Adidas Adizero SL2 - The trainer Adizero needed

My initial impressions of the new Adidas Adizero SL2 after 51.4km (31.9mi).

0:00 Intro
0:22 Adidas SL history
6:10 Specs
6:30 Upper & Fit
10:38 Midsole
12:13 Outsole
13:17 Unexpected connections
14:51 Takumi Sen history
17:18 The ride
18:13 Foot strike differences
19:21 Adizero toe off feel
20:52 Performance matrix
23:29 An Adizero performance trainer
24:17 Next steps
25:14 Outro

Disclosures: No one is paying me to make this video and no one has any editorial control over the contents of this video. Additionally, I have no connection into Adidas’s design or marketing process. Everything I cover in this video is my own opinion and experience.

Product Images courtesy of Adidas and Andy Kumar.

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Subscriber count at time of upload: 8,750

Intro & outro music from Epidemic Sound:
Harmonies - Ben Elson

🤙🏻

[dcamos]

Your insight and detail are unmatched in the running shoe space on YouTube. Enjoying your channel more and more. Keep up the good work! 👏🏼

[CELane-zvuj]

Nailed it! I love the analysis and shoe anthology you bring to your reviews! I only have 20 miles in my SL2s so far but boy do I love them. Your Takumi Sen/Ren analysis has opened up my point of view on what i can do with this shoe!

[carlosgarciabanda]

I got it last week and I’m in love with its performance.

[nnja_hamsters]

I love the shoe history you include in your videos!

[GrooveyTuesday]

You've earned yourself another subscriber. That review was outstanding.

[CrispySauce]

Nailed it! Insane pound-for-pound running shoe, especially since adidas has frequent promos. The Value and versatility is tough to beat at around $100

[josenaveo]

You knocked it out of the park on this review. Great work on analysis, history and storytelling!

[mattbeier]

Really enjoyed this initial review of the SL2 and glad you are enjoying it. I’m loving the show as well. Your review is the first I’ve seen where the connection was made to the SL2 being the training partner to the Takumi Sen. I can see that now thinking back to my time in the TS8 and how I’ve had a lot of those same feeling in the SL2. Keep up the great content and looking forward to your other SL2 comparison videos.

[ninagivens]

Got these as my first ever running shoes and watched the video in hopes that it would describe what ive been experiencing with pronation and hit the nail on the head, very thorough review

[Calicoem]

Let’s go! Just did a first run in mine yesterday was surprised how squishy it was compared to the SL a shoe I actually enjoyed despite it being really stiff.

[NickFrahm]

Stoked to try it after the Takumi comp. I love the latest iterations of Boston/Takumi, so this shoe sounds awesome. Great review, thank you!

[Maloha]

Awesome video! Your graphics really helped me pull the trigger on the SL2 and I could not be happier. It's the perfect blend of grounded feeling plus cushioning for my knees, supporting a 190 lb runner. These are my fav running shoes since my old Boston 6 when I was 20 lb lighter.

[smagic]

Great dissection, Sir. This was a pleasure to watch.

[michaelcaricoo]

The video the people have been waiting for. I still think it is an absolute crime that Adidas isn't giving the SL2 the promotion that it deserves, the mainline page hasn't mentioned it at all. This makes me want to pick up the TS10 though, I held off for a while but if it's basically a slimmed down, racing version of the SL2 then it's got me interest more than it did, especially now that the Metaspeed hasn't worked out well for me since I was using that for faster stuff due to the weight. Fingers crossed the Pro 4 has a release before Chicago

[jeffbarnard]

Good advice, these are excellent shoes. So much better than the previous SL1! Softer, better foam, better upper, no weird arch support issue. They feel stable enough for a trainer, more stable than Takumi sen I think. Only one run so far but they feel natural and I think I can do a lot in them. Also good gym shoes

[kevinscott]

Fascinating video - the takumi sen/ren connection. Very very interesting. I bought a takumi sen boost but they were sent back, far to tight in a UK 9 (was totally not true to size back then)

[ucatani]

I like your product-design approach for these reviews, as you leave most of the price tag component out. Don't get me wrong, prices matter and I don't have an unlimited budget for shoes, as neither do most people, specially in Brazil, where imported products are tagged with a 50-100% premium upon release, perhaps because of importing taxes and currency issues, or because the big corporations know they'll sell anyhow. However, most of the other reviews on this shoe (and other models, too) focus on cost-benefit, and sometimes this approach "clouds" viewer's glance into design and usage (and I'm including myself).

Interestingly, in other contexts, these prices could be totally rearranged, perhaps rearranging consumer bias towards this or that brand/model as well. Here's a list of daily trainers as they are priced in Brazil at this point, converted to USD:

1. Adidas Supernova Rise - 100 USD (w/ a discount)
2. Nike Vomero 17 - 120 USD (w/ a discount)
3. Adidas SL2 - 145 USD (full price)
4. Puma VN 3 - 160 USD (full price)
5. Nike Pegasus 41 - 180 USD (full price)
6. NB Rebel V4 - 180 USD (full price).

As for the SL2, got my pair this morning in the "wannabe-volt" colorway, ahah! Let's see how it does on the road.

Keep up the good work, Chris, and happy Sunday for everyone out there.

[Hypnogogic]

Just had my first run in them. Only five miles but wow! I had an easy day on the schedule and I was afraid these would make me want to run faster but I restrained myself and these responded extremely well to easy pace. Can’t wait to throw some tempo at them. I recently got the SNR and I’ve got about 50 miles on them and they’ve been excellent too. After running in the SL2, it’s going to be hard to want to run in anything else though, at least for a couple of weeks.

[timverkoyen]

This review and explanation to the history of all models covered is very impressive and very interesting. Thank you!

[TimGrose]

Good insight as ever especially the Foot Strike Differences section as strikes an accord about midfoot striking and rolling in a bit. I like this shoe but I think I will need to park it until sort out some issues. My physio thinks I need more arch support and I felt the SL2 basically has none so hence some rolling in! In recent weeks some ankle and Achilles issues which had been troubling me for a while got a lot worse - not due to this shoe (think more general overuse TBH) but I when I tried the SL2 those issues certainly did not go away and actually, in hindsight, made things worse. But hey got to get some miles in a shoe to "review" it. As a result been reaching for the Peg 41s instead and indeed now am trying them with insoles with more arch support. Maybe they might help in the SL2 but then the "SL" would be lost and would need to pull out the glued insoles. So when I hear things like the SL2 is a lot better than the Peg 41s etc etc well yes it is if you want a lightweight "daily" trainer shoe that is fun and snappy but it must suit your gait.