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adidas Adizero Boston 13 Review
5K views
Jun 28, 2025
In the video, we review the Boston 13 with at 00:00 Details, 08:32 Fit, 10:31 Ride and Comparisons, 16;32 Conclusions. With 13.8% more Lightstrike Pro and a new upper adi's long run uptempo even racer is now friendlier on foot and more dynamic underfoot. It has a limited May 5 release at adidas.com with broader release early June 2025. $160 Full Written Review with 7 Comparisons: https://www.roadtrailrun.com/2025/04/adidas-adizero-boston-13-review-7.html Samples were provided at no charge for testing purposes with no additional compensation. The opinions herein are entirely the author's 1000’s of Run Shoes and Gear Multi Tester written reviews at www.roadtrailrun.com SHOP Running Warehouse at the links below for the widest selection of run shoes and gear anywhere and help support our channel! USA https://tinyurl.com/RWRTRUS EUROPE https://tinyurl.com/RWRTREU EU Only: Use RTR code RTR5ALL for 5% off all products, even sale products AUSTRALIA: https://www.runningwarehouse.com.au/?from=rtr EUROPE SHOP Top4Running https://tinyurl.com/bh9t3hpm Use Code RTRTOP4 for 5% off All Products, Even Sales
View Video Transcript
0:00
today we're going to take a look at the
0:01
Adi0ero Boston 13 limited release May
0:05
5th and then a greater release in June
0:08
It is Adidas's longer kind of tempo type
0:12
shoe and sees significant improvements
0:14
to the upper fit as well as 13.8% more
0:19
light strike pro which is concentrated
0:21
in the forefoot It gets a new outsole
0:24
combining continental and light traction
0:26
Uh as you can see here the light strike
0:29
13.8% is in concentrated on the lateral
0:33
forefoot with the medial sides saying
0:35
staying the same Adidas launched it at
0:37
the Boston Marathon It's a shoe that's
0:40
been long associated with the Boston
0:42
Marathon as has Adidas Let's get into
0:45
the details Let's get into a few of the
0:47
details of our Boston 13 First the
0:51
Boston uh style or model has a long
0:54
history at the Boston Marathon Um Adidas
0:58
has been a partner for 37 years with the
1:00
Marathon And the Boston was kind of
1:03
designed as sort of a a trainer racer
1:07
that would handle the hills of Boston
1:10
And many of us have actually run the
1:12
Boston Marathon in the Boston And this
1:15
latest version I think will uh carry on
1:17
that legacy a bit about the colorway the
1:20
EQ EQT equipment colorway for the
1:25
initial um releasing uh on um May 5th uh
1:29
with more pairs to come in June That is
1:32
the colorway and the three big stripes
1:35
that first was I guess shown or
1:38
introduced on the volunteer jackets in
1:41
1991 And uh so we're Adidas is bringing
1:44
back that green and the big bold stripes
1:46
which now are on all their shoes So what
1:50
we have is a shoe that weighs uh in this
1:53
is the US 8.5 that weighs um uh 8.7 oz
1:59
or 248 gram in a
2:02
US8.5 And as you'll see in the fit
2:04
section they fit a little big So that
2:07
might be the equivalent if you're a
2:08
narrower lower volume foot to a US9 So
2:11
that's quite light for this elaborate
2:14
construction The stack height is
2:18
3630 Um so uh we have a 6 mm drop It's
2:22
maybe a touch lower than the 12 Now the
2:26
big changes um for the uh 13th edition
2:31
are and we're talking serious here 13.8
2:35
8 more uh% more light strike pro which
2:39
is the foam um that until uh we saw the
2:42
Evo uh series was uh Adidas's top uh
2:47
racing foam I think the the Pro has
2:50
a slightly different version So this is
2:52
a super critical soft foam There's 13.8%
2:55
more Where where did where did they put
2:58
it Well it's deeper here on the lateral
3:01
side And here's a picture of the 12
3:03
regular light strike extended further
3:05
forward than the 12 You can see that
3:08
this other
3:09
layer which is light strike uh regular
3:13
light strike 2 uh extended all the way
3:16
through Now we have uh um light strike
3:20
pro all the way to the ground Although
3:22
you can see the light strike pro uh as
3:25
more of a cage through here And we also
3:28
have it in here and depressing I'm
3:31
pretty sure that that's light strike pro
3:34
So you have more
3:36
13.8% more And at the rear you have
3:39
regular uh light strike 2 and that gives
3:42
you a nice kind of stabilizing feel This
3:46
shoe feels somewhat somewhat uh in
3:49
character like the Nike Tempo Next
3:52
Percent which is long gone which had
3:54
sort of a firmer stable heel and a
3:56
dynamic uh
3:58
forefoot Before we go to the upper let's
4:00
talk a little bit about this new um
