Adidas ClimaCool Ride

Recently I received a bright red pair of Adidas ClimaCool Ride sneakers. The Adidas ClimaCool Ride is Adidas offering to the minimalist shoe market.

Adidas offers the following statement about the ClimaCool Ride:

Light, durable and made to keep your feet fresh when you run. These adidas CC Ride running shoes have a lightweight mesh upper, allover CLIMACOOL® ventilation, adiPRENE®+ in the forefoot for more efficient propulsion and adiPRENE® under the heel for cushioning.
Just as a quick intro to the Adidas ClimaCool Ride review, as soon as I opened the box for my ClimaCool Ride's I was in love. I must say that the Ride's are on of the best looking Minimalist running shoes on the market. My pair of ClimaCool Rides are a bright red that get comments wherever I go.

For those that don't want to read my full review I'll sum it up here, The Adidas ClimaCool Ride's are a great looking lightweight, flexible running shoe. The Adidas ClimaCool Ride is not a true minimalist running shoe. I would say that the Ride would be placed in the intro category, a great transition shoe to the minimalist running shoe world like the Reebox Realflex or Nike Free. The Limitations of the ClimaCool Ride is that the sole is a little too thick and the toe box is too narrow.

Full Review:

Look: The design of the Adidas ClimaCool Ride is something that is welcome in the minimalist running shoe market, in the past barefoot shoes or minimal shoes were a little dull. But the Ride sneakers come in 26 bright colors that all look awesome and are great for matching with your cool running gear.

Comfort: The ClimaCool Ride wins a gold medal on the side of comfort. The shoe fits well and is well cushioned (Wishing it was less cushioned to make more minimal) and well ventilated. The Ride offers an impressive 360 degree ventilation system, the easiest way to see this is to wear a bright pair of socks and you'll see how vented they are.

Adidas offers that the ClimaCool material achieves 20 percent reduction in in-shoe moisture and 12 percent drop in foot temperature, two critical factors against foot disease and discomfort, I'm not 100% sold on the fighting disease but I'll read on it a little more.

Weight: The Ride comes in weighing in only at 8.9 ounces, which is a nice weight but I would have liked to see it come in a little lighter.

Sole:  The Sole of the ClimaCool Ride looks like a winding road, it has deep flex grooves that are in place to offer flexibility. The sole of the Ride is a little thick for a minimal shoe, so if your looking for that ground feedback you may want to look else wheres. But as a comfy shoe the Ride offers cushioning to absorb shock.

Toe Box: The Toe box of the Climacool Ride is what I would say is rather normal. I am used to some of the other minimalist running shoes that offer a larger toe box so personally I find the Climacool Ride alittle narrow.

Heel Drop: The Adidas Climacool Ride is not a zero drop heel shoe but it's heel is not overly raised but I would like to see Adidas offer a zero drop heel next time.

On the Road:
In order to complete this review you have to take this shoe out on the road.  When running in the ClimaCool Rides right off the start you notice how lightweight and flexible the shoe is. One thing that I didn't notice as much as I would if running in other minimal shoes was the ground feedback. The Ride has a thicker sole so the ground feel is a little muted.
As I mentioned earlier I found that the toe box to the ClimaCool is alittle narrow so that I found I felt alittle constricted when running in the Ride. One downside to running in the Climacool Ride is that you'll get it dirty, the Ride is too pretty to get dirty...lol

So to sum this review up the Adidas Climacool Ride is a good looking lightweight, flexible transition shoe to the minimal running shoe world. If you're a beginner to minimal running the Climacool Ride may be for you, but if you're a hardcore barefoot runner this may be a step back.

Enjoy and Happy Running
Kennyo

Adidas AdiPure Trainer Review

Well there is another another toe shoe out there, The world’s second-largest athletic company (Adidas) unveiled its first minimalistic barefoot style training shoe this week.

The Adidas AdiPure Trainer like it's predecessors (Vibram Five Fingers and Fila Skeletoes ) is designed to give you that barefoot feel but offers some protection and traction. Adidas would like to tell you that there has never been a 5-toe model designed specially for the training ( I would like to argue that the Vibram Five Finger Komodo Sport were designed for training)

The Adidas AdiPure Trainer will be in stores November 2011 and it will be priced at $90.00

Adidas has been alittle late jumping into the Minimalistic shoe market, where Merrell and Vibram are the big names on the block and Nike, Saucony, New Balance and Reebok have solid shoes on the market. Adidas is only behind Nike for the biggest shoe company in the world, Nike's player in the "Barefoot" game is the Nike Free which is not as minimalistic as the others.

The barefoot shoe movement has been fueled by the barefoot running culture, which has long had proponents, but caught on more widely in 2009 after Christopher McDougall’s book “Born to Run” explored the history and benefits of it.

