Adidas Goodyear Race

Ladies and gentlemen, fasten your seatbelts..

The athletic footwear industry's fascination with motorsports is not new - Puma has wooed Ferrari and Ducati to endorse their shoes, Nike once designed a tyre in collaboration with Michelin (or was it Bridgestone?) and now Adidas has jumped on the bandwagon with its collaboration with Goodyear, a tyre manufacturer which is actively involved in motorsport racing, be it NASCAR, Indy 500 or the Formula One. I first saw a pair of Adidas Goodyear shoes in India around three years ago - the shoe was a black leather version with a similar outsole you see in the picture. Adidas has churned out many versions in the Goodyear series since, and this brings us to the present day Adidas Goodyear Race which we will put under the scanner today.

Like all the shoes which are connected to Motorsports in one way or the other, the Adidas Goodyear race has plenty of design elements strongly influenced by motor racing. The first thing you might notice is the rubber outsole - the texture's resemblance to a tyre thread is uncanny. The picture below shows the outsole of the shoe next to a Goodyear Eagle G-18 rain tyre and you'll notice the strong design connection between the two. It doesn't stop at that - the shoe makes use of other design elements commonly found in performance cars; read on:

Round vs. flat, but still brother-in-arms: I'm glad that they picked a rain tyre as a design inspiration. A dry racing tyre design with no threading at all would have been extremely uninspirational. If any one has watched a race car in motion using a dry tyre, you'll know what I mean.

The car is in the details: A small U-shaped window in the midfoot area has a small piece of silver mesh, undoubtedly influenced by turbo ducts and grills seen in racing cars. The heel area has a clear rubber area through which you can see the carbon-fibre type material, another element found on lightweight racing cars.

The shoes with wings: The Goodyear logo does duty on an outsole wrap up piece in the toe area. What a coincidence that the logo also has a shoe with wings on them - as far as I know, the winged shoes represent Hermes, the Greek messenger God. Hermes used these winged shoes to travel far and wide quickly and efficiently, delivering divine messages. It is evident that the allure of ultra cool sneakers was not lost on the Greek Gods - lucky dudes. Hermes was also said to be the patron of athletes, so here's a perfect Adidas-Greek mythology connection, if ever there was one!

Now to the fit test - I slip into these shoes wearing a pair of normal cotton sports socks and as expected, the tumbled leather upper snugly wraps around my foot. Lacing is quick and easy, with thin, flat cotton laces promptly finding its way through the concealed lace loops beneath the eyestay. The cushioning is not bad for a racing inspired street shoe - the EVA footbed is supported by a compression molded wedge EVA midsole, so there is some squish factor there. The shoe has a cellulose board tucked in between the footbed and the midsole/outsole so that makes the shoe feel a bit rigid. The board is there for support, so it's not really a bad thing if you get used to the feel.

As with all full leather shoes, the Goodyear Race should take around a week's wearing to break in. In the first few days, you might feel the edge of the tongue biting into your ankle and also the front part of the leather eyestay area digging into your forefoot, but that should hopefully go away after a week or so. Lining inside the shoe is a woven fabric which is joined together by a few seams, but the joints are stitched and turned inside, so there are no uncomfortable bumps. It might get a bit hot inside with a full leather upper backed by a fabric lining - Adidas has tried to put in vents (a la race car air ducts) on the tongue and the heel area to address some of the heating fears, but the vent on top of the tongue is robbed of any possible functionality by a rogue size label positioned just beneath the vent. The vents on the counter seem to be functional, but it is too way up in heel area to be of any help. I have seen professional motorcycle racing boots which have fully functional side scoop vents for cooling and it would be a good idea for Adidas shoe designers to take it down to the street shoe level in some form or fashion.

Switch on the afterburner: The Adidas Goodyear race shoe has tons of motorsport design elements. See the racecar inspired mesh vents at the top which mimic race car air ducts.

Aesthetics over function: A size label is directly beneath the mesh vent on opposite side of the tongue, robbing the vent of any functionality if it was meant to provide any. The Goodyear Race shoe comes under Adidas "Originals" so the striped "Trefoil" logo is prominently displayed here in all its retro glory. The piping around the orange tongue piece is reflective and so is the entire dark grey piping which surrounds the eyestay.

The Goodyear race shoe also fits in well with the current trend of "sleek and low" shoe silhouettes which is currently a rage in many countries, India included. Brands like Puma have built almost their whole business around these type of shoes and have tasted a huge amount of success. These sleek shoes are here to stay - for now.

The Lowdown:

Shoe name: Adidas Goodyear Race

Color reviewed: Dark brown / Vital glow

Retail price (India): INR 4999

Estimated US retail: $75

Available at: Major Adidas stores and select multibrand footwear retailers.

Weight: 304 grams for a half pair of size UK 9 / US 9.5.

Verdict: A lightweight package which combines a great motorsport inspired design with premium materials, albeit at a steep price.