The adidas Adizero SL2 is a daily running shoe designed for versatility and affordability. It aims to balance comfort and cushioning with a good level of energy return thanks to a combination of Lightstrike and Lightstrike Pro foams in the midsole.
Although it doesn’t have the Continental rubber outsole seen in many of the brand’s shoes, there’s still a healthy layer of outsole rubber to provide grip and durability.
Tom has been testing the shoe out to get some early thoughts.
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JUMP STRAIGHT IN
00:00 – Intro
00:14 – Stats
00:28 – Design
01:02 – How’s the Fit?
02:00 – The Run Test
07:52 – Verdict
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Hey Tommy from the Run testers in this Video I'm going to doing a first run Review of the Adidas Adis SL2 let's have a [Music] Look the Adidas addz s SL2 costs £110 or $130 it weighs 240 G or 8.5 Oz for men In a size 8 and the drop is 9 [Music] Mm the Adidas add Z SL2 is a daily Running shoe designed for versatility And affordability it aims to balance Comfort and cushioning with a good level Of energy return Thanks to a combination Of Light Strike and Light Strike Pro Foams in the midsole although it doesn't Have the Continental rubber outsole seen In many of the brand shoes there's still A healthy layer of outsa rubber to Provide grip and durability the upper is Made from an engineered mesh that Provides targeted support around key Areas of the foot as well as plenty of Breathability when picking up the pace And there's a modest level of padding to Prov additional [Music] Comfort so the F for me in the SL2 I'm a Size 8 in the UK it's very much what You'd expect from an added ass shoe um It's you really need to size up half a Size in this shoe I've got these in a Size eight and it's it's fine but it's Probably just a little bit too small for
Me definitely too small for people who Like a load of space um before the big Toe it's also a relatively narrow shoe Probably because I needed to size up Half a size but um overall it's quite a Lean shoe to wear so I would definitely Size up half a size in this shoe there's Plenty of padding around it I actually Found it a more comfortable shoe to wear Than some of the other Adas shoes that I've tested like the adios Pro 3 which I Did have a few issues with especially Around the top bit of the shoe the upper Is quite quite flexible um and quite Comfortable as well so it's a bit better Than what you get on the um adios Pro 3 Um but I would go up half a size in this Shoe So the Adidas SL2 is a shoe that uh We've been wanting to try for a while um It is a daily shoe it's a shoe that is Pretty cost effective uh when you look At the price of running shoes these days I hadn't tested the previous version of This shoe out so I um I've seen mixed Reviews of that shoe I know a lot of People said it was a little bit too firm Didn't have a lot of energy return in it There are some changes to this shoe Which do make it a different ride Apparently from what was experienced in That previous shoe biggest of those is The midell fo so it has a combination of Light Strike and Light Strike Pro so
You've got Light Strike around the Majority of the section but you also Have this section in the middle of the Light Strike which is Light Strike Pro And at the bottom of the shoe you've got Holes in the front and the back where You can see the ful length um midsole Layer of Light Strike Pro now Light Strike Pro is the foam that Adidas using A lot of its performance shoes it's nice And bouncy it's got a lot of UR return In it there's not loads of it in here it Mainly light stri strike um but it does Give a really balanced ride so what I Was expecting from this shoe was that it Would just be a sort of good value daily Shoe that you could do lots of um General training in what I found is it Is actually a lot better than that it's A really really good shoe for quite a Few types of runs I have actually done Two runs in the shoe now and both were Quite taxing runs they were combined Slower sections with intervals first one I did was 6 * 4 minutes at my half Marathon pace which is about 415 km and the second run I did was uh With threshold elements in it so a few 4 Minute 8 Minute sections in that were Running at my threshold pace which is Well I was running at just under 4 Minute kmers um on the easy sections the Shoe works very very well it's very Comfortable it's definitely um you can
Definitely feel a bit of cushiony in in That mid soole uh which I wasn't Expecting based on what I'd seen from The previous version of the shoe um but What really makes the shoe good is when You're picking up the pace it really Kicks into gear it isn't the most Cushion shoe out there when it comes to Daily shoes there's a lots of different Types now and sometimes daily shoes Really Veer towards the cushion side of Things and they're really more like Cushioned easy Run shoes this is the Other side I think this is a shoe that Is very nippy very Nimble you can really Pick up the pace in this when I was Running uh my 3 50 minute kilom which is The peak of what I was doing in that Interval session It felt good it felt like you could Really pick up the pace in it it doesn't Feel like a lot of the shoes that you Get these days which have loads of Energy return it doesn't feel Particularly bouncy it actually feels Quite traditional in the way that it Rides it's very much a lightweight shoe That just has a nice little bit of pop In it so you can pick up the pace nicely In it you can you can clip along at a Really good Pace um but it's not really Doesn't feel like it's doing loads it's Not like a super trainer it's not really Bouncing you along it doesn't feel like
