can really feel the airbags swelling after 20-30 pumps in the originals whereas many retro pumps either did not work at all, stiffened over time, or only inflated a little bit. Great video!
Bro, thanks so much for pulling out the air bag up and showing how it works. I got to pump up my shoe and hear the iconic release of air. Totally thought my pump was broken, turns out I was just blocking the part that lets the air in with my thumb.
I cut up a pair of og Reebok pumps when I was like 15/16 yrs old. I’m 42 now & the pump looked just look yours. It was tounge only. But I can’t remember what model shoe I had. They was the hype when I was a kid!
I have two pairs and have been in love with em since the 90's they only get rocked in the summer months as I live in the U.K. but they are a piece of 90's nostalgia for me and I'll always love this sneaker.
I had the Reebok and Nike pumps and thought I was so damn cool at school. Hahaha! EDIT: The "cool" thing with the pumps is that you could tie your shoes to a loose comfort and then pump it up to tighten the fit if you felt like it, so you never had to tie your shoes after the first tie.
I had the Black dee Brown's and a pair of the AXT trainers, which were actually more comfortable than the Dee Brown's. Based on the shoe you just took apart, I can say that when I took mine apart just after they wore out, many years ago (haha) the original Pump shoes were of MUCH better quality. They were hard to kill and maintained comfort right up to the point where they "gave out". I did notice that after the AXT and Dee Brown editions... there WAS a HUGE drop-off in quality. I remember being in highschool, playing several sports and had to switch to Air Jordan's because the PUMP quality had dropped off so much.
Any time I got double dared on the playground I was okay, I would just give my shoes a few pumps, and then I knew I could take on the world. Thanks for the video, I would love to see you do this to some vintage pumps.
The original ‘The Pump’ features more air bladders than the Omni range. In fact, the air bladder size and placement varied depending on the shoe’s purpose, and they made Pumps for tennis, running, cross-training and aerobics. The Hexalite here is the same size as the originals but the Hexalite material itself is different and it was softer in the originals.
If you want really crazy ones to test you should have a look at the Insta Pump Fury. One of the most crazy sneaker designs ever. The originals came with a gun that took nitrogen capsules, and using the newly designed release valve on the tongue, the ‘gun’ could be used to instantly inflate the shoe.
I had the blacktop colourway and I loved them. My 1st pair of “pro” basketball sneakers that I paid for myself. I would love to get another pair again.
Idk if this is anyone else’s experience, but I get quite a bit of heel slip in my pumps. Would’ve loved to see you do a full cross-section and stuff to get a better look at the materials, especially in the heel.
I still have 3 pairs of Pumps in my closet. A good majority of newer remakes of this shoe have the tiny Hexalite pads like yours, but the older ones usually encompass a good majority of the heel and was much more pliable and cushioned like the Black Ice Series. I think the most coveted pairs are the Reebok/Adidas collaborations that had Boost soles (Sole Fury X Boost). I have one pair of them and I don't even put them on.
I"m glad that Reebok really stepped up the quality of the air cushion. When I was a teen in the 90s, the first edition Pumps had serious issues with their cushions leaking. A lot of my classmates who had them said after a year, the tube running from the pump to the cushion might spring a leak. The only solution was to rip the tongue apart and glue the hole shut.
I was a little kid at the time, and LA Gear light up shoes where very popular for young kids. I kept drawing and designing a sneaker that had both the lights, and the pumps on them. I figure it was such a great idea that somebody had to make it eventually.
Rebook Pump and Adidas Steetball are my all time favorites. I never got the pump but I dreamt about those countless times back in the day. I ddi get a pair of streetballs when I was 1w though. Never had any cooler ones.
Love my pair of pumps!! Seeing as its the 40th anniversary of the reebok freestyle you should totally cut a pair of those in half! My wife has so many pairs in a rainbow of different colors would love to see whats inside! ❤
So the air pump idea is great for certain Things. I have a scorpion Motorcycle helmet and it has this type of pump for the cheek pads and it works great for sealing your head and making that helmet fit just a little more snug, preventing movement and sound which is great.
I had a pair of pumps back when they were the style and they were great. You could pump them up and feel them get tighter all around your foot. The old ones had the air pocket all around your foot, all inside the shoe, in the high top it went all around. But I have a pair of shoes now from sketchers that are the most comfortable shoes I ever worn. They are extra wide, and some how they have made them, they breath, to the point, when the wind blows, you can actually feel the wind on your feet. They are awesome in the summer. Extremely light, and they have memory foam on the bottoms, It's like walking on/in a cloud. They should call them some gimmick name but it's just a regular pair of black tennis shoes, no special name from sketchers. I know they don't all do that, because I had a pair of sketchers before, that were the heaviest shoes I ever had in my life.
