I review a lot of Air Max on this site, however this model of runner predates the Air Max by a decade! These Nike Air Tailwind 79 Black / Phantom are a new colorway of Nike’s first sneaker with Air technology, originally created in 1979.
How Are The Materials?
Nike gives us basic suede with some mesh for the bulk of the upper and a nylon tongue.
The tongue is HUGE by the way. We do get a soft, yet thin leather on the swoosh and backtab that seems to have some grain to it, but other than that, the quality here is generic at best. I only got these for looks and comfort, I didn’t expect good materials, and so for what this sneaker is, the materials are adequate.
These come in a regular orange Nike box and include plain flat white laces. So, no real features or extras to speak of. At a $90 price point, I’m not surprised that Nike didn’t include anything with these. However, I thought they would come in the lighter orange “vintage” box since these have the exposed tongue padding and are essentially a vintage retro.
How Do The Air Tailwind 79 Fit?
The Tailwind 79 fit fine at true to size, if not a tad on the roomy side.
The materials and shape of the toebox for me provide a nice comfortably snug fit at that size, and no break in required. Overall I find these comfortable in the same way most 70s-80s retros are; simple, basic and they just work!
I had been meaning to pick up a pair and basically it came down to finally just picking a colorway. Many of the Tailwind 79 color schemes look really good on the sneaker. I’m happy with this pick overall and can definitely recommend the model if you want to add a 70’s era runner to the mix.
Where To Buy the Nike Air Tailwind 79
Sneaker boutiques, aftermarket sites and Nike’s own website all periodically offer versions of the Tailwind 79 silhouette.
You can find the Phantom colorway on eBay
Colorway: White / Black – Phantom – Dark Grey
Style Code: 487754 100
Year of Release: 2020
MSRP: $90