Mesh Uppers and Cleats

Mesh uppers: In our continuous research about sports cleats, we see more and more of the newer models of cleats using mesh materials for creating the uppers.

As we have stated elsewhere within our website... "natural leather" uppers are the standard by which all other materials are judged and compared.

Synthetic Leather Uppers are much cheaper to manufacture, giving you (the end customer) a much cheaper price versus "natural leather". The synthetic leather uppers are also much more durable and therefore last much longer than "natural leather". The biggest problem of the synthetic leather is the lack of "breathability". Within a synthetic leather upper, your foot will sweat and moisture will collect within the shoe and generally make your foot uncomfortable.

Mesh uppers material is an attempt to increase the breathability of the shoe.

We primarily see mesh in combination with synthetic leather strips to create the upper.

At this point we are unsure of the advantages or disadvantages of mesh. We do see that (for example) Mizuno has changed their G4 Model from a complete synthetic leather upper to the G5 Model which now has a combination of synthetic leather and mesh. Click here to view the pictures and the visual differences.

The following are some pictures from a Chinese Manufacturer of mesh...

This particular mesh material is elastic and therefore will stretch and return to shape after stretching.

And here is a typical mesh material for sports shoes.

And lastly, we give you a picture of an entire sports shoe showing that part of the upper is made from mesh (the blue material).

Unfortunately we need more time to evaluate mesh materials and their uses within sports cleats and specifically the uppers. We are positive that there is a large difference between microfiber and mesh. The production costs of creating a high quality microfiber are much greater than creating mesh. We also are unsure if mesh has the same microfiber properties of 1) being waterproof and 2) wicking moisture away from the foot.

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