ADISTAR RACER REVIEW
Written by Kent Johns
Note: Images of the black adistars are my pair, and have had 10+ months of use.
If you are anything like me, you spend time almost every week or so searching for the sickest new pair of shoes to buy, whether or not you actually need them. Hopefully this review, along with more in the future, will help you spend less time looking through the crap of the bunch to find some beautiful gems. Today I will be going into detail on one of my all-time favorites: the Adistar Racer. The Adistar Racer is the most popular Adidas shoe in the parkour community, and one of the most popular trainers in the American and Canadian parkour scenes, with good reason. As one of the more classic looking shoe options out there, the Adistar Racer comes in as one of the very best all around parkour shoe options.
AESTHETICS
The Adistar Racer has a classic look, seeing as it is a re-boot of a retro version Adidas running shoe. With a fairly minimal approach, the shoe sports tons of various colorways to choose from, there is really an option for anyone. This shoe also looks fantastic with everyday streetwear, so if you are on the hunt for a trainer that doubles as a shoe to wear casually, this is definitely for you. I love the classic feel of the shoe and the ability to wear it in any situation if need be.
10/10 – A look for everyone, great with jeans or streetwear outside of training.
Some rips in the suede after months of being beat up
BUILD/MATERIALS
The build of this shoe is fantastic, rocking a suede upper with a mesh patch at the front and sides of the shoes. All of stitching is great, I have owned a pair for almost a year now and trained them regularly. I have had no issues with the stitching. The sole is one slab of rubber, which is perfect, no ripping or tearing of the soles after about a year of use. In terms of wear, my pair of Adistars have major tearing in the suede patch on the heel, tearing along a couple of the stripes, a hole ripped in the mesh patch along the side of the ankle, and a tear beginning in the mesh above the toes. However, this is pretty normal for how long I’ve abused these shoes, and wear is obviously different from person to person depending on foot shape and training techniques. Also, none of the wear that my shoes experienced have impacted the performance of the shoe as a trainer.
9/10 – Amazing long lasting build, bit of wear and tear.
GRIP
Out of the box, the grip is pretty average. It takes about 2 week of training to really get the grip broken in, but that waiting period is so worth it. The grip is fantastic, and only gets better the more you train in them. Everything in front of my arch isalmost completely bald on my pair, but the grip is at its prime. I have one teeny-tiny place where foam is poking through, but it will be a while before lack of rubber is an issue with these.
9/10 – Break in is a bit long, but perfect afterwards.
My pair are in their prime grip stage right now.
THICKNESS/FEEL
As you can tell by looking at the shoe, the heel is a bit thicker than the toe. In a perfect world, all shoes would be zero-drop (nodifference in thickness between the front and back of the shoe), however that just i
sn’t possible, and there are few trainers out there with zero-drop that succeed in other areas as well, for any sort of reasonable cost. If you are similar to me, I’m not going to drop $100+ on a parkour trainer. The toe has a bit of foam padding in the midsole, however this does break down over time, the ratio of padding to feel is perfect in my opinion. The flex of the shoe out of the box, just like the grip, isn’t great, but unlike the grip, the flex breaks in well in just a few days. I can feel everything that I am stepping on in the Adistar very well. Over time, the flex of the shoe becomes outright incredible. I can wrap my toes down and around a landing surface, like a rail, on a precision or rail run. Seeing as human feet can naturally bend down and ‘grab’ objects, it is pretty nice to be able to do this in your parkour trainer as well.
9/10 – Bit of drop from heel to toe, small break in period. Pure gold afterwards.
PRICE – $50 and up
So you found a shoe you love and HAVE to buy, right? Everything looks great on these sexy beasts. But then you look and the price, groan and cry, close your browser and go train instead. We’ve all done this right? Luckily, if you look properly, Adistar Racers are fairly inexpensive. Currently they are $49 with free shipping from Adidas’ website. This seems to be the best deal out there at the moment. It seems pretty rare that the best available price is from the manufacturer themselves, so thank you Adidas for this kindness. I don’t know how long this will last though, so maybe snag a pair soon if you are on the fence. You can do a google shopping search to start browsing other websites for screaming deals, but you could be searching for a while (for hours on end right? I’m not the only one who does this, I hope.), and most sites are selling them for $50-$100 currently. But happy hunting! $50 for a pair for of gorgeous trainers that will last the majority of a year? I wouldn’t pass that up!
OVERALL
As I’ve mentioned earlier, this is pretty much my favorite overall trainer across the board. As sick as other shoes I’ve tried may look (or perform but look like Sketchers), none have matched the performance/aesthetic/longevity combo that the Adistar Racer supplies. Along with the killer price, I most definitely recommend this shoe for anyone looking for a new friend on their feet.
9.5/10
Images courtesy of Adidas.com & Kent Johns
Unparalleled Movement 