There's little info out there on the Adidas AdiPure Trainer but it looks like it is very flexible and the upper has no strap, it looks like the upper of a pair of Nike Free's without the laces that you would slide your foot into. It will be interesting to see how the shoe stays on during aggressive training.

It looks like the sole will offer plenty of traction and it doesn't seem to be too thick. When looking at the upper of the Adidas AdiPure Trainer, it doesn't seem to be that breathable, we'll have to see.

Check back down the road as more information is released.

Adidas ClimaCool Ride Review

Thanks to Competitor.com for this great review.

Check out My Review Here

Light, durable and made to keep your feet fresh when you run. These adidas CC Ride running shoes have a lightweight mesh upper, allover CLIMACOOL® ventilation, adiPRENE®+ in the forefoot for more efficient propulsion and adiPRENE® under the heel for cushioning.

To start off I wouldn’t classify this as a minimalist shoe, but rather a protective lightweight trainer. There’s a fair amount of midsole to it albeit a very flexible one.

Deep flex grooves on the bottom of the shoe (see photo) provide maximum front-to-back flexibility, which allows your foot to move naturally, regardless of your running style. Unlike a lot of other lightweight trainers, however, this shoe offers a surprising amount of protection underfoot. This is a versatile shoe which is responsive enough to go fast when you want to go fast, but soft enough to absorb impact when you’re just cruising along at an easy effort.

Deep flex grooves throughout the shoe allow for a smooth transition regardless of your running style.

True to its name, the ClimaCool is extremely well ventilated. It’s minimal and extremely unintrusive upper allows your foot to do what it wants to do while optimizing airflow and keeping your feet cool when the weather gets warm.

While this is a great new running shoe, with surprisingly tremendous versatility, it’s not for everyone. If you’re a runner who needs a less flexible shoe with additional medial protection in the midsole and/or upper, the ClimaCool Ride just won’t do it for you. If you like to go off-road, I would refrain from taking these guys on the trail. But if you’re a fairly efficient runner, or simply want to experiment with a more flexible, lightweight shoe for training and racing this summer, then I suggest taking this shoe for a Ride.

Toebox: Generous. I have fairly fat feet and I have plenty of toe clearance, as well as side to side room, in these shoes.

Midfoot: Average. Neither tight nor overly loose, the upper wraps my foot well while providing a secure fit.

Heel: Secure. For an overall flexible shoe the ClimaCool Ride had a rigid heel counter (i.e. not easily collapsable) that held my foot well in the shoe.


In-Shoe Security: Secure. While my foot has plenty of room to do what it wants to do, the shoe doesn’t feel sloppy. When I run my foot can do as it pleases, but it’s not going anywhere.

Perceived Weight: Light. Weighing in at 9 ounces in a men’s 9.5, this shoe felt light on my feet. While it looks like more shoe than others in its category, there’s nothing bulky about it.

Transition: Smooth. No clunk or awkward transition here. The deep flex grooves throughout the shoe allow for a smooth transition, whether you’re a slight heel striker or mostly up on your midfoot or forefoot.

Responsiveness: Firm, but forgiving. This shoe definitely isn’t plush, but it’s fast enough for a tempo run and there’s also enough cushioning underfoot that I felt protected when running at a slower pace.

It's a great shoe but not a real Mininalist shoe, getting closer tho

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Geoffrey Mutai Shoes: Adidas Adizero Adios Review

Geoffrey Mutai Wins NYC Marathon

I Guess alot of people out there are wondering what shoe Geoffrey was wearing when breaking the record yesterday at the Boston Marathon? He was wearing the Adidas Adizero Adios.

This running shoe has become famous as the world’s fastest, helping Haile Gebrselassie to achieve a world record breaking 2:03:59 marathon time. The running shoe has been designed to be ultra light weight in order to help you achieve your best possible time. The Adidas Adizero has been designed primarily for neutral runners and due to it’s lightweight design and cushioning is perfect for those wanting to achieve longer distances whilst maintaining ultimate comfort. Whether its improved time or distance that you are after, these shoes could be the answer.

The shoe weighs just 210 grams and is made using a solvent free synthetic suade upper, not only does this enhance breath ability and comfort, it is also environmentally friendly – a first for most running shoes on the market and something I’m sure the fell runners amongst you will appreciate, thank you Adidas! The quick strike outer sole not only decreases the weight of the shoe but also improves its flexibility and durability, allowing your foot to shape the shoe as you run whilst maintaining great support.

Now is this a Minimalist shoe? I'm sorry this isn't you don't see many elite runners wearing Minimalistic shoes. Don't get confused thinking because a shoe is lightweight it means it's minimalist.