The F50 range has had a tremendous rise from being one of Adidas weakest selling football boots to being the boot that every kid wants. Adidas knew that they didn’t have to re-create the wheel with the F50 Adizero. They simply took a tried and loved product and made it better. A huge thanks to Jeremy Drake of Elite Sports Properties in Sydney for supplying us with one of the most wanted football boots in the world.
Design (4/5. People will be drooling over your boots and begging to try them on, and a host of world class players will sport them)
It cannot be denied, the Warning/Black/White F50 Adizero certainly makes you stand out on the pitch. The amount of people who remark about my boots is unbelievable, from team mates at training to opponents on the football pitch. The Warning/Black/White colourway is also the most popular Adizero II colourway so far, everyone from Lionel Messi, Nani and Gareth Bale have been seen wearing the Warning colourway.
The Warning/Black/White colourway is certainly flashy and isn’t for the faint hearted. This is why it loses a point. And let’s face it, it’s pretty hard to give a boot 5 out of 5 because you will never have a boot that everyone thinks looks good! The warning is extremely bright and you have to be good to wear these boots. Seriously. I recall officiating a football game where there was a player wearing the Warning/Black/White Adizero. The crowd jeered him for the whole game over his boots. One little slip and everyone will be on to you immediately. Be prepared to cop a little criticism if you wear these. It is still sleek and they look absolutely fantastic on your feet.
Comfort (2/5 Stiff and causes blistering at first, but then breaks in after a few uses to a point where it won’t hurt your feet)
When you strip a boot right down to it’s bare essentials and reduce the weight to an absolute minimum, you can’t expect the boots to feel like Umbro Specialis. However, it must be said that the synthetic upper provides a fantastic feel. Adidas claim that the SprintSkin upper feels like a second skin and they really are not kidding. The upper provides a nice, snug fit and it is the closest feeling you get to playing barefoot. With a 1mm upper, you will get a fantastic feel for the ball. The upper feels fantastic after you wear them in, I’ll talk about this more later in the review.
So how did the F50 Adizero lose all of it’s marks in the comfort department? It’s down to the sole. Adidas provide two sock liners with the F50 Adizero, one ‘comfort’ liner and a ‘lightweight’ one. I tried the lightweight sock liner for 5 minutes when I first received the boot and I had to change it immediately. It’s excruciating. Even the comfort one isn’t really much better. While it is more comfortable than the lightweight sock liner, it is still uncomfortable. A removal of the sock liners tell you why the Adizero is so uncomfortable on your soles. Your feet virtually rest on the TPU bottom, which is the white plastic you see on the heel of the boot. Wearing the F50 Adizero has made me yearn for the comfort and supple feel provided by kangaroo leather boots.
One more thing about comfort, if you do want a pair of F50 Adizeros yourself, you must get a correct size before you purchase it. The middle part of the F50 is very skinny. This has meant I’ve had to order a half size more than I would normally wear. Consequently, the boots are a little bit more roomy at the toes than I would prefer. If you order online, you can’t order a foot size you would normally buy. You need to try them on first.
Performance (3.5/5, it does everything it says it does on the box and there are performance enhancers that will help some part of your game)
Adidas’ motto for the Adizero is “Light Makes Fast”. They aren’t kidding. Dribbling at high speeds and even running is an absolute privilege in these boots. It feels like you have nothing on your feet and the touch you get with these boots is as close as you will ever get to the barefoot experience. I don’t know if it’s a mental thing, but you feel faster when you run with these boots on. The triangular studs really help with directional change. At least the triangular studs do what they claim, unlike Nike’s SenseStud on the Superfly which we don’t even think works.
Some claim that your feel hurt when you kick the ball with the synthetic version of the F50 Adizero. I didn’t find this at all, except for when you volley. If the ball is coming from a high distance, your foot may snap back a little bit. It shouldn’t put you off buying the boot however, as it could really be down to my technique! But you don’t get a satisfying strike feeling that you may get with other boots.
Another thing about the Adizeros, because they have next to no protection, I find that I don’t go into tackles as hard as I used to. I almost go into each 50-50 challenge for the ball and think “Uh oh, I’m wearing Adizeros, this is going to hurt.” This is why the Adizero is really restricted to wingers and strikers. I know Dani Alves wears them but he could be seen as more of a wing back. I don’t recommend these if you are a hard tackling centre midfielder or centre back. But if pace is a part of your game, then these boots would definitely help your performance on the pitch.
Value (4/5- Worth more than you paid for, a great bargain and price for a great product which lasts over a year, where top quality extras are available)
You may recall that when suspect images of the the first Adizero floated around the net and there were whispers over how light it is, people thought that this would mean a huge price tag would be slapped onto the boot. It was the exact opposite. The F50 Adizero is known for it’s low price and this is no exception. Selling at around US$200, Adidas makes Nike look ridiculous with it’s cleat that is nearly double the price of the Adizero and also much lighter. It’s still $50 cheaper than the Puma V1.10 SL and that’s for a 15 gram difference in weight.
Durability doesn’t seem to be an issue with these boots. The SprintFrame seems a great way to keep the thin upper secure and strong without sacrificing weight, which is much better than the Flywire in the Superfly cleats. The only way these boots might deteriorate is if you use them too much! It seems you will be able to get at least a whole season out of these boots and maybe even into half way into the next season.
Conclusion
Adidas have shown why they are the kings of the speed boot market with the Adizero. Weighing in at 165 grams, I really don’t understand why people are buying the Adizero Primes. The only difference is that the Primes are 20 grams lighter, have a different upper called AdiTwin and it is double the price. In my opinion, don’t splurge an extra $100 to buy the Primes. The F50 Adizero TRX is a fraction of the price and is a great feeling boot. The bottom line, if you want a lightweight speed boot, I would recommend the F50 Adizero TRX. But if comfort and protection are your priorities, then you may have to look at another boot.
About Jordon English