Nike Air Force 1 07 review

We believe that the Nike Air Force 1 07 belongs in your sneaker stack if:

• you need a practical but good-looking pair to match most of your outfits (from active wear to semi-formal pieces)
• you are aiming for an elegant and classic vibe through a leather sneaker
• you want to enjoy an iconic Nike sneaker at a reasonable price

We've got two main knocks on the Air Force 1 07:

• it is too heavy for comfortable all-day wear
• it takes forever to break in the shoe

We found that the Nike Air Max 1 offers a much more supportive underfoot experience for long hours on the feet and the Nike Dunk Low has a much more flexible design.

The high topline of the Air Force 1 07's cupsole makes it look like a platform sneaker but in fact, it has an average stack height.

Measuring its thickness with a caliper returned 31.7 mm. That's a typical heel stack for lifestyle sneakers. Not among the tallest. 

In the shoe's forefoot measurement, our caliper measured 17.2 mm of stack height which is actually a bit thinner than average.

But because the Air Max unit takes up about 3/4 of the shoe's length, it reaches the balls of our feet as well, adding a nice touch of cushioning.

At first glance, the Air Force 1 07 has a very steep heel-to-toe drop. Based on our caliper measurements alone, it comes in at 14.5 mm.

But because the Air unit and the rubber pillars underneath it compress under pressure, the offset becomes more balanced when the shoe is on foot.

Slight elevation of the heel above the toes made us feel comfortably supported taking the strain off our Achilles tendons.

The nearly full-length Air unit inside the AF1 adds comfort and responsiveness to the otherwise rigid platform.

We were also surprised to find that the foam around the Air unit is more on the soft side. Pressing our durometer against it returned 20.9 HA which is 40% softer than the average sneaker midsole!

These two components make the direct underfoot experience quite pleasant. But the AF1 is NOT a plush shoe by any means!

The foam and the Air unit are encased in a firm and solid cupsole construction which has little-to-no give to it. That's why the Air Force 1 07, as a whole feels firm.

The shoe's midsole is topped off with a well-padded foam insole.

Showing a thickness of 5.0 mm in the heel, it is just about as thick as the average sneaker insole.  

Checking the shoe's toebox, we found that it was not very pointy and never squeezed or pinched our toes.

Measuring the toebox in the widest part, we got an expected reading of 99.1 mm in a medium D width.

Around the big toe, the shoe doesn't stray away from the average either.

Our caliper shows the standard 74.4 mm for this part of the sneaker in a men's US 9.

But if you have wide feet, the AF may feel restrictive, and keep i mind that there is no give to its material either.

The Air Force 1 07 made us feel like our foot was sitting inside a tank.

It is an incredibly stiff, sturdy, and structured sneaker that keeps the foot and ankle very firmly in place.

Its cupsole walls are pretty tall embracing the foot from the bottom while the collar sits a bit higher up the ankle compared to most low-top sneakers.

Attempting to twist the AF1 07 with our hands yielded no results.

This Nike sneaker has an impressively high level of torsional rigidity earning it the highest score on our stiffness scale.

We believe that this kick has enough lateral support to prevent the foot from collapsing inwards. That way, people with overpronation can also enjoy this iconic Air Force silhouette.

What's more, the sneaker offers a ton of rearfoot support with its highly stiff heel counter.

There is barely any give to it! Our manual test confirmed that it takes significantly more effort to squeeze and push the shoe's heel counter.

On foot, it translates to a much more secure heel hold with no shifting or heel slippage.

The Air Force 1 07 managed to achieve that level of stability without a wide base!

Measuring its platform in the widest part of the forefoot, our caliper showed 104 mm. That's even a few millimeters narrower than average.

In the heel, the AF1 07 also proved to be narrower than average. Its widest area comes in at only 77.7 mm.

We are amazed at how this Nike sneaker combines a high level of stability with a sleek and minimal profile.

In addition to paying money for wearing the Nike Air Force 1 07, you also pay with an excruciatingly long break-in period.

And the worst part is... The shoe never really feels fully broken in!

To put its stiffness into context, we measured how much force it takes to bend the shoe to a 90-degree angle. Turns out, the AF 1 07 requires 40% more force (32.5N) than the average sneaker! Even the Air Jordan 1 Low needs less (21.8N).

We assume that it was the shoe's stiffness that contributed to our early foot fatigue during the wear test.

As soon as we got our hands on the Nike Air Force 1 07, we knew - it is a BRICK.

At 16.4 oz (465g) in a men's US size 9, the AF is heavier than all the other iconic Nile silhouettes we tested - the Dunks, the Air Jordans, the Air Maxes...even in their high-top versions!

The sneakers felt pretty substantial on foot and after a few hours of wear testing, we were looking forward to taking them off, to be honest.

For an all-leather sneaker that it is, we discovered a surprising amount of ventilation in the Air Force 1 07.

Filling up the shoe's upper with smoke, we were surprised at how effortlessly it escaped through the eyelets and perforations on the sides.

