reviews

Review of Adidas Lokos running shoe

By: Julie

Color: Gray, Navy, Yellow, & White

The Adidas Loko shoe is an attractive shoe. The sleek three yellow stripes on both sides of the shoe are in the shape of cats' claws. There are six small strips of reflective material on the toe of the shoe. In addition, there are two strips of reflective material on each side, near the toes. There is a gray mesh material on the top of the shoe that works great in circulating air out of the shoe. There are three fingers that roll over the tip of the shoe as are similar to the Adidas Response. The Loko is made for trail running. I have found this shoe to perform well not only on the trails but also for other purposes. The Loko is comfortable for walking, jogging, biking, and tennis. The shoes have thick traction that works well for climbing on the roof of your house. They are stylish for casual wear as well. I have found the Loko shoe to be a great all around shoe. I have found two main drawbacks to this shoe. The Loko has quite a bit of gray mesh material surrounding the entire shoe. The material can snag somewhat easily if you were to catch it on a thorn or twig. This material is not the best if you are running on trails where the debris has not been removed. Another drawback is that the tread does not release material once it is stuck in the groves of the tread. This means you end up tracking in lots of gravel, mud, and debris into the house, making a big mess. I rate the Lokos an 9 out of 10. I am delighted with the overall performance of the shoe. I was able to obtain my shoes for about $40 on sale at FootLocker. I feel this is a bargain for the extreme performance they offer.

Review of adidas Equipment Accelerator soccer shoes

By: Ben Prier

UPPER: Kangaroo leather with fold-over tongue and asymmetrical loop lacing system to allow truer contact on instep.

OUTSOLE: For hard and dry natural fields. TPU Traxion skeleton and Feet You Wear design for increased stability. Additional Traxion element better distributes stud pressure on firm ground.

WEIGHT: (11.9 oz.)     PRICE: $130.00

Earlier this summer, I felt it was time to finally replace my weathered and well worn Diadora Brazil MD's that had been with me for the last 5 years. I wanted something that could equal their life span, and would at the same time give me the same comfort and feel that they did over the past years. I chose the Adidas Equipment Accelerators, after seeing them on a Adidas World Cup commercial, and within 3 weeks, had them sitting on my front door courtesy of the folks of EuroSport.

At first look these shoes seem to take on an almost a bizarre look. The 3 - stripes run underneath the transparent blue sole, and up the inner side of the boot. The laces are offset, giving you a much more controlled touch, yet I would not recommend striking with the outside of your foot, unless you intentionally plan of putting a nasty spin on the ball, due to the laces being pushed out towards the outter side of the foot.

The traxion system seems to allow you to turn on dime and accelerate at will on a plush grass pitch, as well as the hard dried out field conditions that I usually experience in the summer.

Another issue that would relate to this is the stud length. They seem rather short to me (the toe cleats are almost the same length as my worn Brazil's). They haven't shown much wear as of yet, but I haven't really played all that much in them, due to the amount of rain we have had. I tend to fall back to my Adidas Questra Finale's in wet field conditions.

This is also the first Adidas shoe that has incorporated the new, "Feet You Wear" technology. These shoes have to be one of the most comfortable and stable cleats I have ever owned. They seem to have a low profile on the field, giving you plenty of lateral stability, yet at the same time provide exceptional cushioning.

One downside to a shoe of this caliber, is the price. The $130.00 price tag is enough to make some people look for another sport, but when I look at how long a shoe such as my Questra's and Brazil's have lasted me, compared to a $45 - 60 dollar shoe, I feel that they are well worth it.

I would have to say that overall, I am impressed with the performance of this shoe. On a scale of 1-10, I would have to give it a 9. The only thing that really kept it from a 10 was the price, and the fact that the tongues seem to have a mind of their own, when it comes to folding over. Eventually though, they will see it my way!

Review of adidas Response Trail running shoes

Quick Look

Positives + Great Styling + Trail Worthy + Supportive Fit Negatives - Around $80 - Durability on the toe? Technologies ~ adiPRENE ~ Torsion ~ Traxion

Next up is the fit of the shoe. I really like the way this shoe hugs my foot without feeling tight. The shoe seems to have a lot of lateral stability, which comes in quite handy on a rocky slope. The tread begs to chew on some mud, but it isn't so deep that they feel funny on pavement.

Adidas finally listened to us and gave us a better shoe string! The Response Trails feature the new "flat and round" style shoelaces. These combine the good points of round laces with the good points of flat ones. The result is a lace that doesn't look quite as tangeled as flat laces, feels good on the foot, and most importantly, STAYS TIED! I'm going to try and get a close up picture of the lace posted here so everyone can see what I am talking about. As great as this shoe is, it's not perfect. I can't say for sure, but I have a feeling the "fingers" that wrap up from the sole will begin to peel away with time. I have seen and experienced the rubber that wraps onto the toe separating before and this shoe divides that area into 3 "fingers" which look like they will peel away even easier. I'll keep you posted on the durability of this shoe. The second minus of this shoe is the price. At $80, it's not a "sure why not" type of purchase. I would like to see more adidas shoes hovering in the $65-$75 range, but I don't mind paying more if the shoe is worth it.

I am going to give this shoe a final number rating of a 9 out of 10. I wrote the above review a few months ago and I've found that I really love this shoe. However, the toe has peeled away a bit on one of the shoes. Not enough that you can notice it, but I'm sure it will get worse. I would buy another pair of these shoes however. In fact, with the new colors that just came out, I just might :)

Review of adidas Response IV running shoes

The two bad points about this shoe are the texture of the laces and the interior of the shoe. In everyday wear the shoe feels great, but it took a little while for the shoe to completely break in. It could be that my shoes are too big ( I like room for my toes :) but the first 20 miles or so in these shoes brought "hot spots" to the upper arch of my right foot. Again, this is probably mostly due to my running style, but I have never had this problem with other adidas running shoes. Finally, the laces come untied very easily. The laces are round, which I like, but they seem to untie more than usual. I contacted adidas about this after hearing the same from emails I have received and I hear they are coming out with a new lace style quite soon. It is suppose to include all the good points of the round lace, along with the benefits of a flat lace.
Update: adidas listened and gave us a new lace. Read all about it in the review above

Overall, I rate this shoe 8 out of 10 and would recommend it to others. The shoe has been out since early 1998 and you can now find many of the earlier colored models at nice discounts.

Questions? Comments? Send me an email.