- adidas’s marketing pitch: Designed to optimize running efficiency.
- Upper: Lightweight mesh with attached tongue. Semi-collapsible heel.
- Midsole: Full-length Lightstrike Pro foam with Energy rods. 6 mm heel drop.
- Outsole: Continental and Lighttraxion rubber.
- Weight: 200 gms/ 7.05 Oz for a half pair of Men’s US 9/UK 8.5/EUR 42.5/CM 27.
- Stack heights: 39 mm (heel), 33 mm (forefoot).
- Available widths: Single, D – regular (reviewed)
- Previous model: adidas adios Pro 3.
- Country of origin: China.
- Recommended use: 10K, half-marathons, marathons.
- Footstrike orientation: Midfoot/forefoot (full contact).
- Orthotic compatibility: No.
- Median lifespan: 450 miles.
- Recommended paces: Quicker than 4:30 min/km (7:00 min/mile).
- Recommended temperature range: Warmer than -0° C/32° F.
Pros
- Soft and bouncy comfort
- Propulsive rocker effect
- Outsole traction
- Speed-friendly ride
Cons
- Unstable heel
- Low versatility, demanding character
- Potential of heel bite
Also consider:
- New Balance SC Elite V4
- Saucony Endorphin Pro 4
- Nike Vaporfly 4
- Asics Metaspeed Sky Paris
- Asics Metaspeed Edge Paris
- Use the adizero EVO SL for daily runs, tempo, 10K, marathon training
- Use the adidas Adios Pro 4 for half-marathons, marathons
- Use the adidas Takumi 10 or Adios 9 for 5K, sprints
In this review:
SUMMARY AND VERDICT
Here’s a picture of two adidas Adios Pro versions side by side, and one is not like the other.
One version had a friendly and helpful nature. In our Adios Pro 3 review, we called it the most versatile marathon racer. Its supportive ride was forgiving enough for heel strikers, overpronators, easy speeds, or a combination of all three. It was almost an everyday trainer in the guise of a super shoe.
On the other hand, the Adios Pro 4 now puts certain qualifiers in place for the wearer to extract the best performance. If a runner is not mindful of the Adios Pro 4’s demanding nature, the ownership experience may fall short of the lofty expectations that a $250 purchase entails.
What, exactly, are the unofficial guide-rails required for running in the Adios Pro 4? It would be easier to understand if we showed you how the shoe behaves under different scenarios – starting with the ideal gait, footstrike, and speed range for making the most of this shoe. Our first scenario (pictured above) shows a forefoot striker weighing 77 kg (170 lbs), running a 4:05 min/km (6:34 min/mile) with a neutral gait. This running form skips loading the unstable heel altogether and quickly proceeds to the toe-off phase.
The second scenario (pictured above) demonstrates the Adios Pro 4’s performance under a midfoot strike at a respectable pace, but with an over-pronated gait. The runner weighs 72 kg (159 lbs), midfoot striking at a 4:39 min/km (7:29 min/mile). This time, the foot is rolling in excessively under the arch, causing the midsole to lose structure. The compressed heel also causes the Adios Pro 4 to lose all of its 6 mm drop in the moment. It’s worth noting that the midsole gap (the Energy Rods window) makes the inner heel easier to compress.
The third scenario (pictured above) shows a 69 kg (152 lbs) heel striker running at a 4:33 min/km (7:09 min/mile) pace. In this case, the dynamic heel drop turns negative for a split second, as the heel compresses more than the forefoot. In that brief moment, the heel stack height is lower than the forefoot stack height.
The three scenarios paint a clear picture of the Adios Pro 4’s performance envelope; it’s the combination of a forefoot strike, neutral gait, and speeds faster than 4:30 min/km (7:00 min/mile). The unique midsole design also requires the runner to have strong ankles with a well-conditioned plantar fascia at the very least, failing which, a longer break-in period may be required – not for the shoe, but for the foot.
