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Adidas’s New Shoe Borrows Advanced Features from Its Most Elusive Sneaker

The brand’s new super shoe aims to bring top-shelf tech to the masses.

adidas running shoeAdidas

By Jack Seemer

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The Adidas Adios Pro Evo 1 might just be the fastest shoe in history.

Last fall, Tigst Assefa wore a pair to obliterate the women’s world record in the marathon by more than two minutes. So did Tamirat Tola this summer, when he set a new Olympic record on a very hilly course in Paris.

adidas adizero adios pro evo 1
The Adidas Adios Pro Evo 1 came out in 2023 to the tune of $500. It sold out instantly.
Adidas

Just one problem: the Adios Pro Evo 1 is virtually impossible to buy.

When it came out ahead of the 2023 Berlin Marathon, Adidas limited its release to just 500 pairs. Oh yeah, they cost $500 …

A year on, however, non-elite runners will finally get their chance to try out some of Adidas’s top-shelf tech, which is on its way to another shoe: the Adizero Adio Pro 4.

What’s more, this new mass-market marathon racer will cost half the price of the shoe that inspired it.

Form and function

The Adizero Adios Pro 4 is the latest installment to Adidas’s iconic Adizero line, which debuted in 2008 with the help of the legendary distance runner Haile Gebrselassie.

The headlining feature here is a new geometry borrowed from the elusive Adios Pro Evo 1, specifically around the forefoot rocker — the point at which the sole curves upward toward the toes.

Adidas running shoe
Compared to the Adizero Adios Pro 3, the forefoot rocker here sits further back on the shoe, improving running economy at high speeds.
Adidas

According the Adidas, this rocker sits seven percent further back compared to its predecessor, the Adizero Adios Pro 3, improving running economy and giving the wearer the feeling of being propelled forward.

Foaming at the top

It’s not just the form here that’s changing. The foam is, too.

The Adizero Adios Pro 4 features two layers of Lightstrike Pro, including one that’s made using a non-compression molding process as featured in the Adios Pro Evo 1.

Adidas running shoe
The Adizero Adios Pro 4 features two layers of Lightstrike Pro foam, including one formulated with an innovative non-compression molding process.
Adidas

According to the brand, this unique manufacturing technique helps to keep the overall weight of the shoe down without sacrificing its ability to deliver exceptional energy return.

The Adizero Adios Pro 4 weighs in at 200 grams (7.1 ounces) for a US M9 — about 10 percent lighter than its predecessor.

Upper limit

Runners who wore the Adizero Adios Pro 3 will also notice a new upper on the Pro 4, equipped with a new trick Adidas calls “Lightlock.”

The material itself is a lightweight woven upper that’s given form by internal locking bands, colored yellow on the debut colorway.

Adidas running shoe
The lightweight mesh upper is given structure by internal locking bands called Lightlock.
Adidas

These cradle the wearer’s foot and provide structure at high speeds and around corners, all the while keep the rest of the upper as minimal as possible.

Pricing and availability

Keep an eye out during the 2024 Berlin Marathon, where the Adizero Adios Pro 4 will no doubt debut on the feet of elite runners who don’t opt for the Adios Pro Evo 1.

As for the rest of us, the shoe comes out January 2025 with a $250 price tag.

The best part? Despite the upgraded tech, that’s the same price as the Adizero Adios Pro 3 — and literally half the price of the Adios Pro Evo 1.

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