Posts

If you’re after a pair of new wheels for the summer and want something different to the high street then your first port of call should definitely be Oki-Ni if you’ve never been on the website before. They pretty much cater for the normal person with an average budget to some pretty wild daps for those with more money than sense!

I’ve picked a few of the more conservative of the choices on the sight as there are some around the £6-700 mark that have probably adorned some far away catwalk but would look slightly out of place on the dance floor of Soul Suite the hippest place to be seen in South Wales 😆

nike-air-max-res

Nike Air Max Lunar90 Deluxe QS – £155

nike-aire-force-1-denim-res

 

Patchwork Denim Blazer Mid PRM VNTG – £90

y-3-slip-ons-1

 

Laver Slip-On trainers – £180

puma-perforated-grey-res

Puma States ‘Perf’ Pack trainers in Grey- £69

puma-perforated-blue-res

Puma States ‘Perf’ Pack trainers  in Blue- £69

[fusion_text]Reebok in my eyes have held the title too long in terms of the best Crossfit and functional fitness shoe with their Reebok Crossfit Nano’s so it’s about time someone else stepped up to the mark. Who else could take on a sports brand who sponsors the Crossfit Games and holds a sponsorship with the fittest man on the plant Rich Fronning other than Nike who have been making legends from their footwear for years with their Air Jordans.

I’ve always liked the look of the Reebok Nano’s but the thing I didn’t like was that they were way too popular and I like to have something a bit different so I’ve opted for the Inov-8 F-lites for wod’s and the inov-8 fastlift for oly lifting, which have served me well over the past year. One thing i would say about the Inov-8 flites is that they don’t feel very sturdy on the toe area and have started to wear and tear a bit now due the softness of the toe area.

It was no surprise when the “Nano Gate” conspiracy happened back in January when Reebok supposedly made a mistake by selling the newest model Reebok Crossfit Nano shoe for £18.50 instead of £85. Low and behold news spread like wildfire on social media nearly crippling the Reebok website with visitors who fought to kit themselves and flood every Crossfit box in the UK with the Nano 4’s just weeks before Nike were set to launch their eagerly anticipated first dabble in the functional fitness shoe arena with the Nike Metcon 1.

I’m not going to lie I jumped on the bandwagon and bought myself 7 pairs of the Nano’s one for each day of the week no doubt but only on talking to a couple of mates my Box I go to Crossfit Caerphilly they said they weren’t the comfiest of shoes in the Reebok lineup and were nothing compared to the trusty old Nano 2’s saying they were like slippers and felt like they were walking on pillows. One of the guys even put his Nano 4’s up for sale after a few wears to fund a pair of the Nike Metcon 1’s after not taking to them very well. I have to admit they looked more sturdy than my Inov-8 flute 230’s with the front toe box protection but it was the sturdiness that were putting people off they just weren’t as flexible as some of it’s predecessors.

I ended up selling all but one pair of my Nano 4’s and managed to bag myself a pair of the Nike Metcon 1’s two weeks after launch on ZALANDO.CO.UK as I woke up at 9.30am on the release date just 30 minutes after launch time and they had flown off the website for the colour i wanted the grey volt with it’s instantly recognisable yellow/green sides for rope climbs as opposed to the slightly bland black dark grey option.

nike metcon 1 crossfit shoe after first wear

I’ve worn the Nike Metcon 1’s twice now, managed a PB on the first go on power clean adding 5kg and just 5kg from my target of 100kg. The WOD that day was a good test too with 10 rounds of 10 x 20kg plate GTOH and 10 box over jumps giving meaning they got tested squating and snatching needing good footing and stability and then the box overs giving a good grip and also balance when landing on the other side. What i like most about the shoe is the fit and the durable mesh fitting on the toes which cling to your feet , the flywire adds to the fit as I have quite small feet a UK 7 in fact my feet are quite short but they are a bit wide so i always find it hard to get a decent fit as they are either too narrow or too long on the toes but these fit just right with more toe protection on the Nike Metcon 1’s compared to my old Inov8 flite 230’s. The grip on the bottom looks a lot more hardwearing compared to the Inov-8 which although have lasted me a good year of use they are a bit too flexible if you ask me and they will bend any shaped you bend the sole but it’s good to have a bit of sturdiness in the sole for protection on the box jumps and wall walks.