There's already 1000+ comments so this will likely be cast into wind, but... I used to do similar dissections on my (UK based) trainers once they'd fulfilled their lifespan. IIRC, the Hexalite has always been the same. I remember being disappointed too around 30yr ago. Just a small rectangle of so-called cushioning (might have improved in later years?). Also, I would imagine the "Pump" was always just a gimmick and only ever inflated the tongue. I'd imagine it's very faithful to the originals due to how primitive (yet futuristic, at the time) the engineering was. The 90s OG Airmax were the first trainers I remember seeing where there was a physical bulging representation of the mythical "air system". The other trainers (Pegasus etc) also had them but, I dissected those too bitd and, similarly, they too had tiny heel placed plastic squares filled with air. Gotta love those 90s gimmicks... RBK Hexalite, Puma Disc, Adidas Torsion, Nike Air ❤️
I have a recollection of begging my mom for a pair of pumps that I swear were in a glass box at Footlocker. I must have only been about 7. Great video, I hope the oldies had more of the gimmicks to justify the high cost my mom surely paid.
I bought both Reebok The Pump and Nike Air Pressure retro releases as I had the OG of both on the early 90s. Whilst it's cool to have these again, they are not the same build quality in the comfort or amount of air each bladder can hold.
I'd love to see you dissect a pair of Forma Low motorcycle adventure boots. I've been riding in the same pair since 2017, and they are still waterproof in addition to holding up wonderfully.
As always, I hate it when shoe companies advertise leather in the shoe and it turns out to be the thinnest, cheapest leather possible!! Back in the “old days” you would get full grain sneakers that were actually leather and you paid for that!! Now you pay over 100 dollars for a shoe that you considered a cheap piece of junk that you would never consider spending hard earned cash for back in the day!! I hate that companies get away with their claims!! I recently bought a reissue of a Bo Jackson trainer that was the worst quality material I had ever seen!! I instantly returned them to Nike!! Huge disappointment!! Because they stated that they were leather and they obviously contained hardly anything resembling leather!!! Thanks for the hard work Wes!!!
It took me a few years but I successfully dissected a pair of these in middle school. I was so cool as I let the air out of my sneakers. I freaking loved those worn out things all the way to the end.
@@ballgameshoes8583 Reebok was king for a few years in the mid 80's but by the 90's they were not out selling Nike anymore. The Pumps were a failure by sales perspectives.
Yayyy!! Hella glad my suggestion was heard ☺️ another great video as always & so damn informational!! 👏🏾👏🏾 Please do the instapump fury one dayyy! Especially the Boost versions if ya can. Their laceless and fully rely on the "Pump technology" 😁
I remember when the OG pumps came out back in the 80's I was a kid my father got himself a pair and if I remember right when those came out at the time they were the most expensive sneakers. The way you let the air out was a button system sticking out the back of the shoe, that got redesigned and rereleased in matter of months, cos the shoe would break in the back part, when playing basketball, people landing on the back of your shoe/heal and the air release button had like a hard plastic covering it, and would just shred that plastic off, and just ruined the shoe. I can't remember how many fights I seen break out as a kid at the court from just this happening, cos when you came outside with pumps on!? They looked so unique and back then, it was never seen before. Late 80's, it was all Adidas and Nike but these I remember had people buying Reeboks like crazy, they weren't popular for that long, but man, I remember seeing some brutal fights and other things happen back when "The Pumps" were out, good times.
I was too poor growin up to afford the Reebok pumps. I had the Wal-Mart Voit pumps. I did however find a pair of Shawn Kemp's signature Reeboks in the lost and found that I wore til they fell apart.
A lot of people don't realize that nike actually made a pump also. It is an air force 180. (David robinson) it filled air in several areas of the shoe including the arch. And the pump was on the side.
The higher end ones pumped up round the heel too I have my vintage tennis pump bladder from 1989 is exact the same as your bladder ( tongue only ) Also same tiny hexalite
That’s so much different than the Reebok Pump ice skates (or after Reebok became CCM) that’s what I use still and they have no air in the tongue and they fill around the heel and actually make a big difference!
They say basketball on those but those ones look like the old Andre Aggasi tennis models with the pump only in the tongue and around the top of the foot. The old basketball high tops that you showed had the pump in the heal and I think the tongue too if I remember correctly. The release valve was a little orange button on the back of the high top part. I had quite a few pumps back in the day and they all worked very well. They did snug up the shoes and were very comfortable. But Reebok always seemed to have softer leather than other companies. Great for comfort but they were never as durable. Trade off.
