UA Curry 2 Performance Review and Comparison

If you’re thinking about getting the low, here is my review. Stick to the mid

**just wrote a comparison of the Curry Two, Rose 6, Lebron XIII if you’re deciding between the three*
King of the Court Or pretty damn close

I’ll admit it, I love Steph Curry and everything he’s about. From family to golf to hoops, he’s awesome. I loved watching him grow from the Davidson days to the MVP and NBA champion.

I also loved how the UA Curry 6 ooked, but didn’t love the cushioning set up as I’ve stuck to my Clutchfit Drives due to the more responsive and softer cushioning set up.  My Curry Ones do see daylight on occasion but they are mostly seeing the inside of their boxes. With the Curry Two, I have a new go to shoe that claims my top spot.
Pros: outstanding traction, cushioning, support and stability, containment, USA price of $130

Cons: better quality control ? Asia price of $195?

Best for: guards primarily. Bigs may enjoy the Charged only stable set up

Here is my original Curry One  ReviewWeight

UA shaved an ounce off the weight from the Curry One and is only half an ounce heavier than the CF Lightning which is UA’s lightest current shoe.

Here are the other UA shoes’ weights for reference:

Clutchfit Drive 1: 14 oz

Curry One: 15 oz

UA Torch: 14.5 oz

UA Lightning: 13.5 oz

Traction 

Under Armour ditched the traditional herringbone set up and went with a multidirectional pattern that UA calls “organic herringbone”.  It is not a story telling pattern but not a plain Jane herringbone set up either.

The rubber is much softer than the Curry One set up, the edges of the grooves are thinner/sharper and the grooves are deeper. 

 

The end result is outstanding traction that I would put right up there with the Kobe IX and New Balance OMN1S.

 

I tested the Two directly against the Kobe IX and was amazed even after I did this

I stepped in all the dust I swept up with both the Kobe IX and the Curry Two and both just kept going without missing a beat. Amazing

The Twos just squeak and stop on any surface. The Curry One and Clutchfit Drive provided excellent traction but I did have to wipe to keep it that way while the Two takes it another notch without wiping. Just perfect.

Cushioning
For me the Achilles heel of the Curry One was the cushioning. A layer of Charged Foam over Micro G didn’t feel like anything special to me. No bounce or responsiveness at all left me no choice but to stick with the Clutchfit Drive. I’ve said it before, cushioning really gives a shoe its personality and that’s where I thought the One fell short. It isn’t always a performance deal breaker but it changes how much I enjoy wearing a certain shoe. So it was really disappointing that the Curry One didn’t have that fun responsive feel like the Clutchfit Drive.

The Curry Two uses a full length pure Charged set up just like the Clutchfit Drive 2.  I reviewed the Clutchfit Drive 2 and enjoyed the Charged only set up, especially versus the Curry One. I’m pleased to say that the Curry Two feels almost exactly the same as the Clutchfit Drive 2 but slightly softer and more responsive. The set up is not nearly as firm as the Curry One and almost as soft as the Clutchfit Drive 1. I’d say it plays one half to one level firmer than the Clutchfit Drive 1 while the Curry One plays two levels firmer. It feels more similar to the Curry One Low but even softer. I should also note the Curry Two rides the same height as the One.

Charged vs Micro G 
As I stated in my CFD2 review, pure Charged feels denser and firmer than Micro G. It feels plush when moving slow but firms up on sudden movements. I could feel the cushioning firming up on quicker movements and softening up on slow steps with the Curry Two while I couldn’t feel anything but a very firm set up on the Curry One.  If I had to choose between Micro G and the pure Charged on the Two, I’d have to wuss out and say it depends on the day. Sometimes I like the firmer feel of the Two and sometimes I like the softer feel of the Clutchfit Drive I.  As of today, I’m loving the Charged only set up of the Curry Two though.
**side note

There is not a removable insole in the Curry Two, it is sewn in. Can’t tell what it is but it definitely isn’t Ortholite . It is extremely minimal though to allow the wearer to get lower to the ground and to feel the Charged foam . I do not believe there is a last in the shoe so that really helps bring the Charged foam alive. Very similar to what Adidas does with Pure Boost. **

I should also mention that transition  from heel to toe is seamless despite having a pretty sizable shank plate. I was worried when I saw the pics because it reminded me of the XX8.

