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adidas Adizero SL2 Review: Huge Surprise! Light, Soft & Reactive, Friendly, Versatile Daily Trainer
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Jul 16, 2024
In the video, I review the Adizero SL2 00:00 Introduction and Details, 07:35 from runs Impressions with plenty of coastal scenery, 12:51 Comparisons and Conclusions. Clearly the SL2 is the friendliest current trainer in the Adizero (and adidas) line. I found them any pace versatile except very fast where adidas as plenty of options. Light at 8.45 oz / 240g with a very decent 36/26 stack height. $130. Available now. Full Written Review soon at www.roadtrailrun.com Samples were provided at no charge for testing purposes with no additional compensation. The opinions herein are entirely the author's 100'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
Hello, everybody. We're going to take a look at the Adidas Adi Zero SL2 today. It is a daily trainer for sure, a big surprise from Adidas. A soft, friendly, very reactive shoe that's quite unique in their line. It gets some big changes from the prior version in that we have a full-length light strike pro insert below the foot. You can see it peeking through the windows there, whereas before we only had it in the forefoot. I've taken them out for two
0:30
nice runs here on the sea coast. One slow, one fast, and they are quite something very different
0:36
from prior Adidas for me. Okay, let's dig into some of the details for the Adi Zero SL2. The first thing
0:45
is it's nothing like the original SL, which was a very firm light strike only shoe, good for about
0:53
five miles. It was firm and fast, more almost like a racer. The SL1
1:00
has some similarities. I didn't personally test it, but the main difference is that Adidas has gone with a full layer of light strike pro
1:10
as in their racing shoes. And you can see it poking through the outsole, the redesigned outsole here
1:17
before it was just a four-foot kind of insert. And this helps bring down the weight here because we come in at about 8.45 ounces, 240 grams
1:30
in a US 9. And before we were about 9 ounces or 255 grams
1:36
that really helps the weight. The upper here is very simple. If there's a weak point to the shoe
1:44
I think it's the upper. The hold is decent, very decent. But this is a kind of a thin
1:53
not particularly supportive engineered mesh. There is a nice toe bumper. the heel hold is excellent
2:01
It's more of the midfoot here. The tongue is adequately padded, but we have no gusset tongue
2:07
a bit of a surprise given how pliable we are despite our big three-stripe overlays on both sides
2:14
And we have a flat sock liner. So there's a little bit of lack of hold
2:22
through here, particularly on the medial side. So this is definitely a neutral shoe
2:26
However, you can lay some pretty tight. I got no lace bite for my medium to narrow feet
2:32
There's plenty of towbox room, and it stretched a bit after the first run
2:37
So it's an okay upper, but the real magic here is underfoot, underfoot
2:43
because this combination of a really quite soft light strike, usually light strike's very firm
2:52
plus our super reactive light strike pro, and maybe I can squeeze that a bit so you can see it
2:58
It gives you a really, really versatile ride here. I've taken them out twice
3:05
Once was super slow, a recovery run, and you'll hear in the commentary, I sort of conclude
3:10
well, it's sort of a easygoing recovery kind of shoe. Then the next run today was, and you'll hear my commentary there
3:19
was a progression. And when I got down into the 820 per mile pace
3:26
boy, did they start, to react off the front in particular. You really feel that light strike pro acting
3:34
Now, Adidas has really had kind of a gap, if you will
3:40
in terms of a daily trainer. Here they answer the gap with a really versatile any pace friendly shoe If you think about it you had the shoes such as the Boston 12 which replaced an 11
3:57
which replaced the earlier Boston, sort of a daily trainer in the Atta Zero line
4:02
Then you had the supernovas, which were kind of lunky, the Adi stars
4:06
They really didn't have sort of a all-around kind of more mellow daily trainer or one that
4:13
wasn't super heavy because here we come in at that 8.45 ounces, 240 grams, and we have a big
4:20
stack height here, relatively big, really, with 36 millimeter heel, 26 millimeter four foot
4:27
a decently wide platform of 80 millimeter heel, 70 millimeter midfoot, 115, 4 foot. What I like is
4:36
they're more than sufficiently at the ground stable if the upper is a bit shaky. And
4:43
they kept the platform relatively narrow through the midfoot and the heel with a wide
4:50
that's quite wide, 115, 4-foot platform. So they really are quite agile while remaining decently stable for me as a neutral run
5:00
Let me show you the flex here. Lots of nice flex after two runs and a bit of snap too
5:09
So you'll immediately probably say, hey, wait a minute, what about the supernovae
5:13
Well, the supernova rise, and here it is right here, is a considerably heavier shoot
5:22
It comes in at 9.6 ounces, 274 grams US 9, so more than an ounce heavier
5:28
Similar stack height. It has the new Dream Strike supercritical foam. Now, light strike, regular light strike over here isn't a supercritical foam, but for sure
5:39
the Light Strike Pro is. So the Dream Strike is a nice
5:43
foam, but what Adidas has done here is this is definitely a more supportive upper
5:50
It's heavier, warmer, but it's really underfoot that you see the real big differences here
5:57
Let's try to line them up. You can see we have the yellow lines there
6:03
Those are the support rods. They're a hardened EVA kind of foam, a harder EVA foam
6:09
And you see all that extensive outsole rubber. coverage, particularly at the heel. So what I feel here is the rise is not nearly as decoupled
6:21
as our as our SL2. And I found the heel kind of cumbersome to get past. More of a kind of a support
6:29
neutral shoe here. Not as nearly as exciting a ride as what we have with our Adi Zero
6:37
SL2. This is really one fine daily trainer. So let me take them out on the road and give you some