If you know Chris from weartester, he said that hexalight was good like really comfortable. The problem was Reebok didn't give enough effort to put the real thing
I pulled apart my hexalite as a kid in the 90's and the square was only an inch back then. It was a real let down. I bought these and the Twilight Zone re-issue with ERS and was pleasantly surprised by how good they were overall.
I still have a pair of Omni pumps from 1989 .I still use them even though they look a bit narly and dirty.the tongue,collar and heels pump up.they are still the most comfy kicks I have ever had.
I'm surprised he didn't mention the song Pumped Up Kicks by Foster the People at any point in the vid considering how huge that song is and the fact that these were implied to be the shoes mentioned in the song
Back in the early 90s a friend of mine had these shoes. I thought they were the coolest. You should do a teardown of a shoe that has the lights inside that light up when you walk.
I wanted these so bad in 89’ when they came out! I might get a pair just for effs. I remember taking apart of my friends after they fell apart playing with the valve and pocket. Memories…
Still have one from new old stock. I felt that both the hexalite and the pump are just gimmicks. I just went for the looks! Although it's quite comfortable. Loved the vid! Thanks! 👍
It would be cool to see a video on the Viba HELSINKI Leather Preto. Very different looking soles and I’d love to find out what’s inside before buying a pair.
I had the tennis all variety of these shoes when they came out. They had a bladder in the tongue and around the back of the heel. The best part about the shoes was that other kids would kneel to you like you were some king just to pump your shoes. 😂
I had a pair of those in the nineties and the pump as well as the hexalite were configured in the exact same way. Hexalite and the pump were always just marketing gimmicks.
Buy a Rose Anvil leather belt that is not a gimmick here - bit.ly/3yWdqmk
4:02 leather can stretch a lot so sometimes they add a more stiff fabric to the back so it doesn't stretch as much.
Not sure if that is the reason that they did it here though.
When I was a teenager the coolest thing in sneakers, that was not as out of reach for poor folks as Pumps, were Reebok Blacktops. Supposed to be the toughest sneakers Reebok ever made. Yeah that honeycomb stuff was in them too and there was about as much of it as in those Pumps. I pestered my parents for over a year to get them. I got them as a birthday gift and I was the proudest peacock when I wore them to school. A month later when the honeycomb stuff came loose in one then the other I spent the rest of the time I had them NOT wearing them when it was wet out. The holes would pump water in the shoe which was gross. I can still remember squelching along and feeling so let down. I never bought another pair of Reebok's after that pair, put me off the brand completely.
Exactly the same for me. On a quiet night you could hear the blacktops falling apart. Last reeboks for me too
Hexalite
They also made blacktops with the pump
I had a pair of Reebok Pumps, plus the Blacktop. I'm not sure about your experience, but those Blacktop's were pretty sturdy
@@CoolGuyDoingCoolShit 🤓👍🏾
The Hexalite patch has always been that small. it has never covered the entire sole. I first noticed this back in the early nineties when I took a shoe apart to see the hexalite cushion. The original Hexalite had rounded corners and thinner walls, and I assume that it is different today because the original tooling was disposed of.
This shoe has a special place in my heart. I literally just found a pair while riding my bike around downtown almost ten years ago. I was kinda transient and between places and probably wouldn't have spent that amount on shoes at the time. They were in great shape, couldn't believe someone had just thrown them out.
Thanks to that person and thank you Weston for your detailed breakdowns.
I'm curious. Did it fit you, by any chance?
If so, then damn -- that must've been quite the find!
@@Yoyie4 It sure did, wore them for years during spring and fall.
Eeewwwww. Just. Ew.
@@michaelmccoy1794 🤡
are you sure they didn’t have any famous baseball players signatures on them
I had a pair of reebok sneakers back than in the late 90’s and i just would like to reassure you about the hexalite technologic there wasn’t more back then than it is today. I cutted out the unit and i found the same what you have found now. I also had two pairs of z pumps from 2014-2015 and it was a very cool feature altough it didn’t last long cause the faulty release valves didn’t hold the air anymore. Overall reebok shoes were always the most comfortable shoes i ever had. So i still love them and would buy some if i would find some retro from the 90’s again.
I would love to see an Asics teardown. Speaking of Hexalite, the amount of gel in an Asics shoe looks absurdly minimal despite that being their "technology."
@@jahmanborneo1343 I fell like what makes them great is just the basic shoe construction and not fancy technology. They are on the cushy side but the basic last and motion control feels far more important than whatever fancy buzz term they might add. That said, I haven't liked the changes to the heal counter over some of the years in the 2000 series.
