An Ode to the Adidas Sub2 - The Ugly Duckling

It's a great shoe, but not a marathon shoe IMO...

I ran a marathon in them and my legs were the most ruined they've ever been.

Geoff Capes wrote:

It's a great shoe, but not a marathon shoe IMO...

I ran a marathon in them and my legs were the most ruined they've ever been.

I believe kipsang ran 2,03,xx in them in Tokyo at some point, didn’t he?

And Guye Adola almost stuck it to Kipchoge in them. Dunno what it says about the shoe that neither of them have done anything noteworthy since and Kipsang got suspended for whereabouts.

I wore a pair of sub 2s for a marathon a couple of years back. They are awesomely minimal and fast, but you are going to pay for it afterwards. I think they look cool casually and I wear them around from time to time.

RunningJim wrote:

I wore a pair of sub 2s for a marathon a couple of years back. They are awesomely minimal and fast, but you are going to pay for it afterwards. I think they look cool casually and I wear them around from time to time.

I loved them for my marathons. Sure, my legs were blasted the next few days, but they always are.

expat pat wrote:

Geoff Capes wrote:

It's a great shoe, but not a marathon shoe IMO...

I ran a marathon in them and my legs were the most ruined they've ever been.

I believe kipsang ran 2,03,xx in them in Tokyo at some point, didn’t he?

Dang, he would have run like 1:58 with the Vaporfly 4% by the logic I keep seeing out here. Rojo said that Riley wouldn't have been top 10-15 at the trials without his alphas, which was 2.5 minutes behind him for 10th and over 3 minutes for 15th. So even with that match Kipsang would be a 2 hour flat guy.

The Sub2 would have been a formidable competitor to the Nike Eagle, circa 1980. The fact that they released it decades later speaks volumes.

Sub 2 is actually a great 5-10k shoe. Where Adidas went wrong was hyping it up as a marathon shoe. They felt need to respond to Nike and produced a great shoe just not a great shoe for the marathon. Would have loved to see a shoe with a combination of boost and boost light. Not sure why they abandoned the foam.

Still trying because I enjoy running wrote:

Sub 2 is actually a great 5-10k shoe. Where Adidas went wrong was hyping it up as a marathon shoe. They felt need to respond to Nike and produced a great shoe just not a great shoe for the marathon. Would have loved to see a shoe with a combination of boost and boost light. Not sure why they abandoned the foam.

I love it as a marathon shoe. Much more than anything else from Adidas.

spade detector wrote:

Still trying because I enjoy running wrote:

Sub 2 is actually a great 5-10k shoe. Where Adidas went wrong was hyping it up as a marathon shoe. They felt need to respond to Nike and produced a great shoe just not a great shoe for the marathon. Would have loved to see a shoe with a combination of boost and boost light. Not sure why they abandoned the foam.

I love it as a marathon shoe. Much more than anything else from Adidas.

No doubt that some people have found it to be a good marathon shoe. I just can not imagine running that far in it. Legs would be destroyed and for most people that is important part of picking a shoe these days. I think boost is great but Adidas needs to create/discover anther foam they can use in racing shoes that is light and responsive. Or give us a version of the adios with a really light upper to help drop some more ounces. They need a PR version of the Adios. Nike has not only innovated with the foams and carbon plated but uppers as well. They try a lot of different things. The new Alpha flys upper looks incredibly light weight.

Adidas had plate shoes decades ago.

Given that, and Boost, and the upper from the Sub2, it would be trivial for them to whip up something decent. And yet, they don't.

Adidas: I drew better shoes than almost anyone is making today in study hall decades ago. Give me a call.

The sub2 stands for the time a human can actually wear the shoes: keep the running time in them to below 2 hours, max.

Nike has always done the right thing with racing flats, and tried it all.

I believe the only company out there that can actually produce something comparable to the Alphafly is … Skechers. No other company seems to get it. Skechers doesn't care.

https://baseballzen9.files.wordpress.com/2017/08/nike-durden-shoe.jpg

Wonderful post! ?? I have 2 pairs of them and will score at least another on eBay. Super light, super fast. I would dare to say it’s the 2018 version of the 1970’s Onitsuka Tiger Marsthon.

moran112312 wrote:

The sub2 stands for the time a human can actually wear the shoes: keep the running time in them to below 2 hours, max.

Good one ! ????

[quote]zoomx83 wrote:

Nike has always done the right thing with racing flats, and tried it all.

I believe the only company out there that can actually produce something comparable to the Alphafly is … Skechers. No other company seems to get it. Skechers doesn't care.

They ALWAYS do the right thing? Prior to the 4%, or more accurately the prototypes of it as seen in 2016, they had never produced a decent racing flat. Look at the joke that Kipchoge wore with the flapping insoles. That was their flagship shoe at the time.

The Nike fan club (this includes most of the MB readers, of course) talk about the 'crappy' (and other terms I won't repeat here) VF competitors by everyone else. This 'crappy' category has to include every pre-VF racer from Nike, which are much worse than the '*******y' shoes being worn by Saucony, Hoka, asics, etc. today. All you swoosh fanatics - and again, I realize this is most of you reading this - talk a bunch of smack about every competing brand and point out none of them have a shoe worth wearing for the marathon. Well, by that logic, no manufacturer made one prior to 2016, and that means Nike didn't.

Never?

How old are you?

You guys are crazy. What kind of elephant needs more cushioning for a marathon than the sub 2 provides? They are the best non-carbon fiber shank shoe that I've raced in for a marathon.

I love the sub2 for track workouts and 5k/10k road races. I've never run a marathon but I would certainly consider it if I were to run one.

RunningWarehouse and Adidas don't have any on their sites. Does anyone know where I can still get new pairs?