4:04
light traction and continental outsole
4:08
So the black and the teal is all
4:11
Continental rubber as we're used to And
4:14
this grayish material is light traction
4:17
which is a lighter kind of um lighter
4:20
kind of uh rubber I might be like a CPU
4:24
type rubber And then we have more
4:26
continental here on the lateral side on
4:29
the high wear surfaces Uh traction is
4:32
good on roads uh wet and dry Uh although
4:36
as you can see there's not much profile
4:38
But when I ran them on some kind of uh
4:40
crushed granite it wasn't really as good
4:43
as as some shoes on those surfaces But
4:45
for most situations you'll just you'll
4:48
be just fine The other big changes are a
4:53
more padded tongue with a gusset That's
4:57
an I think an improvement over the 12
5:00
and especially a new heel construction
5:04
which And here's a picture of the 12 You
5:07
can see
5:09
that it was much more minimal This is a
5:11
much better hold Um and there's a good
5:14
solid heel counter here The mesh is a
5:18
thin thinish kind of all one piece mesh
5:22
Um and it conforms to the foot well
5:25
although you'll see in my fit section
5:27
there is quite a bit of room through the
5:29
midfoot So if you're a broader foot
5:31
person you're going to be even happier
5:33
maybe than a narrower one Um my initial
5:36
pair that Adidas sent me was a whole
5:38
size down from my normal and it actually
5:41
almost worked Uh a bit snug Um and maybe
5:46
a bit short but I didn't really have
5:47
huge issues So I think for me with my
5:50
narrow to medium foot I'm going to be
5:52
half size down here Um of course we
5:55
can't forget our energy rods So instead
5:59
of a full plate uh Adidas goes with
6:02
their rod system and that and I
6:05
hopefully I won't tip everything over
6:07
gives us some flex This isn't a rigid
6:10
carbon shoe and I like that So
6:12
especially when you're kind of plunging
6:14
forward off landing you get some snap
6:17
from the rods and then you you sink into
6:20
this nice deep um light light strike pro
6:24
up front This is a well cushioned shoe
6:26
but it's on the compared to some maybe
6:29
it's on the firmer and more stable side
6:32
And that really speaks to its uh
6:35
position if you will in the Adidas
6:37
lineup Uh we have the very popular these
6:40
days Evo SL That's sort of your tempo
6:44
shoe It's actually I find more rigid
6:48
through the midfoot Um less forgiving to
6:51
slower paces than this shoe This shoe is
6:54
really designed for your longer runs at
6:57
faster paces but it can be a really good
6:59
all-around daily trainer as well If you
7:02
want to go a bit kind of more mellow in
7:05
a similar stack uh height similar stack
7:09
height shoe but a bit heavier you've got
7:11
the Supernova Prima set of rods in the
7:14
kind of carbon or composite sense It has
7:17
hardened EVA uh support rods It's a bit
7:22
more mellow shoe It has Dream Strike
7:25
Plus Foam which is a um which is a e
7:28
some a pea type blend So it's a bit more
7:32
mellow uh shoe in the lineup And and if
7:35
you want sort of the more classic daily
7:37
trainer there's the Supernova Rise but I
7:39
I really prefer the Prima So it's $160
7:44
which I think is a really reasonable
7:46
value for such a
7:48
sophisticated technologies shoe Uh
7:52
really state-of-the-art Um it's only $10
7:55
more than the Evo SL and I think this is
7:57
a better value all around for uh
7:59
allaround daily training Maybe not all
8:02
out speed Um so it's going to be
8:05
available uh in the next few months in
8:08
quantities but tomorrow there'll be a
8:09
limited release of this really neat
8:12
colorway So I've taken them out for a
8:14
number of runs Actually more runs than
8:15
usual because I have so many shoes to
8:18
test but um because I really like the
8:21
ride here Stable steady fast and I'm
8:24
going to give you those ride impressions
8:26
and some fit
8:27
impressions from the run Hey let's talk
8:30
a bit about the fit of our Boston 13
8:34
This is actually my second pair The
8:36
first pair and you'll see in the uh from
8:39
the run video was actually a whole size
8:41
smaller than my normal and it actually
8:44
almost worked It was a bit short and a
8:47
bit snug This pair is true to size And
8:51
this mesh you can see is kind of a
8:54
scratchy thing but it's very very nice
8:57
on the foot You can see the length just
9:00
about right but it's quite roomy through
9:03
the midfoot You can see I've got it
9:05
fairly laced up fairly tight So I think
9:08
if you're a um a person with a wider
9:11
foot wider through here you want to go