Asics are definitely function over form and built to last. More of a runners shoe with running specific technology.
But I've always been a big fan.
@@jahmanborneo1343 Novablast 2 is pretty great
It's been like 26 years now, but for what it's worth, when I tore apart my first or second pair of Asics, the gel cushions were at least big enough to look like they were functional.
@@Shithappenswhenu lol Asics are absolute shit now. Both broow and Saucony are far superior.
I had the first pump… it was 169.00 which was insane back then. The tallest white high top with the air release on the heel was the only one with the air bag all around your foot. All the others after were tongue only. Great video. Love those shoes.
Your almost correct. The all foot was the Double Pump that was recognisable by it's switch on the ankle. The 🏀 boots were as you say mostly midfoot pump but runners and others had ankle with/or midfoot pump. FYI The OG's price when new back then here in the UK was £120.
Rose Anvil, I have a pair of OG Reebok Pumps that I would let you cut up. The soles are disintegrating do I can't wear them. I am an OG Reebok fan from back when I played football in the 90's and would love to contribute the shoes to your video.
👀👀👀👀👀
Gross.
That’s what’s up
@RoseAnvil, do this!😮
I'm from Colombia, I pay my internet for see you Destroy all my favorite shoes...you have a piece of my heart ;). I broke a lot of this hexalite and I never find a full piece inside.
Great review Weston! I'm also a massive fan of the Reebok pump. I own a pair of retros of the original 89 pump and absolutely love them. One thing Reebok is notorious for however is using fake hexalite in their retros. I've seen them use a hard plastic substitute before but we'd never know that they've only used a tiny little hexalite patch on this retro unless you actually cut them open so well done. Would be great to cut open a vintage pair as I think you'll find them a lot more functional and it would just be great to have a proper look at real hexalite and how it performs.
Once upon a time in the '90s, there was a shoe brand called L.A. Gear that was all the rage among teens and pre-teens. They had soles that lit up when you walked and, me and everyone and their friends wanted and probably owned a pair at some point. Would be cool to slice 'em up and see how they worked!
Yes please.
LA Lights was the shoe & now that very same tech is now in every cheap shoe store brands toddler/5-10yr old range of shoes.
@@omerta2002 I kind of doubt it for the really small kids sizes. Maybe size 1-6 kids
I work for Reebok and had to laugh a bit when I saw you pump it by hand. The commitment!! We have little machines that imitate that (which are hilarious to watch), they are supposed to endure a lot of pumps.
When I was like 6-7 years old, all the way back in 1993, I literally thought I could run faster when I got my first pair of Reebok Pumps. I owned so many pairs/models of Reebok pumps when I was a kid, really nostalgic seeing these shoes. Really makes me want a pair!
Love your videos, it’s cool to know a channel that keeps these sneaker companies accountable
I was super excited for this drop...the memories of this shoe from the 90s were strong. I love mine.
If they are putting this back out with some new tech a full length hexalite would be a nice gimmick. I'm a pumps fan but I wish they just refined them. The ones Rodman used to have in the commercial were amazing. The Nike pumps had a run for their money.
There was a few pair's of Reeboks in the mid 90s that had full length ultra hexalite.
@@TheRetroManRandySavage yes. I remember but these should have gotten it as well. I wonder if it was actually full length in the Iverson's and other sneakers after seeing this tho.
I had a pair of Reebok pumps from 1992 or 93. After about 5 years, the white foam soles turned to powder. I loved them back in the day.
I was too poor to get the pumps as a child but my dad surprised me with their competition LA Gear Regulators. Orange and purple double laces were awesome.
You can also find this pump tech in CCM Ribcor hockey skates, as it was a carry over from when Reebok was branding hockey equipment. CCM had a partnership with Reebok, while the competition, Bauer, was making Nike hockey gear.
Yo, that's awesome to see The Pump being used on another product still for performance.
I had a pair of Nike Zoom Inline skates back from the Bauer days (late 90s), Black and Bronze, beautiful skates.
@@AntonyHollingworth Those Nike Zooms were legit. I'm still on the hunt for a white set of the ice skates to put together a full Federov kit. They pop up on sites like Sideline Swap, but they're either beaten to hell, or people want insane prices for them.