A racing Although adash do talk about it being Shoe designed for racing on the website Um but it is a very versatile shoe so I Think this it probably sits in the realm Of things like Haw Mac series for me Where it's a shoe that can do easy runs But it's really designed for picking up The P when you want to which when you Compare the price of the HW ma uh range With this shoe that's a really good deal This is this is a very well priced shoe For what it does and it's an impressive Entry into the more costeffective shoes That Adidas has um So yeah back to the shoes uh versatility Um over the those those two runs that I've done it just works the easy runs It's absolutely fine feels very very Comfortable picking up the pace it just Allows you to do that in a very natural Way there's no really noticeable rocker In this shoe there's not a plate in it Or anything like that it just feels like A light Nimble shoe uh which is really Nice uh to run in and is definitely a Shoe that is worth having in a rotation If you do run with carbon plates and Things like that because it it does feel Quite nice to take a shoe out that is Just very nicely designed and simple It's a very simple shoe to run in um the Other thing I would say about it though Is that I like a lot of cushioning in my
Shoes um if you watch the channel you Know I always go on about that um there Isn't this is a bit firmer than what I'd Normally want from a lot of my shoes so I probably wouldn't take this shoe over 15K I probably stick to the shest stuff Where I might be doing some intervals Where I might be doing some fart Lex Those sorts of things but if I was going Up to over above 15 okay if I was doing Half marathons things like that I'd Probably say this shoe just doesn't have Enough cushioning for me for the comfort Level that I want during those runs it's Not far off and for a lot of people it's Probably got plenty of cushioning in it But for me I would just like a little Bit more cushioning in it just to get a Little bit more softness uh and possibly A little bit more bounce but that's That's preference for me I think it's For most people this would be very very A very good shoe um to have in your Armory or your rotation uh just cuz it Works really well the other things I Would say the is very comfortable I Mentioned it was a little bit on the Lean side it's it's not a major issue I I did need to size up half sizing the Shoe but over those two runs I've not Had any discomfort on it I can just tell That it would be better if I had a Little bit more space in it um the Outsole it isn't Continental rubber on
This like it is on a lot of Adidas's Shoes um but it's a very good outso it's Really solid it's quite thick uh it's Got these really nice uh sort of grid Lines on it or um lines running across It uh the runs done haven't been in the Wet but they have been a little bit on Um gravel paths and things like that and The grip was absolutely great on this And I think it's probably going to do a Good job for versatility cuz that's Quite a thick rubber outsa on it as well So all in all very impressed on those First couple of runs looking forward to Doing a lot more uh runs in this shoe uh Cuz I think it can do a lot of Stuff okay so my early verdict on the Adidas adz SL2 uh you can probably guess From what I've already said in this Video really impressive it I think it in This world of the lower end cost uh Running shoes those daily shoes that um You buy if you want something that's Cost effective but still has a lot of The benefits that you're going to get From the more expensive shoes things Like the pum velocity N3 things like the Fuel cell Propel 5 those sorts of shoes That come in that undercut those um the Sort of standard cost that you get for More premium shoes now um it's getting Really competitive there's a lot of Really good shoes coming out in across Um the the cheaper side of of um running
Shoes and this is one of the best Options that I've I've tested it's Really really well balanced it some of Those shoes like the Propel it's it's Comfortable but it skews more towards The easy stuff I definitely wouldn't use That as an interval shoe I wouldn't use It as a holiday shoe if I wanted to do Some faster stuff um the pum velocity N3 I think that's this is very close to That but I would say this is feels a Little bit lighter on the feet Definitely feels a little a bit more Nimble to me um and for some people I Think this would be a better option so My ear verdict on the shoe is that it's Really really good um I think it uh as Mentioned I hadn't tested the previous Version of the shoe uh but this one I Think is definitely a good shoe and well Worth looking at if you want a solid Cost effective daily shoe that can Really do quite a lot of stuff um I Think for a lot of people this shoe Would be a doal shoe so if you are a Beginner or if you are General Runner That probably only goes up to 15K you Could use this for everything you could Use it for easy runs you could use it For your racing you could do 10ks in it And it'd be absolutely fine um and you'd Have no issues at all for people like me I think it's just a really good Cost-effective uh daily shoe that you
Can use to just churn out the miles do Your interval sessions and you'd be more Than happy with it and then when it Comes to race a you can you can use your Carbon plate shoe but really impressed Of it so far looking forward to doing a Lot more testing in this shoe um and um I will report back when I have finished That's it for me on this first run Review of the Adidas add s L2 thanks for Watching don't forget to like subscribe Click the little bell and if you're Going to the catching you can find a Link to our podcast which comes out a Couple of times each month thanks for Watching catch you next time