9:15
true to size Uh I think I would be
9:17
better off a half size down Not a whole
9:19
size down but a half size down We've got
9:22
a very nice moderately padded tongue
9:26
here Thin laces work really well We've
9:29
got that new rear collar which I really
9:33
like It really holds well It's
9:35
comfortable It's not an over plush kind
9:37
of shoe Um uh but it it it just works
9:40
really well I think though uh half size
9:44
down if you have a thinner narrower foot
9:46
might be something to try Uh although
9:49
you if with summer heat you probably
9:51
would and your and this is a long run
9:53
focus shoe you may want to stay still
9:56
stay uh at your true to size uh for
10:00
summer But for me I think a half size
10:02
down would be ideal Kind of unusual U
10:06
but u it is quite roomy through here The
10:10
hold is good just I'd like a little bit
10:13
more kind of secure hold but it's in no
10:16
way kind of a baggy or sloppy upper
10:19
Let's give you some thoughts from the
10:21
run And those thoughts were t um all
10:24
those videos were taken with the smaller
10:26
size which I had really no real problems
10:28
with Just let's talk about the ride as
10:30
we go by this pretty little chapel So I
10:35
would call it decisive and serious
10:39
Um there's
10:41
3630 of stack height and we have quite a
10:46
bit of light strike pro We got more on
10:49
the lateral side now 13.8% more overall
10:54
So I feel a more forgiving landing just
11:00
ahead of the heel But there's also a lot
11:03
of pop off the heel here Uh the
11:06
cushioning is not bouncy soft It's
11:11
serious reactive Uh we have some light
11:15
strike regular at the heel But what I'm
11:19
really noticing here is the front of the
11:21
shoe with the light strike pro all the
11:26
way to the
11:28
uh all the way to the front Whereas
11:31
before there was a layer of regular
11:34
light strike now it's all pro working
11:37
with the energy rods And now these
11:42
energy
11:43
rods they're not to my feeling as rigid
11:47
as a full carbon
11:50
plate especially at the midfoot I'll as
11:54
I showed you there's some actually some
11:56
flex that allows fairly wide range of
12:01
paces Although this shoe feels best
12:05
pushing at kind of tempo
12:07
paces I've been running about uh 9 10
12:12
miles and picking it up I'm down in the
12:14
nines which is pretty good for me
12:17
because I've been struggling with a knee
12:18
problem So this is a fast shoe that
12:21
isn't over
12:23
over prescriptive as some carbon shoes
12:26
are So with the elaborate construction
12:30
that's pretty good Uh what amazes me
12:34
here is compared to the more kind of
12:38
rigid limited but excellent SL Evo we're
12:43
only 10 bucks more here at 160 with the
12:46
rods the dual foams all that neat
12:49
outsole And I think this is a much more
12:52
versatile shoe But if you want a
12:54
speedster day shoe tempo kind of
12:57
strictly I think for many and even
12:59
Michael Ellenberger our 220 marathoner
13:01
agrees uh this is a better choice from
13:05
Adidas Um it's a little more aggressive
13:08
than the Prima which I like a lot Um and
13:12
at 3630 there's plenty of cushion of the
13:14
plate here is not so rigid that you
13:17
can't kind of roll through at the same
13:19
time I think this would also be a really
13:21
good choice for a quote slower
13:24
marathoner Say if you're in the 4h hour
13:26
range because you got plenty of impulse
13:29
plenty of cushion They're notably stable
13:33
I think the rear of the shoe Uh unlike
13:37
for me the Evo SL here we have that
13:39
layer of light strike uh which helps
13:45
stabilize things without uh overdoing it
13:48
It's relatively soft Light strike two I
13:51
think it sure feels like it's not the
13:53
first version which was so
13:56
firm Going to keep going Well the
14:00
golfers were will be out soon It rained
14:02
a lot yesterday so maybe they kept it
14:04
closed But a bit more about the front
14:07
impulse here There's a distinct
14:10
sensation of kind of settling into that
14:14
soft light strike pro the rods take
14:18
action and then boom away you go without
14:21
any harshness from the rods which is
14:24
really interesting I kind of um think
14:28
the the idea of rods versus plates helps
14:31
that Um the heel I'm down around just
14:36
under 9m minute pace which for me these
14:38
days is good heel feel
14:42
is was kind of a bit firm slower at
14:46
around 10 minute pace but now as I'm
14:49
going forward and really activating the
14:53
rods and that forefoot that's largely
14:57
disappeared in the sense that I'm just
15:00
