In the past, Cons has relied on their flawless strategy of taking their classic shoe designs and adding elements to make the shoe skateable. The best example of this is the converted Chuck Taylor, known to us skaters as the Chuck Taylor Skate, or CTS for short. Now, Converse adds another classic design to their skateboard collection: the Weapon. Thus, Cons stays true to its line and makes basketball shoes skateable. As the Bright Tradeshow in Berlin opened its doors, we were lucky enough to be invited to test the new model.
The Cons Weapon fits true to size.
The durability of skate shoes nowadays is mainly improved by reducing the overlapping material in the toe box. However, contrary to popular design, the toe box of the Weapon has a lot of material overlaps and seams in this area. Although the seams held up well during our weartest, this design could show vulnerability to wear with more skating. The laces, however, are well protected and have tough durability. Moreover, the outer sole is slightly thicker than most cupsole models and results in better durability. Due to its extremely deep design, the sole is very durable and ensures a long lasting grip.
Nike’s big brotherly connection with Cons helps ensure that the Weapon is equipped accordingly with a Lunarlon foam insole. Developed by the engineers at Nike Running, the foam has an impeccable cushioning effect and fits perfectly to a skateboard shoe. With this insole, the Weapon not only provides comfortable cushioning, but also offers a good impact protection.
Due to the resemblance of a classic basketball shoe design, the Weapon is a bit wider than most models. However, the Cons designer made the silhouette more narrow. The midfoot area is cut slim, making the shoe fit close the foot and the toe box is slightly wider, but tapers forward to a rounded tip.
The toe box area of the Weapon has direct boardfeel while the heel area offers impact protection. With that said, the grip did not reach its full potential in our weartest sessions which is expected for a cupsole. The sole was a little stiff at the beginning, and the grip needed a few more sessions for the sole to soften and mold better to the concave.
The comfort and stability are strengths of the Weapon. The comfort is mainly due to well designed ventilation on the inner side of the shoe as well as the toe box area. The shoe-in-shoe construction maintains an almost seamless interior. The stability in the heel area is outstanding, but levels off towards the front of the shoe. The heel offers a lot of stability for the foot due to the high cut and can almost be compared to the feeling of a mid-top. The stability in the toe box is not as good since it is a bit wider and the suede can develop waves from abrasion.
The Cons Weapon shines with its stability, comfort and cushioning. The toe box however, could use some work as well as the grip, which needed a couple more sessions to develop its full potential.