Nike Metcon 1crossfit fitness trainer review

I also tried them yesterday not at Crossfit but my local gym who put on some good functional fitness circuit classes called warrior and spartan with battle ropes, tractor tyre flips, sledge hammer slams, kettle bells, prowlers, farmers walks and barbell moves. The shoe doesn’t look like they’ve been worn just a bit of dirt on the soles which i would expect for £100 price tag, which is 15% more than the Reebok Nano’s and around the same price as the new Inov-flite 235’s. I was going to go for the new Inov-8 flite 235’s after being quite impressed with my current flite’s but i wasn’t overly bowled over by the launch colours with luminous yellow and black for the guys and blue and pink for the ladies plus two people from my box had bought them for Christmas and i didn’t want to copy. I noticed they released a grey and black pair in the States too that hadn’t been released here so i was going to wait for those until i heard about the Nike Metcon 1’s and i’m glad held off buying them and that I got rid of all 6 pairs of my bargain Nano’s for the Nike Metcon 1’s as all my feedback is positive at the moment and would definitely recommend them.

If you’re not convinced on what pair to get Zalando is the only website that sells all 3 of the only players in the game of crossfit shoe ‘s as far as i’m concerned and that’s Reebok, Nike and Inov8 so you could order a pair of Reebok Crossfit Nano 4’s, the new Inov8 flite 235’s and they still have some black Nike Metcon 1’s in stock. They have restocked the site unlike nike since the launch as they initially sold out too but I managed to get mine 2 weeks later. They are the only two places to stock the new Nike Metcon 1’s as I rang my local Nike store in Cardiff on the morning of the launch date after I missed out online and they said they were only selling them in their Flagship store in London and online.[/fusion_text][tagline_box backgroundcolor=”” shadow=”no” shadowopacity=”0.7″ border=”1px” bordercolor=”” highlightposition=”top” content_alignment=”left” link=”http://tees-n-cheese.co.uk/cheapest-nike-metcon-2-in-the-uk/” linktarget=”_self” modal=”” button_size=”” button_shape=”” button_type=”” buttoncolor=”” button=”Check out the new Nike Metcon 2″ title=”New Nike Metcon 2’s released!
” description=”Nike have just released the new Nike Metcon 2 trainers, want to see them?” margin_top=”” margin_bottom=”” animation_type=”0″ animation_direction=”down” animation_speed=”0.1″ class=”” id=””][/tagline_box]

I’ve always been a fan of Vivienne Westwood with their quirky edge to all of the lines from the more affordable Anglomania and the collaboration with Lee to the higher end Vivienne Westwood Man and Gold Label lines.

I mainly do most of my clothes shopping online due to the lack of any decent fashion shops in Cardiff over the past few years since the closer of my favourite store The Wardrobe and the Chessman shops too but Cardiff is starting to pick up again over the past year. St Davids 2 has slowly been tempting in not only some good fashion retailers but my other passion food is also on the up with the recently opened Wahaca and the immanent grant opening of Burger and Lobster so I’ve had a few trips into the capitol for a browse recently instead of relying on online retailers such as John Anthony, Selfridges and Harvey Nicholls.

One of my pet hates of shopping online is finding something to fit as my body is constantly fluctuating in shape and weight with me hitting Crossfit hard some months then having a bit of a break to rest the muscles. I find it a nightmare to find something to fit me in both length being the short arse I am and on my arms and shoulders especially shirts and polos as the shorter the top the smaller they are on the arms and around the chest. There’s nothing worse than feeling uncomfortable the later on in to the night when you have more to drink and the belly starts to bloat!

One thing i really hate is when you can never guess what size your going to be in the same brand of clothing as i can be anywhere between a small and a large in some brands, which is ridiculous when you have to pay every time you want something delivered, again to send it back and a third time if you want a different size.