flowing forward Another thing I talked a
15:02
bit about the stability This isn't a
15:05
stability shoe but it is very nicely
15:09
stable and kind of linear in feel You
15:13
feel like you're going forward in a line
15:16
very smoothly There's no over softness
15:20
of the heel even with our 6 mm drop
15:24
We're not bottoming out or getting hung
15:27
up on the plate really at any pace but
15:29
it really shines going a bit faster Now
15:33
one comparison that comes right to mind
15:34
are the Cross Town
15:37
Rivals from Puma the DV8 Nitro 3 I just
15:41
ran that before I started in today and
15:45
it is bouncier and
15:48
softer but not as dynamic Uh the
15:51
plates's more rigid I think it'll h
15:54
actually even though it's more rigid
15:55
handle slower paces a bit better This
15:57
this is kind of your more tempo oriented
16:01
shoe Um that for moving along longer
16:05
distances at uh pretty much any pace but
16:08
it it feels good the faster I'm going
16:11
Nothing really too earth shattering at 9
16:13
minutes but coming back from that injury
16:15
So I'm just going to keep going It's
16:17
just spectacular today So a few
16:21
conclusions So our Boston 13 is
16:24
definitely improved over the predecessor
16:27
with its increased light strike probe
16:30
more comfortable tongue and rear
16:34
construction
16:35
Its weight uh comes in at a very
16:38
reasonable 8.7 ounces 248 grams in a US
16:44
uh 8.5 which for a shoe with as many
16:47
layers and complexity and rods and foams
16:50
and and rubber is really very reasonable
16:53
3630 stack height Very good value at
16:57
$160 So this is the shoe in the Audi
17:01
Zero and Adidas lineup for those longer
17:04
harder kind of faster tempo and long
17:07
runs You've got the Evo SL for sort of
17:10
the shorter and faster stuff I didn't
17:12
particularly like that shoe Too rigid
17:15
really Whereas here we've got a more
17:17
kind of flexible platform Yes it isn't
17:19
all light strike pro but sometimes
17:22
that's a good thing because uh you've
17:24
got um the light strike at the rear
17:27
which provides some nice stability
17:29
You've got some actual
17:31
flex You've got a uh solid outsole uh of
17:35
two different kinds of rubber the
17:37
continental and the new light traction
17:40
So this is a durable workhorse of a kind
17:43
of speedier long run shoe that competes
17:46
very well with say the Endorphin uh uh
17:50
uh Speed for example from Sakccin um or
17:53
the New Balance Rebel A bit simpler and
17:56
lighter construction shoe that one Now
17:59
uh in terms of uh the lineup um at
18:03
Adidas it really does sit right in the
18:06
middle If you want something a bit more
18:08
mellow in your long run shoe or even a
18:10
recovery shoe I really like the Prima
18:12
Supernova Prima which uh instead of
18:16
having the energy rods has support rods
18:19
So they're essentially an array of uh
18:22
hardened foam support rods has a little
18:24
bit different foam called Dream Strike
18:27
which is a uh a pea blend Um it's a bit
18:31
more mellow than this one but uh but
18:33
this one is kind of your faster
18:35
workhorse kind of uh shoe Uh there are
18:38
some things to consider in terms of fit
18:41
I wouldn't call it a con Quite broad
18:43
through the midfoot My original pair was
18:46
a whole size down a bit snug This one is
18:50
my true to size and a little bit looser
18:52
than I'd like and I have medium to
18:54
narrow feet If you have a wider foot
18:56
you're going to be super happy here Um
18:59
uh it's versatile uh and it's serious So
19:04
you're going to get consistent
19:05
performance out of this shoe It feels
19:07
better run faster than slow because we
19:10
do have the the uh kind of uh narrowish
19:15
landing platform and the light strike at
19:17
the rear Quite a bit of it Maybe you
19:20
could they could consider uh a bit more
19:22
of the Pro maybe a bit wider platform at
19:25
the rear to increase kind of the pace
19:27
versatility but that's kind of a minor
19:29
minor thing for me Um
19:33
uh in terms of compared to the 12 it is
19:36
friendlier and certainly the 11 which
19:39
was super rigid Uh we got some flex
19:42
they're easy to easier to turn over
19:45
$160 uh it will be releasing uh tomorrow
19:49
May 5th in this beautiful equipped
19:52
equipped uh equipment uh colorway and
19:55
then there'll be more pairs coming later
19:58
uh this spring in the more uh general
20:01
release But all in all I think this is a
20:04
successful update from Adidas Uh and uh
20:08
we expect that uh it'll be a popular
20:11
shoe Thank you very much for watching
20:14
Uh have a great run