It’s arguably one of the most successful boots on the market, and the adiZero range has probably been the best speed boot ever released by adidas. After a year and a half of resounding success, adidas have released the latest boot for the adiZero range. The new miCoach F50 adiZero has some high expectations to match, has adidas produced the best F50 adiZero ever? Soccer Reviews has had the chance to put the boot through it’s paces over the past month or so. Huge thanks to adidas for allowing us to review the boot.
Design 2.5/5 (A design that looks okay, but is sported by many professionals around the world)
This is one part of the miCoach F50 adiZero that has disappointed me. Having reviewed the old Warning F50 adiZero, one of my favourite things about the old boot was the simplistic design of the boot. It’s simple, it was an all orange upper, with a white SprintFrame soleplate and the three adidas stripes on the side of the boot in black. It was brilliant. Yet the newly designed SprintWeb has muddled up the old design of the boot, and in the process destroyed a perfectly good looking football boot.
The clash of yellow and red isn’t as smooth as some of the one tone colourways we saw on the old Prime series. It’s grown on me, but I’m still not a massive fan of it. We won’t see any more one tone colourways on the new F50 adiZero series like we did on the Prime series. It’ll be a constant contrast of two different colours, and most of them will end up looking too bright as adidas will be throwing loads of colourways at us and hoping they come across something that’s popular.
I could easily have given the miCoach adiZero a lower score when it comes to design, but it does have one saving grace. Some of the upcoming colourways look absolutely gorgeous. The White/Red/Black colourway that will be launched prior to EURO 2012 is expected to be a massively popular release, while the Running White/Black/Lab Lime F50 adiZero that will be launched prior to the 2012-2013 season looks brilliant. It’s proof that adidas can make classy adiZero colourways, but they certainly missed the mark here.
Comfort 3.5/5 (It feels really good on your feet, but be wary of the pain after the first session)
It took me a little while to decide how to rate the comfort of the boot. In the end, I had to give it a 3.5/5 as opposed to the 4/5 I was considering giving the boot. Let’s get to the positives first, adidas have successfully made an adiZero which is much more comfortable than the last, and it’s brilliant that adidas have worked on what I thought was the worst thing of the old F50 adiZero. The old adiZero was too tight around the midfoot, not tight enough around the heel and ankle and the ‘comfort’ sockliner was far from what it suggested it was. Adidas have worked on all of these issues and fixed all of these points. The tight fit around the heel is perfect in terms of how secure it is, and this is retained as you move up through the midfoot, but it isn’t so tight as you get to the toes, something which is really nice. One little thing I like is the redesigned tongue, it feels like there’s more quality to the new tongue compared to the old tongue, and it snuggles up nicely when you put the laces on.
But what’s the issue with it? Breaking in the boot isn’t too bad, while the breaking in of most synthetic boots often involves a lot of blisters, I only had one or two when I broke the miCoach adiZeros in. Blisters weren’t the issue though, it’s just really, really sore feet. When I first broke the adiZero in over a one hour session, they actually felt brilliant on my feet. But as soon as I took them off, my feet were incredibly sore! I couldn’t figure out why, but the extreme discomfort made the first use of the boots almost unbearable. But since then, I’ve experienced no issues with comfort. As synthetic speed boots go, this could be one of the most comfortable ones on the market.
Performance 4/5 (You become a noticeably better player due to the performance enhancement offered by the product)
Besides the lightweight nature of the boot and the ultra thin upper, it may appear that the miCoach F50 adiZero doesn’t really offer too much in terms of aiding a player’s performance. But it offers much more than what you think it would.
Touch: The SprintSkin upper on the old F50 adiZero was brilliant for the close feel you get of the ball. While the SprintSkin hasn’t changed much, it’s the new addition of the SprintWeb that is a little bit different. Either way, the touch you can get is still brilliant. The combination of the lightweight nature of the boot and the thin upper allows a superior touch on the ball. Dribbling is absolutely brilliant, and if anything, it may make you attempt to try a few things that you normally don’t do!
Kicking: This is often a graveyard for speed boots. With weight reduced to an absolute minimum and a paper thin upper, this is often one of the downfalls of many a speed boot. The miCoach F50 adiZero is not one of these boots. Kicking in the new adiZero has remarkably improved. I hated kicking in my old Warning adiZero, but a combination of the slight changes to the SprintSkin upper, the SprintWeb and the newly improved tongue results in what I think could be one of the best boots on the market to kick in. I often feel you don’t get a satisfying connection with the ball when you kick in lightweight speed boots, but the three changes mentioned above come together in a nice little package to create a synthetic speed boot that actually decent to kick in. It’s perhaps my biggest surprise of the boot coming out of the review.
Traction: We all know that the adiZero is incredibly lightweight, and this often means that you feel like you’re gliding on the pitch when you’re sprinting as fast as you can after the ball. While I’ve never had any issues with traction in the boots, adidas claim that this model of the adiZero has new TRAXION 2.0 studs for maximum acceleration and speed. But to be honest, I don’t think there is any difference between the new and the old adiZero soleplate. I can run quickly in both of them, and I feel like I great fantastic traction with both of them, so I don’t think there’s really much difference between the old and the new traction.
Protection: And here’s the sole reason why we cannot give the adiZero a 5/5 when it comes to protection. While a speed boot isn’t meant to be designed to be a boot that maximises protection, aren’t the most important things to look out for in a boot is that it’s comfortable and gives the wearer some decent protection? You still feel very exposed when you wear the adiZero, and I heavily advise anyone who considers buying adiZeros to wear either Metasox or Hot Shot Gels to give yourself a little more protection on the pitch.