Vivienne Westwood being my favourite brand at the moment have made my life a bit easier with the opening of the store in St Davids 2. Even though I like to shop around to get a good deal on my clothes it is handy to try things on in store then try to find the best price online for it if they don’t have it on sale that day in the Cardiff Vivienne Westwood store.

I’ve got about 4 or 5 of the standard Vivienne Westwood polo’s now so trying to find something different to wear as i’m sick of being seen in the same look for the past year.   I’ve also put a bit of bulk on around the shoulders and chest so my current purchases are looking a bit snug in a medium and think i need to upgrade to a a large for future purchases.

vivienne-westwood-sea-creatures-print-t-shirt-black-p102823-46454_zoomMy most recent purchase and one which i had wanted for some time but wasn’t willing to pay full price was the Vivienne Westwood Sea Creatures Graphic Tee. I managed to find it on sale online and decided to get to take with me on my recent trip to Amsterdam, as i thought it was rather fitting with the psychedelic colouring and floating jellyfish. Vivienne Westwood have used the sea creatures graphics on a number of items this season including the graphic tee, denim jacket, jeans and hoodie. You can get the sea creatures tee on Flannels at the moment.

I took a trip to the Vivienne Westwood store in Cardiff last week tovivienne westwood man aqua blue and yellow stripped shirt see any new arrivals and tried on a really nice Vivienne Westwood MAN Delhi Stripe Fitted Krall Shirt in Aqua/Yellow. I tried a medium on, which i really liked the close fitting all around but there wasn’t much room in the chest and didn’t leave much give for over Christmas as I managed to put half a stone in weight on last year. I tried the large on, which did look nice but didn’t feel as fitted everywhere else like the medium. The shirt was around £280 in store so even thought it was a really nice shirt i was putting that back on the shelf until a sale starts just before or after Christmas. You can get it online at the moment at Garment Quarter, one of my favourite stores in Bristol who also happen to own the Vivienne Westwood Cardiff store.

I’ve never been too keen on the Vivienne Westwood Pirate boots to be honest but noticed the trainers when i was in the Cardiff store and thought they didn’t look to bad. I’m on the hunt for a new pair of trainers as my Puma Alexander Mcqueen high tops have seen better days so i’ve been scouting out reasonable price for them online since i got home. The low profile trainers seem to be around the £270 mark and around £320 for the high tops with both sizes available in black or brown. The current price is a bit over my usual budget for trainers so again i will be waiting to see how much they go down to in the Christmas and January sales. You can find both the low and high top Vivienne Westwood trainers in black or brown on the Triads website.

vivienne westwood high top trainers in brown        vivienne westwood low trainers in black

 

 

 

 

I’ve been a lover of the collaboration between Alexander McQueen and Puma with their trainers for about 4 years now and bought about 6 pairs myself over that time. My favourite trainers for the Puma Mcqueen collection have been the street climb with options of low with standard trainer size and the mid with high top ankle support.

The Alexander McQueen by Puma AW13 collection has been out for bit now but was handing on till Christmas to see if there were any sales on to get a bit of a discount but none as of yet. My pick from the Puma McQueen AW13 collection has to be the Street Climb Mid III Moonless Night Trainers with black leather, purple contrasting suede detailing and soles with white rubber outsole currently available for £175.00.

The main difference between the Street Climb Mid II and the Street Climb Mid III is the hook and loop staner with the branded Puma McQueen logo but the finish on the leather has contrasting textures such as the puma logo on the side that is normally smooth in texture but now has more natural appearance.

Not only do the Puma McQueens look the part they are so comfy on your feet too so not only ultra stylish with practical too. I’ve teamed my Puma Mcqueen Street Climb Mid II trainers with jeans on a night out but you can also dress them down and I’ve taken them on a few music festivals with shorts like Ultra in Miami back in March.

View the rest of the Alexander Mcqueen X Puma AW13 collection at Hervia.