My grandma searched everywhere and finally found and bought me a pair of these in the early 90's when I was a little kid. I just ordered a pair of new pumps and i can't wait to show them to her
nice, looks like the tongue pump model is still pretty much the same as the original tennis pumps I had in high school, (pulled them apart in a similar way when they wore out) and though the hexalite was just in small squares back then too, it was a totally different material to what they're using now. It was a VERY squishy material made of a thinner plastic that bounced back well when you squeezed it between your thumb and forefinger. - I also had the very first pump which had an air bladder which wrapped around your heel too, not just the tongue. But alas, the curse of the crumbing midsole.....
As a 90s kid I opted for the Catapults instead of the Pumps and regretted it. Great video.
As a person who had a pair in the 90s. I swear when they finally fell apart the haxalite was much larger. It coverd the whole heel section. But nostalgia has a way of distorting memories.
It was brother. The hexalite in the retros is fake.
@@mentazmic Disagree. It was possibly different shoe to shoe though.
Weird. I do own a pair of 1992's OGs and they don't come with hexalite at all. Not advertised anywhere in the box or the shoe either.
@@elchotocorazonWhich model are they?
@@omerta2002 they're the classic high-top white and blue I don't think they have a model name. The retro version of them are called the bringback
Had a pair when I was a kid and loved them have about 5 pairs now as an adult and still love them
Hey man, my pumps I just got, from Reeebok Australia, they werent pumping, but I got them pumping. So if yours dont work, be persistent. Anvil mentions in the vid there is a "clicking" sound when you press the pump, well holding the toungue in a certain way allows that clicking sound which means its pumping. If youre not hearing the clicking its not pumping. Peace.
I remember getting a pair of these from the thrift store as a kid.
The pump didn't work😥
,,The greatest feeling you can get in a gym, or the most satisfying feeling you can get in the gym is... The *pump* Let's say you train your biceps. Blood is rushing into your muscles and that's what we call The *pump* You muscles get a really tight feeling, like your skin is going to explode any minute, and it's really tight - it's like somebody blowing air into it, into your muscle. It just blows up, and it feels really different. It feels fantastic.
It's as satisfying to me as, uh, c.ming is, you know? As, ah, having s.x with a woman and c.ming. And so can you believe how much I am in heaven? I am like, uh, getting the feeling of c.ming in a gym, I'm getting the feeling of c.ming at home, I'm getting the feeling of c.ming backstage when I *pump* up, when I pose in front of 5,000 people, I get the same feeling, so I am c.ming day and night. I mean, it's terrific. Right? So you know, I am in heaven."
(Arnold Schwarzenegger, Pumping Iron)
You have one of the best channels on TH-cam imo. The videos are very entertaining and satisfying to watch, they're informative, and I appreciate your sincerity. Just thought I'd mention it, cheers from the southeast
Enjoyed this. I was such a fan of pumps as a kid and I love buying them and rocking them as an adult. I think the leather feels much better than the average Jordan. I’ve had good luck with my pumps functioning well, but I’ve seen a lot of people complain that their mechanisms don’t work. I think the chalk colored pair is my favorite of recent years.
Reebok was originally from Bolton Manchester England 🇬🇧 & I was 1 of the 1st to have every single model of their pump basketball 🏀 boots (this includes the very 1st pump boots) before they were made available for general release why? because I used to know a sales rep who was a family friend even better for me is that I used to get them at discounted price there were a lot of colour variants for each model including USA 🇺🇸 exclusives that weren't available here in the UK but I was only able to get 1 pair of each model........visually pleasing yes durability? good value for money? 💰 no the soles on the first 1's lasted just barely 5 months
I'm a huge Reebok Pump fan and would love to donate a pair of original Pumps from 1989 or a pair of Twilight Zone Pumps from the early 90s. Just be warned that the polyurethane midsoles have started ro crumble though I believe original Omni Zone IIs have held up. Regardless, yes, they did skimp with the original Hexalite but it was also a lot softer than today's rigid stuff. As for whether the airbags wrapped around the foot or went under the arch, it depends on the model. The Omni Zone 2 was limited to the tongue. Retro pumps do not function as well as the originals. You can really feel the airbags swelling after 20-30 pumps in the originals whereas many retro pumps either did not work at all, stiffened over time, or only inflated a little bit. Great video!
love your videos man, when are you gonna make more?
@@hipster_flannel Not sure. They take a lot of time. You can also follow me on Instagram under this same name.
Bro, thanks so much for pulling out the air bag up and showing how it works. I got to pump up my shoe and hear the iconic release of air. Totally thought my pump was broken, turns out I was just blocking the part that lets the air in with my thumb.
@skylary83 Are the Reebok pump Omni 2 or the Reebok pump tz better ?
I cut up a pair of og Reebok pumps when I was like 15/16 yrs old. I’m 42 now & the pump looked just look yours. It was tounge only. But I can’t remember what model shoe I had. They was the hype when I was a kid!