In our transparency test above, you can see that the AF 1 07 has more eyelets than the average sneaker as well as two ventilation holes at the bottom of the midfoot.

Even though this Nike shoe doesn't feel super breezy on foot, we still bumped its breathability score up to 3 out of 5. It has a slightly better airflow than similar Nike models. But we still do not recommend it for summer.

For what is now considered a "moderate" retail price of $115, the quality of the Air Force leather is surprisingly good!

Shooting fire from a butane torch to every major panel on the sneaker, we are happy to report that they did not melt or catch flames. This is a good indicator of leather quality.

There was also no gloss on the burned areas unlike what we saw on the Air Jordan 1 Low (a sign of a plastic finish).

The Swoosh, on the other hand, appears to be covered in a thick synthetic finish. You can see how it almost bubbles up under the fire.

A common issue for all leather Nike sneakers is that they crease like crazy! Even though the wrinkles don't affect the shoe's integrity, they definitely ruin the look.

To minimize creasing we recommend the following maintenance:

• applying water-repellent spray and leather conditioner
• storing shoes with shoe trees, paper balls, or rolled-up socks
• giving your kicks a day of "rest" in between uses
• treating early creases with leather oil

If you are cautious about blowing through good-looking sneakers too soon, the Air Force 1 will minimize your worries. This shoe can really take a beating!

We go pretty hard on all our lab-tested shoes using a Dremel with a sandpaper tip.

In this test, we apply the tool to the shoe's toebox material with a consistent speed (5K RPM) and pressure (3.2N).

As you can see, the Air Force 1 07 demonstrates stunning wear resistance compared to mesh-covered kicks!

On a 1-5 scale, it earned the highest score for toebox durability.

Even the inner lining of this Nike sneaker proved to be more durable than average.

A 4-second touch of the Dremel at the speed of 5K RPM left very minor damage on the shoe's textile.

You can see that it looks almost identical to the heel lining of the red shoe and yet, the difference in abrasion resistance is stunning!

4 points to Gryffi... Nike Air Force!

We also found that the bottom of the AF 1 07 is guarded by a pretty hard rubber compound.

Measuring it with a Shore C durometer returned a slightly higher-than-average reading of 88.1 HC.

But it didn't help the sneaker perform better than most kicks in our Dremel test.

Exposing the shoe's outsole to sandpaper for 22 seconds at an unrelenting speed of 10K RPM resulted in noticeable but not critical damage.

Measuring it with a tread gauge, we got 1.2 mm. About the same as the average 1-mm dents on other sneakers.

Gladly, the AF 1 07 features a sufficiently thick rubber outsole to prevent premature wear.

It is 4.6 mm thick according to our caliper measurement.

At the time of its release in 1982, the Nike AF 1 was the first basketball shoe that moved form away from the traditional herringbone pattern.

It featured the ground-breaking pivot points on the ball of the foot and on the heel allowing basketball players to change directions with less effort.

These pivot points rarely come in handy for casual wear but we love its sporty aesthetics.

The base version of the Nike Air Force 1 07 doesn't feature any effective elements to glow in the dark.

We are satisfied with the tongue padding of this AF sneaker. At 8.0 mm, it is exactly as much foam as we want on top of our insteps.

The tongue of the Air Force 1 07 is non-gusseted which is a norm for casual sneakers. Wearing the shoe, we experienced little to no tongue shifting anyways.

The shoe doesn't have any pull tabs or finger loops at the back. The on-and-off action involves both hands and a bit of fiddling with the laces.

The insole of the AF 1 07 is removable but it is attached to the bottom with a sticky adhesive. You may need a little more effort than usual to take it out.

Named after the US President's aircraft, the Nike Air Force 1 was introduced in 1982.

It was the first ever basketball shoe to feature Nike's proprietary Air Max unit which was on the rise at the time.

Created by the brand's famous designer Bruce Kilgore, the Air Force silhouette quickly gained traction among athletes including the NBA stars Moses Malone and Michael Cooper. In more recent years, it was also worn by the star players Rasheed Wallace and even Kobe Bryant (during his phenomenal streetball performance).

But the AF 1 was nearly canceled by Nike back in the '80s! Believe it or not, it took three footwear retailers from Baltimore to convince the brand to keep producing the original design. That's how impactful the local demand was in the city.

In a matter of a decade, the Air Force 1 became a highly thought-after mainstay in street culture.

From drug dealers to rappers, the AF sneakers flooded the American cities. New Yorkers even came up with a nickname for the shoes calling them "uptowns" due to their insane popularity in Harlem.

In 2002, rapper Nelly released an entire single dedicated to the shoe. Called "Air Force Ones," it is basically an anthem for the silhouette.

In hip-hop culture, Jay-Z, Travis Scott, and many other icons pushed this Nike kick to the spotlight with hype and collaborations. Special editions came in like a hurricane passing the 2000 mark over the past 40 years.

Even though street subcultures have become the shoe's main driving force, it quickly caught fire among many different social groups across multiple generations.

The Air Force 1 is now a staple that goes from concrete to catwalks, from underground to red carpets, and blends in seamlessly everywhere.