Adidas energy return shoes

If it was really that simple then our feet would already have it built in...

I'm really excited to try them soon. I've been running in the supernova glides for a while now and want to compare them against the new shoes. Nice to see a company other than Nike being very innovative when it comes to running shoes.

I work in the specialty run retail world and was able to go to The Running Event in Austin back in December. I tried them on and was very very impressed with them. They felt great.

They've got my attention anyway. Won't be rushing out to buy a pair though.

Didn't Brooks do this same thing with MoGo like three years ago?

They did. adidas partnered with german chemical mfg. BASF to develop the material, which is plastic particles steamed together. This material will continue to make the shoe soft and retain the fit; this is not a responsive performance type of material. Future adidas product might introduce something which combines EVA and the new energy return product.

So, how does bouncing help my running? Please illuminate.

Nice. Just what I need when running is extra recoil from the impact of each step reverberating up my legs!

Maybe they are good or maybe not. Extra "energy return" in the abstract doesn't tell me much about whether the shoes would actually be any good.

It also depends on the shoe they put it in. Adidas makes some great lighter shoes but all of their trainers I've tried were too high, with too big heels, clunky, and too narrow in the forefoot, at least for me.

Could be a great shoe for those of us who train and race on concrete a lot. The only think that is a bit fishy about the video is that the engery return foam is a clearly thicker than the regular foam. I suspect that the difference between the two would be much more subtle if you used the same thickness.

For one thing, I'm not impressed by that video—if that ball really is steel, it should bounce a heck of a lot harder off of concrete. Anyone who's played around with a ball bearing will know that. But that's neither here nor there—the more important thing is that this new "boost" foam may just be a more purely elastic material.

Energy return by itself is not quite as important as the stiffness of the surface. There was a great study by a guy at Harvard in 1979 that looked at how varying surface stiffness can affect running speed. He found that, when the stiffness of the surface was on the same order of magnitude as the stiffness of the runner's legs (treating them as a simple spring), performance is slightly enhanced. Extremely hard surfaces don't really slow you down, but an extremely soft and springy surface will slow you down a LOT if the stiffness of the surface is lower than your leg's stiffness.

You can think of it in terms of the TIMING of the energy return: An extremely stiff surface, like concrete, basically doesn't "store" any energy at all. The energy you put into the ground just rebounds up almost instantly as impact shock. An extremely soft surface will still be deflecting downwards as you try to push off of it, which robs you of energy that you'd rather be using to actually lift your body off the ground—imagine running on a mattress or gymnastics mat. But, according to the Harvard study, if the stiffness of the surface is "just right"—that is, if the surface deflects and rebounds JUST as you push off—you'll get a little bit extra energy back.

Now, whether ADIDAS' boost technology accomplishes this is highly dependent on the stiffness of the shoe and also the speed you run, the surface you run on, and how much you weight. So a 250 lb hobby jogger's "sweet spot" at 10-minute miles is different than a 140 lb elite distance runner's "sweet spot" at 4:30/mi. Perhaps in the future we'll see shoes that are tuned to various weights and speeds!

Finally, all of the above treats surfaces as purely elastic, which of course they aren't. Even this boost technology probably is still more of a viscoelastic material.

Resistance to hardening in the cold is a possible selling point to me.

What I notice about the Adidas marketing campaign is that they have obviously learned from the FTC misadventures of Reebok and Skechers, and refrain from making any specific claims of health or performance benefit.

Because, guess what kids, there are none.

The "spring" of a shoe will never perform as well as the "spring" of muscles and tendons.

glycerinrunner wrote:

They did. adidas partnered with german chemical mfg. BASF to develop the material, which is plastic particles steamed together. This material will continue to make the shoe soft and retain the fit; this is not a responsive performance type of material. Future adidas product might introduce something which combines EVA and the new energy return product.

Most people don't know what BASF is. It's the biggest chemical company in the world, almost twice the market cap of DOW Chemical. Of course they just provide the foam here...I'd imagine they'd sell the same stuff to Nike or Asics if they asked (under a different brand name, of course....).

Ditto. Pretty sophisticated things, them human bodies...

Just took a pair out for first ride. I'll admit I was a bit skeptical with all the hype, but it's a legit trainer. Lighter than expected with all that new cushion -- which, for mid/forefoot strikers is probably overkill, but doesn't slow you down. Snug fit as a result of techfit upper, you don't feel it once you get going.

Can't speak to "energy," but overall very good ride. Will try them in a race and see if its worth adding to the rotation.