We built the perfect adidas running rotation with just three shoes

It feels like the year of the Three Stripes

In case you missed it, adidas has been on something of a heater recently. It dropped a daily trainer that we probably could have called the shoe of the year two years in a row, and then followed it up (alright, maybe a little while later) by making the shoe worn to officially break the two-hour marathon barrier — sorry, Eliud. One company, cooking at the top of the top while being on oh, so many feet at every run club you’ve been to in the last 18 months.

As Larry David would say, “Pretty, pretty, pretty good,” and we’d be inclined to agree.

That all-around success also got us thinking: What would we pick if we had to make a running rotation from just one brand? It’s not something we have to do all that often — it would be tough to keep up with our review slate if it were — but it makes for a fun thought experiment. So, we sat down, put our heads together, and realized that the answer when it comes to adidas is so very simple.

Here’s our rotation for every day, for race day, and for all the training runs in between.

Our perfect adidas running shoe rotation

As mentioned above, this is it — dollar for dollar, probably the best daily trainer you can get right now. You’ve seen it on the feet of everyone from half of your local run club to celebrities and athletes like Argentina’s Enzo Fernández on their way to the World Cup. It’s the Adizero Evo SL, and it’s literally everywhere. I mean, we knew it would be — we had to talk ourselves out of naming it the 2024 shoe of the year in our Best in Gear awards, and we only did so because you couldn’t actually buy it at the time.

Now, though, you can. And better than that, you can buy your choice of versions. There’s the original Adizero Evo SL ($150), the Adizero Evo SL EXO ($150) with alien-like overlays, the Adizero Evo SL ATR ($160), with a more robust outsole and some protection from the elements, and now there’s the Adizero Evo SL Woven, which is our pick for a lightweight, breathable adidas daily trainer all summer long. This version is just a touch more breathable than the original, and it’s a good way to add even more colorways to your Evo SL collection.

And, when we call it a daily trainer, we mean just that — it’s a great pick for your day-to-day runs. You can pick up the pace, knock out a run club outing, or simply tick off five miles before the sun gets too high in the sky. Sure, you could probably push the plateless, EnergyRod-less platform of Lightstrike Pro for a long run, too, but that’s not always where we find its sweet spot. We love it for the little stuff, the consistent stuff, and the stuff that just gets you out the door in the morning.

Besides, there’s something special about keeping your fastest shoes for special occasions, so let’s move deeper into our rotation.

Now that we’ve covered the everyday pick, it’s time to jump right to race day, right? Surely there’s nothing you could possibly need in between the two. Well, there is, but we’ll get there in just a second. First, though, we’re gonna talk about the lightest, fastest shoe ever made: The adidas Adizero Adios Pro Evo 3, which is our pick for race day.

Alright, in all honesty, the whole Believe in the Run team doesn’t actually have this shoe. When you’re this light, this fast, and this expensive, you get saved for the cream of the crop — in our case, Meg. She got her pair, unboxed it, and the rest of us have been drooling over it ever since. Why? Well, I don’t know if you’ve ever held a styrofoam cup (who am I kidding, of course you have), but that’s what it feels like to pick up the Adizero Adios Pro Evo 3. It almost breaks your brain to go, “Oh, this is a whole entire shoe.”

But it is, and an almost impossibly light one at that. It’s the first shoe to dip under 100g, but it doesn’t skimp on a single thing, with 39mm of Lightstrike Pro Evo foam in the heel, a carbon-infused Energy Rim around the edge of your foot, and Continental rubber covering the forefoot for the very first time on an Adizero Adios Pro Evo shoe. Did we mention it weighs like nothing?

Meg has, of course, only put a few miles on her pair, as there’s not a ton of opportunity (or desire) to race in the brutal heat of a Maryland summer, but we’d say the smile on her face tells us an awful lot about the ride. Well, that and the fact that Sabastian Sawe ran a 1:59:30 in the shoe in London to become the first man to break the two-hour marathon barrier in a legal race.

Of course, the $500 price tag and seemingly impossible availability make the Adizero Adios Pro Evo 3 tough to come by, in which case the Adizero Adios Pro 4 (On sale for $179) is our next best recommendation — and that’s a shoe we’ve all conquered marathons in.

With race day and every day out of the way, what’s left? Oh, right, just the runs that get you across the finish line. Yes, we’re talking a shoe that’s kind of like the Dalai Lama when he orders a pizza — this is the one with (or for) everything. It’s the all-rounder that holds our adidas running rotation together, and it’s not hard to see why.

Yeah, it’s more than time to declare that Boost is back, baby. Alright, maybe not exactly the same formulation as the Boost popularized by the Ultraboost, but Hyperboost Pro is simply unbelievable. It makes up the entire midsole of the final piece in our rotation, the adidas Hyperboost Edge, and we can’t wait until it’s everywhere. It’s plush, it’s bouncy, it’s lightweight, and it takes beautifully to the monstrous 45mm stack that makes the Hyperboost Edge look so iconic.

Honestly, that’s what makes the Hyperboost Edge so flexible and so easy to reach for. Whether you’re going long, adding workout reps, or taking it easy with a little extra cushioning, the Hyperboost Pro compound seems to handle it all. We recently took it out for a spectating day at the Baltimore 10-Miler, and the Hyperboost Edge was as comfortable for pre-race miles as it was for sprinting up a hill with some of our city friends, willing them to keep their 6:35 pace for just a few minutes longer.

And yes, the Hyperboost Edge’s looks may prove divisive. Some people will love the basketball-like styling, which is retro yet very modern, while others will think the shoe looks just a little too much. We’re decidedly in the former camp, and each new colorway that comes out only reaffirms our decision. Meg’s collection now includes the pink and silver pairs on top of her original red and blue, and the rest of us agree we’d probably wear the pink without question seven days a week.

If there’s one thing to note, though, it’s that the Hyperboost Edge has a very tailored fit. What that means is you’ll probably have to unlace your shoe most of the way each time you put it on, but you’ll be rewarded with a very secure lockdown, whether you’re logging yap-filled easy miles or pushing your pace around the track.

The adidas running gear that keeps us going

Of course, an unreal three-shoe rotation is only part of what adidas has to offer. Having tackled more than a few races with the brand, we’ve also picked up an affinity for a few pieces of gear that have become part of our must-pack list when we head on vacation. Here’s just a little bit of adidas gear that we think is worth grabbing while you’re at it.