This iteration of Charged is what I expected out of UA the first time and I really like it a lot.

Fit and Materials

I bought my normal size 11 and these fit about 1/4 size short length wise which is ok for me since the width was perfect and didn’t suffocate my feet like the Curry One Low. If you’re a tweener who likes more space at the toe, I suggest going up half a size or wear thinner socks. If not stay true to size. You can see just by looking at the shoes side by side that the overall size of the Two is smaller.

Speedform replaces the Anafoam upper of the Curry One

I wasn’t sure how this would play out since I’ve tried the Speedform Apollo running shoes before and found it comfortable but somewhat lacking in warmth. Speedform was marketed a lot when the Apollo came out and in essence it is a seamless thin upper made in a bra factory (although there is a seam on these  where the synthetic starts ). Here is a good read about it on Gizmodo

You can see how much more padding there is in the ankle collar

I heard a slight tearing sound at the heel when I first put these on but I guess it’s just the fabric stretching because I didn’t see anything torn.

When I laced these up for the  first time, I had a little rubbing from the ankle collar but it went away quickly

 

Below: web straps at the forefoot for additional lockdown and containment
I still had that cold feeling due to the thinness of the upper but as I played, I forgot about that feeling and that I was wearing shoes at all.  No heel slippage or movement side to side at all. Fit nirvana achieved.

The toe box is synthetic and takes a few only a few minutes to break in. It does wrinkle quite a bit but does not peel and tear like the toe on the Curry One. There is very little if any deadspace in the toe box above the foot and zero side to side.

Here is a shot of the tongue and toe box

The rest of the Speedform upper just conforms to the foot after warming up.

 

Above:  you can see the cut is a little lower with the Two.

Breathability is just average. You might see lots of holes but that just leads to another layer. I could care less anyways.

Support and stability

Support comes from the excellent fit and heel counter

 

while the stability comes from the flat wide outsole. I found the Curry Two to be more stable that the One as it is not tippy at all.

 

Above: I really like the segmented heel similar to the Super.Fly 4. In the middle is Charged foam

Couple that with the firmer  Charged set up and larger shank and it is a very stable shoe. I found the stability to be outstanding  without being restrictive.

 

Excellent job by UA.

Containment 
Containment is also excellent on the Curry Two. No issues with my foot coming out at all from the footbed due to the synthetic in the toe box and footstay as well as a raised midsole (ala Rose 5)

Below: my foot sits at the crease

Midsole is raised all the way around the shoe

Seems like all the companies are raising the midsole up to keep the foot contained. I hope this trend continues.

As you can see the medial side is also raised but UA was doing that with the Spawn. In the Spawn you could feel it under the arch but you don’t really feel it under the arch with the Two since the Charged wall is more to the side and not directly underfoot which I actually prefer.

 

Just no movement side to side even on hard cuts.

Conclusion 

The Curry One didn’t sell that well initially. I mean they sold but they didn’t have crazy Jordanlike sell outs until Curry won the MVP and the Dubs captured the title. Then it was reseller mania, fakes from China, stats on Campless, people saying what an awesome shoe it was (same people prior said they’d never wear UA) …. Surprised the bandwagon didn’t break with all the people jumping on it.

The Curry Two didn’t radically change its looks as it it keeps a similar silouette to the One. However UA overhauled everything from the ground up by changing the cushioning, upper and traction and all for the better.  And personally I love almost every colorway of the Two. UA is going to make a lot off me. $130 times 6 or 7 must have colorways…times two for some . Yikes

I really liked the little details in this shoe as well. Each shoe has its nickname sewn in.

 

Look at all that stitching
The only downside to the shoe that I can think of is a little excess glue and the foam rails wrinkle a lot.

But after all is said and done, everything on the Curry Two is as good as or improved from the Curry One.  It looks great, performs even better and the price stayed relatively the same at $130 (except in Asia, sorry guys !). Did I mention the traction? I’m still giddy about how well it performed. As I said earlier the Curry Two is now at the top of my rotation beating out the Clutchfit Drive 1, Rose 5, and Soldier VI. It does every exceptionally well but thetraction really pushed it to the the top. The first colorway to drop in the US will be the “Iron sharpens Iron”colorway on October 24 and I’ll be waiting patiently for my two pairs.

Well done UA. SHORYUKEN!!

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