Value: 3.5/5 (Quite a good value cleat where you get your money’s worth and it should last for one season)
If you want the most up to date miCoach F50 adiZero colourway, you can pick up a pair of synthetic F50 adiZeros for $210. When you compare it to the other top tier boots offered by Nike and Puma (the Mercurial Superfly III and V1.11 SL respectively), it’s actually the cheapest boot of the bunch. However, the two other boots come with a boot bag, something the adiZero lacks. However, the adiZero does come with your choice of two different insoles. The boot is normally packaged with the ‘Lightweight’ insole, but I chose the ‘Comfort’ sockliner throughout the majority of the review. The only time I used the ‘Lightweight’ sole was when I played a game.
But the adiZero does come with the most revolutionary piece of football boot technology we’ve seen in a long time, the miCoach chip. I’ve been using the miCoach chip for the past month, and we will have a full write up of the miCoach technology following this review.
Durability wise, the boots have been used on 3G football pitches 80% of the time, arguably the toughest terrain a football boot would be played on. They’ve held up very well, and they should last for at least a whole season. Perhaps you may be able to notice it in the photos, but the studs get really, really dirty. The once gleaming yellow studs are now somewhat darker. It’s not a big problem, and hopefully the only time someone else notices it is when they’re behind you as you sprint past them!
Positives:
1. Kicking: Definitely my biggest surprise in the new synthetic miCoach F50 adiZero. The combination of the newly redesigned upper and tongue makes it a decent boot to kick with. There’s no fancy gimicks in the upper to make you kick better, but the upper provides a nice, clean surface to kick with, and it gives you a nice satisfying feel when you put your laces through the ball.
2. Touch: It’s the thinnest upper on the market, and the SprintSkin probably allows the closest experience you’ll ever have to playing barefoot. Whenever you’re dribbling, the thin upper and lightweight nature of the boot makes it feel like you’re gliding over the pitch as every touch feels like an absolute joy.
3. Comfort: Okay, so it’s far from being the most comfortable football boot on the market, but adidas have surprised me with how comfortable the new adiZero is. The improved comfort of the boot comes is a close second to being my biggest surprise in the new boot. A more stable fit around the heel and a new and improved tongue are the keys to the improved comfort of the boot. Pity it’s not a good boot to break in though.
Negatives:
1. Protection: It’s definitely the biggest flaw of the F50 adiZero and Puma V1.11 SL. If you have a synthetic boot that weighs less than 170 grams, you’re stripping the boot to it’s bare minimum, and protection is almost certainly the first thing that is thrown out of the window. You will feel a little exposed on the pitch if you decide to pick the synthetic miCoach F50 adiZero.
2. Design: There’s a lot of ways you can look at it. I’ve heard people say the boot looks too futuristic, or there’s too much going on. In the end, the Red/Yellow colourway really doesn’t work for me. At least we’ve got some decent colourways coming up though.
Conclusion
Design – (2.5/5)
Comfort – (3.5/5)
Performance – (4/5)
Value – (3.5/5)
Total 13.5/20 or 67.5%
It’s an improvement by adidas, and the adiZero still holds the mantle as arguably the best speed boot on the market. The synthetic version may not be as good as the leather version, but it’s still a very decent boot. Adidas now has a big challenge ahead. The release of the next adiZero will be the most important release adidas has had to do for quite a while. It’s such a successful product, and some people won’t want to see adidas change an already successful formula. But at the same time, there will be those who say it’s the same as the current model. Either way, we can’t wait for the next adiZero.
About Jordon English){kind=link}
Can you do a comparison of Leather against Synthetic? I’m undecided on which one to get.
Rob I was just going to aks the same question. I would like a compare of the lether and the synthetic.
The “Performance” category (You become a noticeably better player due to the performance enhancement offered by the product) needs to go.
Seriously.
How can someone possibly believe that a pair of boots MAKES them “noticeably” better at soccer? Are you kidding me? You can be quicker with a lighter boot, you can spin a ball more than usual with a boot but just buying a boot makes you “noticeably” better? Come on, man…
There will be an all white synthetic F50 micoach and an all black leather F50 micoach just like the original F50 adizeros
Do the leather ones have noticeably better protection? Or are the synthetics the way to go?
Hey guys,
We can do a comparison post between the leather and synthetic adiZero, but for those who are unsure which one is better, let me ask you this. How many players do you know are wearing synthetic adiZeros? It’s really only Bale and Alves. There may be a few others who I can’t think of, but everyone else wears the leather version. It’s the choice of the professionals and it’s the way to go if you’re choosing between the two uppers.
In terms of protection, the thicker leather around the toe makes the leather adiZero better protection wise than the synthetic version.
Yes but they get new pairs like every three games so durability is not an issue. But for the average consumer they want a boot that last, and the synthetic version has a lot more durability.
Finally, a good, unbiased review of these boots. Everywhere has done nothing but praise them, and talk them not. I’ve never wore them, so I can’t speak from experience, but it’s just good to hear an honest review.
Hey Jordon,
Just wanting to say – having tested the miCoach Synthetic + Leathers for a couple of months. I prefer the synthetic ones. However durability on both is poor. Very poor. My soleplate has cracked and some major separation has begun already on both.
On the leather version u gave the design a 4/5 and on this one 2.5/5? haha , its the same boot.
But great review though!
Hey ER17,
A fair point, but James reviewed the leather version, and he obviously had a different opinion on the design to me. Hence the different scores given in that department.
Good pick up though!
@ER17,
Even though two different people reviewed the boots, our rating system is meant to make it equal throughout, so the main reason behind the difference in scores is the players that wear the boots. Part of the criteria for a high rating in the design department is which players wear the boots, and seeing as most adiZero wearers opt for the leather versions of the boots, that’s why it got a higher rating. But good pick up though! Hopefully that clears it up a little.
Jordon,
Oh! I tought that it was one person reviewing both. Haha