I must admit, I’m pretty biased when it comes to this sneaker. Adidas is my favourite sneaker brand, and Trae Young is one of my favourite NBA players, so I had high expectations for this sneaker. Fortunately, the Trae Young 1 did not disappoint for me on court.
Lets get into why that was the case:
Traction:
I’ve heard people criticise the traction of the Trae Young 1, saying that it performed poorly indoors.
I didn’t experience any issues with the traction of the TY1.
I will admit, they did seem noticeably slick the first couple of times I played with them indoors. I think this is a case, though, where you need to “break-in” the traction of this sneaker out of the box, in order to remove that smooth factory finish of the rubber. I recall this was similar to the Nike Kyrie 4 (one of my favourite sneakers ever); the early reviews on those suggested that the traction was poor and didn’t hold up to the standard of the first three Kyrie models. But after reviewers played in them a few more times and roughed-up that slick factory finish, they really came around to loving the Kyrie 4 traction — at least, that was my experience, anyway.
I would say I’ve had a very similar experience with the TY1. You just need to play in them a few times, and the outsole starts to become really grippy and keeps you where you want to be. They still do pick up a small amount of dust — I feel like this is pretty standard nowadays — but it was a really quick, light wipe and you’re good to go.
I also played in these a couple of times outdoors, too, just to see how the traction and outsole faired out there. I would say the traction performs exceptionally on outdoor surfaces, and while the rubber compound is slightly softer and more pliable than the D.O.N. Issue 3, I’d still say the rubber is firm enough to remain durable with outdoor play. It’s still a thicker rubber than anything Nike puts on their products, to be sure. The grooves are also nice and deep, giving another small reason to expect outsole durability.
Cushion:
We see the return of BOOST in the TY1, particularly in a more traditional implementation.
The BOOST is paired with Lightstrike, a newer Adidas foam that I really like.
Overall, the experience with the cushion is a nice one. The Lightstrike forefoot is low-profile, to be sure, but I always felt like I had enough impact protection. It’s not bouncy like the Dame 6 Lightstrike, but that’s what we have BOOST in the back for!
You can really tell you have a premium cushion in the heel. The BOOST feels plush and springy underfoot, and you get great impact protection back there. I particularly appreciate it, as someone who has quite heavy heel-strikes, and likes having heel cushion.
I’d say you get a great mix of low-to-the-ground court feel along with good impact protection with this cushion set-up. In that way, I believe it makes it suitable for players of all positions, and for people with varied preferences.
Fit:
As it always seems to be with Adidas, the fit is a little bit tricky.
I went true-to-size in the TY1 (US men’s size 11) as a wide-footer. I usually go TTS with my Adidas Dames, while I go up half-a-size with my DONs. I feel like the Dames fit wide, so normal footers should usually go down half-a-size, while I believe the DONs offer a more traditional Nike-style narrower fit, so I go up half-a-size as I said.
With the TY1 being a one-piece bootie-style construction for the upper, I wondered whether I should go up half-a-size just to be safe. I ended up staying TTS, and they fit me fine. There was a bit of break-in time, but with the upper materials, there was enough give to where I could get away with TTS. I do feel like I would’ve been fine going up half a size as a wide-footer; I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it, but it may be my preference having a super-wide foot.
Normal footers should be completely fine going TTS, and you may want to consider going down half a size if you love a really snug 1-to-1 fit, but again, I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it. I’d say most people should be fine going true-to-size with the TY1.
Support:
This is a super-supportive sneaker as a low-cut low-top.
A lot of it comes from two places: the lateral stability and containment from the midsole foam, as you do sit quite a bit within the midsole; and the build of the upper as that snug one-piece bootie.
Once you get into these shoes — and they can take a bit of manoeuvring to get into — you feel completely locked-down and locked-in.
As well as the lateral containment and stability from the midsole and upper, you have all the standard modern support features — a very sturdy and rigid mid foot torsional plate, internal heel counter, wide forefoot base; you know, all the good stuff.
I would posit that these are a very supportive sneaker.
Materials:
The main material used in the construction of the upper is a basic TPU-fused mesh, as seen on most modern performance basketball shoes.
Nothing special, but it gets the job done.
What I do like about it is that it simultaneously stretches just enough to accommodate a wider foot, but not enough to feel unstable. In that way, you get a really good balance, just as the cushion set-up is also well-balanced.
You do get some premium hits with the overlay materials. The overlays at the medial toe, lateral forefoot, tongue and heel on this colourway are genuine suede, and it’s a really nice feeling material. It’s not much, but at least there is a small premium touch with the materials; especially for a signature sneaker.
That pretty much takes care of it for my review of the TY1.
I would absolutely recommend this sneaker to anyone that’s thinking of trying them out and grabbing a pair. I had a lot of fun playing in them, to be sure.
Thanks for reading!
~ Dan aka Hoops Sneakers.
Price:
The Adidas Trae Young 1 retails for US$140 (AU$230)
Weight:
The Adidas Trae Young 1 in a men’s size US 11 weighs 474 grams (16.7 ounces)
Score:
I give the Adidas Trae Young 1 a score of 4.9/5
Hoops Sneakers 