6:43
impressions from my two runs and during the during the run I'll also give you some
6:49
comparisons you'll note that I say they're somewhat comparable to say the Mach 6
6:57
from Hoka and the Rebel V4 and the new A6 Nusa tri 16 yes all those shoes are a bit
7:08
lighter at the same stack height but this one just just feels very, very well rounded all around
7:17
for just about any kind of daily run, about probably the only place I wouldn't pick it
7:23
is for say speed work or intervals. They certainly handled my recovery one well yesterday
7:31
So let get into some of the impressions from the run Coming by the harbor here well Adidas says this is the daily trainer the SL2
7:44
I agree, but I think in the Audi Zero line it may also be the recovery shoot because this is a very mellow ride, quite energetic really
7:55
I can really feel light strike pro in the center with the regular lights
8:02
which I think is a softer variety than I'm used to in Light Strike as the carrier
8:11
Looks like we're at high tide. Most of the fishing boats are out
8:16
Gonna keep going. These are called the Rosa Rugosa flowers. They pop up all along the coast here in bushes, you can see
8:28
Last winter, the storm blew through all. this was completely underwater and the road was destroyed there used to be a wall there
8:41
so we've got a nice energetic ride here wow a lot of bounce kind of a rubbery bounce plenty
8:49
stable underfoot i think the upper though doesn't quite have enough midfoot hold there's no
8:55
guss at tongue and it's a flat sock liner i think it could use a bit more hold that
9:02
So all this was totaled in the big storms
9:12
So we're having a nice run in our soft, friendly, Adi 0SL2
9:20
This is the softest, the softest that I can recall. Very soft
9:26
But with plenty of energy from the light strike pro, but also that full, almost full, almost
9:32
full outsole gives it some response, keeps things from bottoming out. Not really a speed
9:38
shoe. More an easier run shoe, but you certainly can go fast in it because we're very light here
9:47
8.25 ounces, 234 grams in my US 8.5 for a 3626 stack height, which is really quite big
9:59
pretty amazing. Oh, we're in the general category of the Hokamak 6, A6, Nusatri
10:07
16, Rebel v4 from New Balance. But here we have a 10 millimeter drop versus five for those
10:16
In terms of the foam feel, I think this might be overall the softest
10:23
although the new balance is very, very, very soft overall also. And the Nusa tries a
10:29
more responsive, firmer, a bit raise your feel. I like the 10mm drop with a softer foam because it gives us
10:40
enough to plunge forward if you're running slowly. As I said before, I think the outsole is particularly
10:51
well done here with its Chevron kind of pattern. Really helps stabilize the soft foam
10:59
In terms of the mock, similar ride, really. Just more four-foot cushion
11:06
Another one I'm thinking of, heavier, considerably heavy. This is the new Pegasus
11:11
Again, a softer bouncer foam, but a thinner feeling four-foot, even if the drop and the stack is very similar different geometry Wow check out the Rosa Rugoza Sidewalk got kind of beat up here during our big storms
11:32
Beautiful, beautiful stretch here. Okay, I'm down in the 920 per mile
11:37
I'm going to be picking it up some more, the 6th miler. So what I'm feeling increasingly is that as you pick up the pace
11:46
that central core of Light Strike Pro becomes more energetic. and then your outsole provides some pop off the road
11:56
So while I said it was a kind of a slow pace, kind of easygoing shoe
12:02
I think it really is what Adidas calls it, a daily trainer in the Atta Zero Line
12:09
because it seems to handle all paces really well. Of course, I probably wouldn't do speed work in them
12:17
You know, you've got the Adios, Boston 12 for your long runs
12:23
Of course, the racers. But it's an all-arounder. It's really kind of amazing because Adidas really hasn't had a good all-arounder for me anyway
12:35
since the boss, the earlier Boston's. And those were kind of low stack a bit firm
12:42
This has that 3626 for giving foam. It's really, really fine. Okay, some conclusions on our SL2
12:55
Well, Adidas really, really surprised me here. I wasn't expecting to receive the shoe from them, didn't ask for it
13:02
but somehow they knew I might like it. Yes, it is definitely a daily trainer
13:07
It's a light daily trainer, really, at 8.45 ounces. For example, your Pegasus, let me look at my notes here
13:14
your Pegasus is 9.9 ounces in the US 9. Here we're at about 8.45
13:21
So we have a light shoe, and that Pegasus actually is just a millimeter more of stack height
13:27
We have a light shoe, a 10 millimeter drop. I kind of like that for daily training, especially at slower paces
13:34
It's light. The foam is energetic. This outsole provides some of the response
13:41
In other words, keeps everything from bottoming out. You can see the foam is really bouncy and soft, both types, the black light strike and the pro
13:52
So it's really a great all-around. If there's a weakness, as I said before, it's maybe the upper and especially the midfoot
14:00
Maybe they had to save a few bucks there, given how great the platform is
14:04
I think it could use a little bit more midfoot support. Maybe a gusset tongue would help it
14:09
But this is really an outstanding addition to the Adidas slug. line, ID-Zero and Adidas line, which was really lacking for me. Either the shoes were overly
14:21
kind of elite-focused, or they were heavy and kind of not really something I'd want to reach
14:29
for every day. This is one I would. Nothing wrong with our rise, Supernova Rise here, which in the
14:39
lineup is more stable, if you will, not quite as exciting, maybe a little more kind of
14:44
kind of run-of-the-mill with its more extensive outsole for kind of stability and those energy
14:54
those support rods. But we're also going to have a full written review, hopefully multi-tester of the $130
15:04
SL2 from Adidas in their Adi-Zero line. One of the years best
15:11
Thank you very much for watching. Have a great run
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