U ain’t lying it took me to my childhood I remember these shoes lik yesterday love ‘em
I have two pairs and have been in love with em since the 90's they only get rocked in the summer months as I live in the U.K. but they are a piece of 90's nostalgia for me and I'll always love this sneaker.
I had the Reebok and Nike pumps and thought I was so damn cool at school. Hahaha! EDIT: The "cool" thing with the pumps is that you could tie your shoes to a loose comfort and then pump it up to tighten the fit if you felt like it, so you never had to tie your shoes after the first tie.
I've wanted pumps since they were first out but could never afford them. Finally got a pair of these a month ago
I had the Black dee Brown's and a pair of the AXT trainers, which were actually more comfortable than the Dee Brown's. Based on the shoe you just took apart, I can say that when I took mine apart just after they wore out, many years ago (haha) the original Pump shoes were of MUCH better quality. They were hard to kill and maintained comfort right up to the point where they "gave out". I did notice that after the AXT and Dee Brown editions... there WAS a HUGE drop-off in quality. I remember being in highschool, playing several sports and had to switch to Air Jordan's because the PUMP quality had dropped off so much.
Any time I got double dared on the playground I was okay, I would just give my shoes a few pumps, and then I knew I could take on the world. Thanks for the video, I would love to see you do this to some vintage pumps.
The original ‘The Pump’ features more air bladders than the Omni range. In fact, the air bladder size and placement varied depending on the shoe’s purpose, and they made Pumps for tennis, running, cross-training and aerobics. The Hexalite here is the same size as the originals but the Hexalite material itself is different and it was softer in the originals.
If you want really crazy ones to test you should have a look at the Insta Pump Fury. One of the most crazy sneaker designs ever. The originals came with a gun that took nitrogen capsules, and using the newly designed release valve on the tongue, the ‘gun’ could be used to instantly inflate the shoe.
Those where so huge at the time. Man, I miss that time. Basketball was so good to watch.
I had the blacktop colourway and I loved them. My 1st pair of “pro” basketball sneakers that I paid for myself. I would love to get another pair again.
I died a little bit every time “little teeny” was put on the screen 😂😂😂
Idk if this is anyone else’s experience, but I get quite a bit of heel slip in my pumps. Would’ve loved to see you do a full cross-section and stuff to get a better look at the materials, especially in the heel.
I still have 3 pairs of Pumps in my closet. A good majority of newer remakes of this shoe have the tiny Hexalite pads like yours, but the older ones usually encompass a good majority of the heel and was much more pliable and cushioned like the Black Ice Series. I think the most coveted pairs are the Reebok/Adidas collaborations that had Boost soles (Sole Fury X Boost). I have one pair of them and I don't even put them on.
I"m glad that Reebok really stepped up the quality of the air cushion. When I was a teen in the 90s, the first edition Pumps had serious issues with their cushions leaking. A lot of my classmates who had them said after a year, the tube running from the pump to the cushion might spring a leak. The only solution was to rip the tongue apart and glue the hole shut.
I had the tennis one. The pump ball actually had tennis fuzz on it which was amazing!
I was a little kid at the time, and LA Gear light up shoes where very popular for young kids. I kept drawing and designing a sneaker that had both the lights, and the pumps on them. I figure it was such a great idea that somebody had to make it eventually.
Rebook Pump and Adidas Steetball are my all time favorites. I never got the pump but I dreamt about those countless times back in the day. I ddi get a pair of streetballs when I was 1w though. Never had any cooler ones.
Love my pair of pumps!!
Seeing as its the 40th anniversary of the reebok freestyle you should totally cut a pair of those in half! My wife has so many pairs in a rainbow of different colors would love to see whats inside! ❤
So the air pump idea is great for certain Things. I have a scorpion Motorcycle helmet and it has this type of pump for the cheek pads and it works great for sealing your head and making that helmet fit just a little more snug, preventing movement and sound which is great.
If I recall, in the 90s the pump filled up around the a ankles too. Also, they don’t offer proper hexalite anymore just a fake window of it.
I miss the cutting up name brand boots days. You're the reason I bought nicks
I had a few of the first gimmick shoes, Reebok pump, La gear lights, and my favorite the Puma disc.
I had a pair of pumps back when they were the style and they were great. You could pump them up and feel them get tighter all around your foot. The old ones had the air pocket all around your foot, all inside the shoe, in the high top it went all around.
