Volt
There are a few brands in the world that have made one move, created one boot, added one piece of tech, or some other aspect of their creations that has stuck with them forever. For some, it can be positive. Adidas rode the Predator train until the wheels fell off, and Nike seems unlikely to ever move on from the Mercurial. For others, the reception can be less than positive, and seems to stick for a bit longer. Pele Sports had some slight durability issues with their first speed boot, now they no longer exist…Reebok hitched their wagon to the wrong players, now they only make low-end boots (that are almost impossible to find).
For Concave, their defining ideal is located in the middle of all of their boots. Located over the laces in the first few iterations (now they’re located at the top of the tongue) is a curved (Concave…get it?) piece of rigid material that is meant to aid your control. Sadly, simply because of the way it made the boots look, the brand has seen it extremely difficult to make an inroad into the highly competitive gear market.
Now, with a redesigned line-up and new marketing strategies, Concave has returned to try and make a big leap into the world’s game. Their new toys are the Quantum+, Halo+, and Volt.
Halo+
After getting up close and personal with every boot in the Concave line-up, it is safe to say that judging these boots by their appearance would be your first mistake. The Volt is a legitimate speed boot contender, with a sleek fit/feel that lets you always feel extremely close to the ball while the Concave element on the tongue still allows you to blast through a volley. The Quantum+ is a K-leather boot with no frills to interrupt your touch and feel on the ball, and a look that is flawless. The last member of the group, the Halo+, combines the Concave element with several control elements on the upper to create a boot that would be a welcome home for fans of the old Predator or early CTR360.
Quantum+
All three boots offer a high level of comfort, a top-notch level of traction, and a great experience with the ball at your feet. Concave also has tailored their gear to the leather-traditionalist in the world by offering the Halo+ and Volt in kangaroo leather versions, and it feels like a line-up that has serious potential.
The biggest question about Concave boots is still about the effectiveness of the Concave element at the top of the laces. For us, we loved the addition and came around to a thought of “why not?” in terms of it being on the boots. The element doesn’t hinder anything, is only really a negative during your first few dealings with the laces, and, when you catch a ball up on it, sees the ball absolutely launch off of your foot. In all honesty, we wish we had seen the first few versions where the element dipped down even farther on the foot. The only thing that will keep people from jumping on the bandwagon will be folks that just can’t get over the way the element makes the boot look (we can say this, it will get you a LOT of questions from people you play with).
Concave is poised to definitely have some success in 2016, and we really hope that they hang around for quite some time. If we ever needed a boot to confirm the adage of judging things by how they look, you’ll never find a better example. Game on.
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