Adidas Terrex Agravic Speed Ultra: First Look

What You Need To Know

Overview of the Adidas Terrex Agravic Speed Ultra

Just in time for the start of UTMB, Adidas Terrex has formally announced the least-kept secret in all of trail running: the debut of the Agravic Speed Ultra.

Seen for nearly a year and a half on its own athletes, the carbon-plated race day trail runner will see a wide release in spring 2024. 

The shoe is significant in that it’s Adidas Terrex’s first true super shoe for the trails. While we don’t have specific measurements or specs on the shoe, we do know that it will feature a Lightstrike Pro midsole, the same foam used in the Adizero line of road racing shoes like the Adios Pro 3 and Takumi Sen 9. As with those models, the Agravic Speed Ultra will also utilize integrated Energy Rods, designed for extra propulsion and a dynamic ride across any terrain. 

A gusseted tongue provides midfoot support while seamless overlays provide additional structure and protection.

For traction, the shoe will rely on the tried and true Continental Rubber compound that provides exceptional grip in its other models, both road and trail.

Additionally, the shoe features a rocker geometry for a smooth and seamless transition through the stride.

As stated, we’ve seen the shoe on Adidas Terrex athletes for some time. In talks with Adidas and in our podcast interview with Tom Evans, we know that they’ve put in an extraordinary amount of effort in perfecting this model, far more time and testing than most shoes see. Here’s hoping it pays off for us normal athletes the same way it has for their pros.

Our Thoughts

We’ve been salivating over this shoe for some time. We saw it at The Running Event last year; in hand, it’s ultralight and appears to have everything necessary for fast times on dirt. That said, it’s been incredibly hard for brands to bridge that gap between road racing and trail racing, as the Peba-based foams are highly unstable on anything more than fire roads.

While Nike did a fine job of corralling its ZoomX underfoot in the Ultrafly, it still seemed to have lockdown issues with the upper. Adidas has always excelled at upper lockdown (maybe too much at times), so it’ll be interesting if they can keep the foot over the midsole on anything technical. The gusseted tongue and midfoot support will definitely help in this regard.

In short, it’s hard to balance a bouncy foam with a stable shoe in a moderately lightweight package for race day. Can the Agravic Speed Ultra be that shoe? We’ll see soon enough.

That said, its performance in the most elite trail races is undeniable. Ruth Croft won Western States in a prototype of the shoe last year, while Tom Evans won the men’s side at Western States this past summer. Equally impressive, he finished third on the most prestigious stage of all at the 2022 UTMB Mont Blanc.

Of course, these are elite athletes, but it should be recognized that, as a whole, Adidas Terrex is landing on more and more podiums with the same frequency of the road side. It’s proof they’re doing something right.

We’ll be getting the shoe in review sometime this fall; as always, we’ll be sure to post our full thoughts the first chance we get.

The Adidas Terrex Agravic Speed Ultra will be available for $230 in Spring 2024.