In early October, VS Athletics released a very inexpensive weightlifting shoe known as the Xplosion II. We didn’t cover the release of this shoe because we weren’t sure what was going on with it. (It’s hard to talk about a product when you know nothing about it!). Well, we finally got the down-low on these and quite frankly, they really weren’t worth talking about to begin with.
For starters, the oversize metatarsal strap just screams flexibility issues. A high strap tends to hinder your ability the bend your ankle with your forefoot approaching your shin and this would be emphasized even greater with the size of this strap. So, split jerks are definitely OUT with this shoe. And personally, the carbon fiber looking color on the strap is very unappealing.
The Xplosion 2 shoes seem to be manufactured by the same Chinese company that makes the other VS shoes including the VS Dynamo. As we noted in our review of the Dynamo, we don’t care much for the sole of the shoes due to grip and wear issues. So there is another strike.
Finally, the reason for the $39 price is, as we’ve been informed, these shoes had a lot inconsistency and a manufacturing defect with the uppers. In the product description VS states “These shoes may have some factory blemishes. Only sizing returns allowed, no returns for defects.”
In the end, this shoe is really only suited for a single purpose – squats. So if all you need is a pair of good squat shoes, then the VS Explosion 2 are a steal. If you’re looking for an all around lifting shoe, then the price is just too good to be true.
I wasn't aware of the factory defects, thanx for the heds up!
Primadonnas.
A few blemishes and an ugly design? As with most things Crossfit, show choices seem to be a fashion statement. Fact is, they will work as well as any other shoe out there. I'm still wearing the same shitty Adistars from 1996 with the tarsal strap cut off, and *gasp* my belt is even older and not even color-coordinated!
Shoes don;t lift weights, people do.
You obviously didn't read the review – there is a lot more than a few "blemishes" going on with this shoe. Poor design and stated "random" manufacturing defects. Basically you are rolling the dice when buying these as they are not returnable. If you were to get a pair that had uneven heels and wobbled back and forth (like many of the 2010 do-win shoes did) then you have an unusable shoe. As for fashion, it's one thing to be old, ugly and beat up from years of use – it's quite another to be made of cheap, hideous material that screams Chinese made knock-off!
I found these while looking for a pair of shoes to squat in. I wore them just for squatting and less than 10 times at that and the sole started to detach in the toe area. One thing these shoes did do was help me feel more stable while squatting and helped my confidence in the lift overall. They are without a doubt cheap in quality, so i splurged and bought a pair of adistars(which are awesome),lol. I will probably never squat without olympic shoes again, though. Bottom line is these VS shoes are a prime example of getting what you paid for.