Adidas has unveiled its new road cycling shoes that aim to “improve accessibility to the sport and allow more athletes to clip in with the latest technology”. The brand says the high performance footwear is for the new generation of cyclists with “a desire for adventure, improved health, and the ability to move in and out of their cities in a sustainable and flexible way”.
> 24 of the best performance road cycling shoes
The Road Shoe (£130) is the first Adidas-branded cycling shoe for fifteen years (its sub-brand Five Ten make mountain bike and commuter shoes) and is designed to “empower more people to clip in and ride”.
The plate of the shoe is said to take elements from Adidas’ football boot designs, “using recycled material with added glass fibre elements to provide the stiffness that road cyclists expect from their soleplate, without the added weight”.
> Buyer’s guide: How to choose the best cycling shoes for you
The upper is made entirely from 100% recycled material, which the brand says is “shaped to provide an intuitive feel and function”. Completing the secure fit is a lace tightening system and toggle.
The Road Shoe is compatible with three-bolt cleat systems (SPD-SL, Look Keo, etc) and comes in classic black, which is said to offer “a blank canvas to combine the shoe with various outfits”. For visibility in low light conditions, the heel and Adidas’ three-strip mark are white and are made from reflective materials.
Adidas has produced cycling shoes as far back as the 60s with the Spezial, and famously Eddy Merckx raced in Adidas shoes from 1971. The brand continued developing cycling shoes until 2005. Since then, Adidas has still dabbled in the cycling sphere and were the first clothing sponsor of Team Sky before Rapha and Castelli came along.
The Road Shoes are available from 11pm on 30th November online at www.adidas.co.uk or via the Adidas app.
33 thoughts on “Adidas re-enters road cycling footwear after 15 years with new laced Road Shoe”
Hmmmm….a carbon sole plus
Hmmmm….a carbon sole plus add some spd versions please!!
Nice. I think I heard that
Nice. I think I heard that Nike are heading back into cycling too – clearly we really are the new golf…
If you must have an Adidas logo on a cycling shoe (but not the stripes) FiveTens now have it on the tongue
Laces and basically a plastic
Laces and basically a plastic sole …
laces mat be a retro look, but in my experience no where near as good/functional/practical as Velcro or boa.
Takes me back to the 80s and
Takes me back to the 80s and my Franz Beckenbauer football boots.
Then I discovered cycling and left football behind. Now I can ride my bike and look like I’m wearing my football boots!! Winner!!
The saddle height on that
The saddle height on that first picture is painful to look at, makes me wonder whether the guys at Adidas actually know what they are doing…
I would hazzard a guess that
I would hazzard a guess that the people who designed the shoes are not the same as the people who set up the photoshoot…
I don’t concern myself with
I don’t concern myself with other people’s saddle heights; from what I can gather when looking at bike publicity photos these days no bugger sits down anyway.
For anyone on the lookout for three-stripe glamour here’s a pic of my bad boys from BITD:
odd how much it looks like a
odd how much it looks like a trainer/football boot rather than a road cycling shoe, and that from someone who uses giro empires…looks interesting but lacks replaceable heel …will await reviews…
Need a MTB version as well…
Need a MTB version as well….
Velophaart_95 wrote:
Agreed – it would look just like a ‘normal’ adidas trainer off the bike, which would be a big bonus.
I thought 5 10 were adidas –
I thought 5 -10 were adidas – or was it a recent aquisition?
Captain Badger wrote:
They are (I think!)
Five ten started
Five ten started independently, but have been owned by Adidas since 2011 (according to Wikipedia). I guess the distinction is that Adidas are putting their own branding and styling on these shoes so in that sense it’s still a re-entry for “Adidas” cycling shoes.
5-10 seems to be getting
5-10 seems to be getting heavily assimmilated by the Adiborg at the moment. Some of their lines have gone to Terrex for example. It goes both ways though – Terrex had an MTB boot last season with a Stealth sole which has been relaunched as the Trail Cross Mid Pro (lovely flat boots by the way – just need a Goretex version)
Cue the retro Adidas Merckx
Cue the retro Adidas Merckx relaunch next year (fingers crossed)
Sorry, but what? Really? The
Sorry, but what? Really? The upper is “shaped to provide an intuitive feel and function”? WTAF is that? Isn’t it time brands were challenged in an attempt to stop them trying to somehow ‘woo’ us with this meaningless marketing BS, rather than it simply being repeated? It’s like all that awful management speak from a few years back, which thankfully seems to have died back a bit … or perhaps I’m just out of the loop now, in my ideas shower, reaching out to pick the low-hanging fruit and calendarise my high-level learnings.
curdins wrote:
.. but think of the marketing agencies!!
My savings are in danger
My savings are in danger
Laces look retro/hip. And it
Laces look retro/hip. And they may be better than velcro. And there it ends now that we have boa.
Each to their own, but velcro
Each to their own, but velcro works for me. Independent tension adjustment, simple to undo when knackered at the end of the ride.
And if they go wrong, fix with needle and thread or glue. Appropriate technology in a nutshell.
JL77 wrote:
Fine, even less reason to go back to laces on cycling shoes.
If they actually wanted to
If they actually wanted to bother. They’d have taken some inspiration from Gallus Baffies. It seems all the tagging he does of them might have made them think there was a market for a comeback, but with the boring job they’ve made…I doubt it.
https://www.instagram.com/gallusbaffies/
Think of the two biggest
Think of the two biggest names in sportswear and who do you come up with. I believe they spent millions trying to get into cycling over the years and although we cyclists are a fickle bunch and like to swap and change we do like cycling specific brands which those two are not.
At least for Adidas it should
At least for Adidas it should read “trying to get back into cycling”. My first cycling shoes were Adidas bought in 1986 for use in toe clips and straps. Used them for years and then along came SPD.
Adidas Merckx shoes were a
Adidas Merckx shoes were a favourite in UK bunches and the pro peloton in the ’80s.
Impressive. Mine weren’t as
Impressive. Mine weren’t as posh as yours. They did have grooves across the sole so that they latched onto the plate at the back of the pedals. One day I was meeting with some lads for a ride and I had tightened up the leather straps. When we met up, somebody turned across the front of me and I had to brake instantly and couldn’t get my foot out in time. I fell over like a tree and had a sore hip, shoulder and neck muscles for a few days. That was the last time I tightened up the straps on the toe clips. For me, SPD and SL have been a great development.
I had some of those. Nice
I had some of those. Nice shoes but the split shoe plate was a PITA to get right.
Great so could you post some
Great so could you post some actual clear pictures of them please.
Looking forward to a review
Looking forward to a review of these competitvly priced, intuitive feeling and functioning shoes…with a lace tightening system. I’ve been having trouble getting my hands into my current Sidis, so I’m in the market.
Try gloves on your hands
Try gloves on your hands instead of sidi shoes
I’m keen to try these as most
I’m keen to try these as most of my trainers are adidas and they fit well. Doesn’t necessarily mean that these will but it’s worth a try. Carbon sole would have been better but for £130 that might be asking a bit much.
Adidas Terrex MTb shoes have
Adidas Terrex MTb shoes have been available for a few years. So certainly not the first shoe for 15 years; first road shoe possibly.
Useless…..looking at the
Useless…..looking at the pictures these shoes are not compatible with SPD’s…..big mistake. I was excited to see that Road shoes will be available, just disappointed now