On the cover of the February Runner’s World magazine, there was a picture of a woman bounding across the front. She had a pair of Adidas I had not seen before. She was also featured inside the magazine doing strength training exercises or something in the Adidas Energy Boost. The shoe looked interesting enough for me to take pause and notice it.
Fast forward a couple weeks, and I see a conversation in a group talking about this shoe and the midsole. Apparently, this midsole material could be a disruptive technology to the shoe industry. Why? Well, the material is supposed to give runners more energy return than traditional midsole EVAs. Take a look at this video.
The story gets more interesting. According to several bloggers Adidas has bee trying to get them to remove images and videos that having anything to do with the shoes or the Boost(tm) technology. I have even heard they may have asked a certain leading running periodical to stop the press on their March issue (delivered to your door if you subscribe on the first week of Feb.) where the material was put to the test. “Adidas made lofty claims about it’s new midsole material, including that it has “industry-leading energy return” and is resistsnt to temperature changes. In tests at the RW shoe Lab, we can measure how much a shoe springs back – that is, how much of the energy from footstrike is returned on the rebound. The energy Boost truly is the industry leader: It performed better than any of the almost 800 other shoes we’d tested. We also compared the shoe’s cushioning against standard and lightweight EVA foams at 20 degrees Fahrenheit and 120 degrees fahrenheit, and found it far less affected by swings in temperature. Typical foams get harder at cold temperatures and softer in hotter conditions.” -Runner’s World March 2013.
Weird they would want to kill the the positive conversations and posts going on about the Adidas Energy Boost. Even weirder is the shoe has a fold out advertisement on the back cover of Runner’s World. It is kind of a mixed message. I guess they want to control the the media for this shoe. In today’s world that is impractical and nearly absurd.
The shoes will be available February 27, 2013. I have a feeling this shoe will be on a lot of our wish lists to try out. Personally, I like to she the material used in a shoe with less of heel/toe drop then the Energy Boost model.
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Could Adidas be worried about the USATF rule 143.3(a)? I know there was controversy surrounding the Spira shoes that had metal springs in them.
Todd
USATF Rule 143.3(a) says:
“A competitor may compete in bare feet or with footwear on one or both feet. The purpose of shoes for competition is to give protection and stability to the feet and a firm grip of the ground. Such shoes, however, must not be constructed so as to give the competitor any unfair additional assistance, including the incorporation of any technology which will give the wearer any unfair advantage, such as a spring or similar device. A shoe strap over the instep is permissible.”
Interesting thought Todd. I think it would be hard to make case and not rethink traditional EVAs role in the running shoe. I wonder how that rule applies to Newton’s lugs.