Adidas Adizero SL Version 2 Review

1. I have harsh mechanics
2. I am a neutral runner 
3. I have a standard to narrow, accommodating foot shape
4. My left foot turns out slightly (slight toe out), which leads to an awkward flow of my left heel and tends to rub the ground when my mechanics get tired.  This leads to outsoles dying quickly in combination with my harsh overall mechanics. 
5. I am a pro level sweat machine.  This is one of the reasons I have a good rotation of shoes, I like to let them air out. 
6. I started running at an older age, no proper training and my steady pace is in the mid 9 minute per mile range. 

SL 1 has an MSRP of $120.  When I found out about this shoe, I was seeing great deals on them.  The highest I paid for a pair was $48 dollars.  The lowest was $24.  

SL 2 has an MSRP of $130.  This is a $10 increase in original asking price. 

Something I am learning with Adidas, they put their shoes on sale quite a bit at a colorway level.  For example: I have seen a specific colorway of the Boston 12 on sale for $76, while the others were still at $160.  This is something to keep in mind as I expect to see colorways on sale if we are patient. 

*Additional note, if you are an Adidas fan, you may want to consider getting the adidas app.  You can earn points for running that leads to vouchers for some discounts on their product

I like the look of these 2 colorways on foot, but I am a bit odd.  The mechanics between the 2 versions are very similar, which is a positive in my view.  The significant difference is in the underfoot feel.  I forgot how firm the first version was at first.  The SL2 is much more compliant (bouncy) at first step in.  The SL2 feels ready to go right out of the gate.  The SL1 needed some serious break in time for the midsole to gain some compliancy. 
 
I did a mile jog, switching the shoes at .5, to get a feel underfoot.  The upgrade in foam is evident from go and it feels excellent. 

The upper material is lightweight and breathable.  They reduced some of the padding (it was a little overdone) from the first version, which is a great benefit to me as I am a serious sweat machine during a run in the summers of Houston.  The shoes have dried quickly after my runs. 

The fit was spot on for my foot shape/size.  If you have a wider foot or a foot with more overall volume, it may be worth it to try it on before buying. 

The heel counter has been updated and provides a nice lockdown, I did not experience any slippage. 

The insole has nice perforating in it, which seems to help with overall breathability and comfort. 

The tongue is not gusseted, but I did not experience any tongue movement during my runs.  It is minimally padded, which is the way I like it to help with breathability. 

The laces are not great.  They are lower end and have come undone during runs, so using double knots.   

Adidas altered the lay out of their in house rubber compound used for the outsole.  I am not sure if they changed the formula on it, but to this point it is showing more durability for me than the first version.  With 53.9 miles in, it is no showing wear in my main damage area.  I had signs of wear at this point in the SL1.  

I have had good traction and protection on my runs on numerous surfaces that have been dry.  I have heard of some people having some slickness to the outsole on wet conditions.  On my last run I hunted for some wet areas and ran through them.  I felt some sliding when moving onto dry conditions from the wet ones.   I did not get a chance to run wet surface to wet surface, so I would caution those who run in wet conditions to be aware that these could be slippy. In Houston, I mainly have dry conditions. 

The SL1 was a mix of Lightstrike and there was a "puck" of Lightstrike pro in the forefoot.  The SL2 has a full layer of Lightstrike pro that is encased by Lightstrike 2.0.  The encasement acts as a stabilizing factor for the shoe and the combination of having a full length of Lightstrike pro underfoot is extremely enjoyable.  I can't say how much I have enjoyed running on this midsole set up, because it is a lot. 

I did a 10 mile run right out of the gate.  The shoes felt great from the first step to the last.  I did a mix of up tempo, strides, steady pace, easy pace and walking to get a feel for the versatility of the shoe.  The shoes handled the varying speeds great.  On first impression, it may handle everything but higher end speed great.  I could do speed work, but it felt like there may be better options if you have a rounded out shoe rotation for specific speed work.  I was really impressed with the shoe after the first run. 

I ran in mostly dry conditions.  After hurricane Beryl left the area, I did not get a chance to run on truly wet surfaces, but did run through some puddles to test the outsole wet and it could be a bit slippy

Surfaces ran on: Paved road, Paved trail, dirt trail, Crushed Limestone and track (impermeable polyurethane and synthetic rubber composite)

I ran 53.9 miles overall over 6 runs.  My shortest run was 6.5 miles, my longest run was 15 miles on the 6th run. 

I did speed work, intervals, steady pace, easy pace, walking and the shoe performed very well on all different kinds of runs/workouts.  The shoe felt really good on the track.  I do not have a track background, I get a great sense of enjoyment running on the track and this shoe felt part of my foot on those runs. I was easily able to shift gears up and down.  Running through the trails, the shoe felt very nimble.  

The midsole did great on all runs, including the 15 miles.  I had no pain points, hot spots or issues with the long run.  On using it for long runs, that will probably come down to what each specific runner enjoys on their long run on if they will like it, but I enjoyed it myself. 

I found this shoe to be very versatile within the runs I did.  In addition to that, I love the design language of the shoe and would be happy to wear it as a life style shoe as well.   I wouldn't have any issue using this as a gym shoe as well. 

Some of that is going to be based on personal taste, but for me if I were looking for "a" shoe to do many things at a good price (within the market place), this shoe would be top of my list. 

If it is not clear by now, I would highly recommend this shoe.  I would pay the difference between the sale price of the first version to the full price of this version, that is how much I am impressed with this update.  Now to be fully transparent, I would also shop for deals because I hate paying full price for shoes. =)

This shoe is a great do it all shoe.  If you are looking for this as part of your rotation, I would probably look at filling out the rotation with a speed specific shoe, easy/recover specific shoe and race day shoe.  This fits into a very versatile daily trainer category for me. 

The only negatives I found with the shoe are the shoe laces and potential slippage on wet/slick surfaces.   The shoe may be to narrow and/or not enough volume for some, so as always, try the shoe on when you can. 

This shoe will remain in my rotation and it has moved up to the top of my ranks on shoes I want to run in.  It is coming with my wife and I on our upcoming vacation as well, so it gets to travel. 

Thanks for reading my review, if you have any inputs I missed, feel free to reach out.  If you see any improvements I can make to reviews, let me know. 

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