words & image // Zack Schlemmer
In 1994 Nike introduced the next step in their Air-Sole technology with Air Max 2. The Air Max 2 system utilized seperate Air compartments, with different air pressure densities for different areas of the foot. As this ad explains, the rear Air compartment is pressured at 5 PSI for ideal shock absorbtion, and the two side Air compartments are at 25 PSI for more stability. Round it out with a forefoot Air-Sole unit and you had Nike's most advanced cushioning to date. Air Max 2 technology would be Nike's dominate cushioning option (along with Zoom Air) for the rest of the 90's and was used in many classic shoes like the Air Max 95, Air Max 2 CB, Total Air Foampsote Max, etc. If your shoe had Air Max after 1994, it probably had an Air Max 2 system.
Tech aspects aside, the Air Max 2 runner from 1994 is an incredibly nice looking shoe. It's hard to say why this shoe has gone almost unnoticed and forgotten when, in your writer's humble opinion, it's one of the greatest Nike running shoes of all time. As far as Nike running shoes go, many of us would put it right up there with the Air Max 96 in the "Why hasn't this been retroed?!" department. Would you like to see it return?
Nice tech.
