Just in case you didn’t know, DeFY. has been pushing for the return of the Reebok SXT Pump for years (See OUR PETITION and FACEBOOK PAGE for this shoe) and FINALLY, the shoe that made its film debut in the movie JUICE is slated to be re-releasing. The 1990-1991 season saw tons of heat hit the shelves, sneakers such as the Reebok Twilight Zone Pump, the Omni Zone Pump, the Jordan V, The Nike Solo Flight and The Ewing 33 Hi (to name a few) were kings of the sneaker shop but two shoes in particular stuck out. What might have been those two standout sneakers you ask? They were the Reebok SXT (Strength Cross Training) Pump and the Nike Trainer SC. To date, the Nike Trainer SC has been retro’d hundreds of times in tons of color ways, but the Reebok SXT Pump? Nothing (the shoe has never been retro’d up until this point). So back to 1991, the cross training segment during that time was so popular that the good folks at Popular Mechanics conducted the first ever in use comparison between sneakers.
The shoes involved in this comparison were the Reebok SXT Pump, Nike Trainer SC, Avia 1385, L.A. Gear Muscle and Asics GT Lyte and the winner was chosen based on its ranking from 7 (Popular Mechanics listed 9 but couldn’t find 9 rankings) rankable categories. The categories were: Support, comfort, cushioning, fit and finish, style, durability, and versatility. The staff did everything in these shoes from running to racquet ball to street walking. Who was crowned king? You guessed it, the Reebok SXT Pump (followed by the Trainer SC III at number two and the Avia 1385 at number three). With the first release in over 22 years lets hope that Reebok treats the SXT Pump RIGHT and not only gets the colorways, shape, and comfort right but also the the actual pump right (the last thing we need is a basketball pump on a cross training shoe especially a legendary shoe like the SXT that has never been retro’d before). Take a trip back to 1990 above with one of the commercials that the SXT makes an appearance in (their at the end of the commercial) and check out all the specs on the original SXT below. Special thanks to POPULAR MECHANICS for this legendary article.