But I have a pair of shoes now from sketchers that are the most comfortable shoes I ever worn. They are extra wide, and some how they have made them, they breath, to the point, when the wind blows, you can actually feel the wind on your feet. They are awesome in the summer. Extremely light, and they have memory foam on the bottoms, It's like walking on/in a cloud. They should call them some gimmick name but it's just a regular pair of black tennis shoes, no special name from sketchers. I know they don't all do that, because I had a pair of sketchers before, that were the heaviest shoes I ever had in my life.
There's already 1000+ comments so this will likely be cast into wind, but... I used to do similar dissections on my (UK based) trainers once they'd fulfilled their lifespan. IIRC, the Hexalite has always been the same. I remember being disappointed too around 30yr ago. Just a small rectangle of so-called cushioning (might have improved in later years?). Also, I would imagine the "Pump" was always just a gimmick and only ever inflated the tongue. I'd imagine it's very faithful to the originals due to how primitive (yet futuristic, at the time) the engineering was.
The 90s OG Airmax were the first trainers I remember seeing where there was a physical bulging representation of the mythical "air system". The other trainers (Pegasus etc) also had them but, I dissected those too bitd and, similarly, they too had tiny heel placed plastic squares filled with air.
Gotta love those 90s gimmicks...
RBK Hexalite, Puma Disc, Adidas Torsion, Nike Air ❤️
I have a recollection of begging my mom for a pair of pumps that I swear were in a glass box at Footlocker. I must have only been about 7. Great video, I hope the oldies had more of the gimmicks to justify the high cost my mom surely paid.
I bought both Reebok The Pump and Nike Air Pressure retro releases as I had the OG of both on the early 90s. Whilst it's cool to have these again, they are not the same build quality in the comfort or amount of air each bladder can hold.
I'd love to see you dissect a pair of Forma Low motorcycle adventure boots. I've been riding in the same pair since 2017, and they are still waterproof in addition to holding up wonderfully.
i had a pair of Reebok Blacktops with Hexalite when i was a kid. i remember them filling with water and retaining it like a sponge.
Man talk about nostalgia. I had a pair in the mid 90s. Thought they were the greatest thing ever.
As always, I hate it when shoe companies advertise leather in the shoe and it turns out to be the thinnest, cheapest leather possible!! Back in the “old days” you would get full grain sneakers that were actually leather and you paid for that!! Now you pay over 100 dollars for a shoe that you considered a cheap piece of junk that you would never consider spending hard earned cash for back in the day!! I hate that companies get away with their claims!! I recently bought a reissue of a Bo Jackson trainer that was the worst quality material I had ever seen!! I instantly returned them to Nike!! Huge disappointment!! Because they stated that they were leather and they obviously contained hardly anything resembling leather!!! Thanks for the hard work Wes!!!
It took me a few years but I successfully dissected a pair of these in middle school. I was so cool as I let the air out of my sneakers. I freaking loved those worn out things all the way to the end.
Great to see this tear apart. Nike was so much cooler in every way back in the day but this was a great attempt to stay relevant from Reebok.
Reebok outsold Nike back then. WTH?
@@ballgameshoes8583 Reebok was king for a few years in the mid 80's but by the 90's they were not out selling Nike anymore. The Pumps were a failure by sales perspectives.
Love to see some questions mids cut in half. Love boks
Adidas forum 84 hi would be great as they claim to use full grain leather on the upper and a fully cemented and stitched sole also
I want to see a Reebok classic in half. I remember having a pair of these, they were the shoes to have at one point
Yayyy!! Hella glad my suggestion was heard ☺️ another great video as always & so damn informational!! 👏🏾👏🏾
Please do the instapump fury one dayyy! Especially the Boost versions if ya can. Their laceless and fully rely on the "Pump technology" 😁
heres my lil old vid on one of my favorite collab pairs th-cam.com/video/Ad9of9I8q2Y/w-d-xo.html
I worked for a thermal molding company that made the hexalite material, our contract was with Nike though.
I remember my pumps from 1990 , $135.00 all hype . Reebok classic black high tops is were its at ! Never go out of style .
I remember when the OG pumps came out back in the 80's I was a kid my father got himself a pair and if I remember right when those came out at the time they were the most expensive sneakers. The way you let the air out was a button system sticking out the back of the shoe, that got redesigned and rereleased in matter of months, cos the shoe would break in the back part, when playing basketball, people landing on the back of your shoe/heal and the air release button had like a hard plastic covering it, and would just shred that plastic off, and just ruined the shoe. I can't remember how many fights I seen break out as a kid at the court from just this happening, cos when you came outside with pumps on!? They looked so unique and back then, it was never seen before. Late 80's, it was all Adidas and Nike but these I remember had people buying Reeboks like crazy, they weren't popular for that long, but man, I remember seeing some brutal fights and other things happen back when "The Pumps" were out, good times.
