Watch your head we are jumping right in!
Thomas: Let me start with the obvious, this shoe is beautiful. It is down right sexy. If the Ultra BOOST had a Tinder account I would swipe right. The fit takes a couple of runs to customize to your foot, but once that knit upper stretches in the right spots the Ultra is sock-like. The cushion is made for lots of miles in comfort, and the almost fully rubber covered outsole is as sticky as a movie theater floor. The shoe has an adequate amount of cushion under the toes while the shoe lifts up in the front (toe spring) giving you a smooth stride from landing to take off.
Meaghan: Love me some knit-upper. I wish more brands did this. The Ultra BOOST is designed with a seamless mesh that truly hugs the foot. I wasn’t sure I liked this (more on that later), but I’ve grown to love the secure feel these shoes provide; and given the nature of the weave, they’re extremely breathable. The midsole is made up of the famous boost energy foam with a “torsion system” through the midfoot. Basically, there’s a piece of plastic between the forefoot and heel that protects the midfoot. I personally love this feature of the shoe. It’s disguised arch support at it’s finest. If you sit the shoe down flat, you’ll notice the toe and heel are angled up. This reminded me a little of HOKA’s meta-rocker design. The shoes have a really smooth transition from heel-strike to toe-off and the miles felt natural. The outsole is made up of a stretch web rubber that provides plenty of durability and traction. I had a couple of rainy days in these shoes without any slippage out on the road. And they’ve held up well. I’ve put a good bit of mileage on these shoes (probably somewhere between 70-80 miles) and they don’t look a day old.
Shop adidas Ultraboost
Thomas: The adidas Ultra BOOST lacing system makes it super easy to over-tighten. I had to loosen the laces a fair degree to get the proper fit. You need to rely on the sock-like upper to wrap the foot. It is a great exercise in learning trust. Speaking of the laces, they are on the delicate side, not that they will break easily. They just feel thin and the caps bounce around a lot. While I like the ride of the Ultra much, much better than the Energy BOOST, it can sometimes feel a little sloppy with a healthy amount of the BOOST TPU making up the midsole. With all that BOOST comes a little extra weight. My 10.5 weighed in at 11.5 oz. Not exactly flyweight, but not terrible.
Meaghan: Have you ever had someone (you just met) hug you a littttttle too closely? That’s this shoe. The first encounter is uncomfortable. But it doesn’t take long to warm up to this guy. A few miles and all is good. I’m torn on the sizing of this shoe. The forefoot is narrow, but there’s a good half an inch of extra space. I don’t think I could go a half-size down, comfortably, but sometimes it felt like it. The only other negative on this shoe is the weight, a lofty 9.25 oz. I’d normally be more upset about this, but I’m kind of in love that boost foam stuff. And apparently, it’s heavy. I’ll compromise.
Shop adidas Ultraboost
Thomas: I have put over 75 miles on the Ultra BOOST, long runs were 15 milers, daily runs were between 7 and 8 miles. The more I ran in the in the shoes the more I liked them. So far, I have several shoes that are going to make it hard to pick a “best of 2015” shoe. In the running are the Under Armour Speedform Gemini, New Balance Zante, Saucony Kinvara 6, Hoka One One Bondi 4, Puma Ignite, the New Balance 890 v5, and now the adidas Ultra BOOST. This is turning out to be a great year for running shoes. The Ultra BOOST is the first shoe I have had to “break in” in a long time. This shoe matures with runs. From the footbed to the outsole, to the knit upper, this shoe adapts to your foot creating a custom fit and feel. If you try the adidas Ultra BOOST, give the shoe time to adapt to your foot. You will be rewarded with a top-notch high mileage trainer.
Meaghan: I know that I like a shoe when I find myself wearing it on back to back (to back) runs. The Ultra BOOST has three key features that I love: the Primeknit upper, the torsion system, and boost energy foam. The Ultra BOOST is a really great daily trainer that could double as a race day pick as well. My next race is the Baltimore 10-miler in June and this shoe is certainly a contender. If you haven’t given the Ultra BOOST a try, I would definitely check it out.
Shop adidas UltraboostConnect with Believe in the Run on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram
Have something to say? Leave a Comment
Nice shoes! Hopefully they will be out in the stores soon! Thanks for the review guys
Can you please review the Adidas Boston Boost 5? It’s a little more shoe than the adios and something most people could get away with for a marathon as its relatively light and offers good cushion. I’m looking at the Boston boost and the hoka Clifton so any help would be appreciated. Let know of other shoes you would recommend for racing a marathon. As a reference I loved the Saucony ride 7’s last year but would like to go lighter if I can.
I recently tried to run a marathon in the NB 1400v3 and it just wasn’t enough shoe for me. I’m 6’1 and 180lbs.
Thanks,
Matt
I will see what we can do. I loved the 1400v3, but not enough for a marathon. Meg ran the OBX Marathon in the 1400, she is considerably lighter than us.
Thanks Thomas – no need to review if you wouldn’t normally. Just curious what you have heard about the Boston Boost 5. I think I need to try the Cliftons just to see what they are like. Just looking for enough shoe that I can race a fast marathon in.
Your long run was 15 miles. I am curious as too your size and how you feel they withstand someone who is 6’2″ 220lbs. I normally run in a stability shoe,excluding my Clifton 2’s. I also seem to wear shoes down faster than lighter runners. I usually look to replace around 200 miles. I recall having two pairs of Brooks Ghost shoe and anything over 5-6 miles caused total foot pain.
The Ultra BOOST are not as supportive as the other models you run in. The rubber on the outsole may be an issue for you if you are tough on shoes. I think you could get 200 miles out of them. They should be slightly more durable than the Clifton.