The hexalite definitely used to be bigger. I remember ripping it out of some running shoes in the 90s. Also when it popped it went all squishy
in the Reebok pump skates the air chamber went around the heel. I really enjoyed that skate!
I was too poor growin up to afford the Reebok pumps. I had the Wal-Mart Voit pumps. I did however find a pair of Shawn Kemp's signature Reeboks in the lost and found that I wore til they fell apart.
A lot of people don't realize that nike actually made a pump also. It is an air force 180. (David robinson) it filled air in several areas of the shoe including the arch. And the pump was on the side.
The higher end ones pumped up round the heel too
I have my vintage tennis pump bladder from 1989 is exact the same as your bladder ( tongue only )
Also same tiny hexalite
And they have a surprising amount of heel cushioning in actuality. I've worn them for dumbbell exercises and elliptical.
That’s so much different than the Reebok Pump ice skates (or after Reebok became CCM) that’s what I use still and they have no air in the tongue and they fill around the heel and actually make a big difference!
They say basketball on those but those ones look like the old Andre Aggasi tennis models with the pump only in the tongue and around the top of the foot. The old basketball high tops that you showed had the pump in the heal and I think the tongue too if I remember correctly. The release valve was a little orange button on the back of the high top part. I had quite a few pumps back in the day and they all worked very well. They did snug up the shoes and were very comfortable. But Reebok always seemed to have softer leather than other companies. Great for comfort but they were never as durable. Trade off.
I had a pair back in the day that reached right round the ankles. I felt superhuman in those.
Would love to see foamposites and dmx shoes done next
I can finally buy a pair now. I couldn't afford these as a child, but now i will have to pump these up before going ro the buffet.
Remember converse react juice? I’d love to see a tear down of those shoes and a possible guess as to what the juice actually was.
I remember those so vividly because my step-dad swore up and down it was just a gimmick for them to charge extra for shoes.
I remember sitting in front of my big cousin and pumping his shoes up always wanted a pair since I was a kid lol just ordered my son a pair.
If you know Chris from weartester, he said that hexalight was good like really comfortable. The problem was Reebok didn't give enough effort to put the real thing
I would love to see a LA Gear Catapult but I know they don’t retro those at all. Great video.
Pump so fascinating the cat had to come see what was up
I had a pair of the Nike’s Air Force. The ones David Robinson wore. They were expensive back in the day.
The pump bladder did go around the heal in the original vintage shoes but my experience with them was it made the shoe to small when pumped
I pulled apart my hexalite as a kid in the 90's and the square was only an inch back then. It was a real let down. I bought these and the Twilight Zone re-issue with ERS and was pleasantly surprised by how good they were overall.
I have been trying to locate and old school pair of pumps.
Now that you did this vid its gonna make it harder to find... great vid though
I still have a pair of Omni pumps from 1989 .I still use them even though they look a bit narly and dirty.the tongue,collar and heels pump up.they are still the most comfy kicks I have ever had.
Are you sure because the rubber and foam perishes quite badly after 25 or so years to the point where the sole just crumbles when you touch it.
@@Kit_Bear absolutly,
Vintage Reebok ERS energy return system would be nice to look at. Nice video 👍
I'm surprised he didn't mention the song Pumped Up Kicks by Foster the People at any point in the vid considering how huge that song is and the fact that these were implied to be the shoes mentioned in the song
Back in the early 90s a friend of mine had these shoes. I thought they were the coolest. You should do a teardown of a shoe that has the lights inside that light up when you walk.
I wanted these so bad in 89’ when they came out! I might get a pair just for effs. I remember taking apart of my friends after they fell apart playing with the valve and pocket. Memories…
The original is the same FYI.
Still have one from new old stock. I felt that both the hexalite and the pump are just gimmicks. I just went for the looks!
Although it's quite comfortable.
Loved the vid! Thanks! 👍
It would be cool to see a video on the Viba HELSINKI Leather Preto. Very different looking soles and I’d love to find out what’s inside before buying a pair.
I had the tennis all variety of these shoes when they came out. They had a bladder in the tongue and around the back of the heel.
The best part about the shoes was that other kids would kneel to you like you were some king just to pump your shoes. 😂
I had the Reebok pump cross trainers when I was a kid. The black white and aqua colored ones. It was the dopest shiz in the entire 5th grade class. 😆
I had a pair of those in the nineties and the pump as well as the hexalite were configured in the exact same way. Hexalite and the pump were always just marketing gimmicks.