Heel strikers and overpronators may have to look elsewhere for their marathon racer needs. The New Balance SC Elite V4 would be our one number choice for heel strikers and overpronating midfoot strikers, followed by the Saucony Endorphin Pro 4. Even the new Nike Vaporfly 4 is a good fit for heel strikers, as the molded midsole ridge improves the level of structure and support over the Vaporfly 3. The Saucony Endorphin Elite 2 is from a higher price tier, but that is also an option.
What does Solereview think of the Adios Pro 4’s lower versatility? Leaving the safe harbor of the Adios Pro 3’s please-all design takes the Adios Pro 4 in a different direction, one that’s more demanding, yet rewarding. The re-formulated Lightstrike Pro foam is softer and bouncier, the rocker moves to an early stage position to make the shoe more propulsive, and the glove-like upper offers improved lockdown and comfort.
While certain trade-offs, like the lower heel stability, have been made in the name of progress, the radical redesign of the Adios Pro is the right strategy for adidas. Whereas the Adios Pro 3 had a way of growing on you, the Adios Pro 4 leaves a lasting first impression, even during the first fresh-out-of-the-box run. Forefoot and midfoot landings at speeds 4:30 min/km (7:00 min/mile) and faster are rewarded with a soft and springy ride that wastes no time in propelling the foot forward. Within the current crop of marathon super racers, the Adios Pro 4 stands out with its impressive ride quality and an upper fit that is just short of race-day perfection. The unique ride signature of the Energy Rods sets the Adios Pro 4 apart from its plate-equipped peers.
The upper, for all its improvements like the tacked-on tongue, soft mesh, and improved lacing system, makes a well-meaning but minor misstep with the heel design. As with any running shoe, even a seemingly minor thing can have unintended consequences on the overall performance of the shoe. The Adios Pro 4’s heel collar adds padding at the base of the Achilles, a feature the Adios Pro 3 did not have. Some, but not all, runners may experience a heel bite.
Getting to know the redesigned Adios Pro 4 better has a steep learning curve, and this marathon racer isn’t for everyone. But once you familiarize yourself with the shoe’s capabilities and limitations, most runners will have a lot of fun running a marathon or a half in these shoes. Quicker miles come easier on the Adios Pro 4, not because you need to, but want to.
THE RIDE EXPERIENCE
To reduce the learning curve that the Adios Pro 3 demands, it’s worth looking at the individual components in isolation to understand why the shoe behaves the way it does. Knowing this brings out the best in the Adios Pro 4 while avoiding its blind spots. In particular, we’ll take a closer look at the new Lightstrike Pro foam, heel midsole, Energy rods, forefoot rocker, and the outsole geometry. The upper also affects the midsole rocker behavior, so we’ll briefly include it in this discussion.
The Lightstrike Pro foam used on this shoe is nothing like the kind on the Adios Pro 3 and EVO SL. The softness and springiness have been dialed up by a factor of two. Forefoot landings involve a split second to find your footing, with heel landings taking even longer. The tall stack (39 mm rear and 33 mm front) of Lightstrike Pro foam acts as the gatekeeper, so there’s delayed and weak proprioception. Ground feel is all but absent. While it’s true that the softness of the foam weakens the proprioceptive feel, the new Lightstrike Pro foam undergoes shearing during landings. Not only does it compress vertically, but the foam briefly shifts to the side before returning to its original position. This happens to a greater extent under the heel than the forefoot, which brings us to the next part – the heel midsole design.
We won’t mince words; the heel is unstable. The supportive rearfoot landings of the Adios Pro 3 are now history. It’s not just the softer density affecting stability; the foam under the heel has been scooped out to create a transition groove. This change makes the heel softer by making it easier to compress, but doesn’t favor heel stability, particularly on the medial side. One doesn’t necessarily have to land heel-first to experience the loss in heel stability; the mere process of loading the bodyweight causes the inner heel midsole to compress. Unlike the lateral (outer) midsole, the inner midsole has a gap that partially exposes the Energy Rods. While previous Adios Pro versions had a similar gap, the Adios Pro 4’s heel compresses (more) easily because of the cavity and softer Lightstrike Pro foam.
A less talked-about aspect of the Adios Pro 4 is its propensity to negative drop, particularly during heel strikes. On paper, the midsole has a 6 mm heel-to-toe drop. In reality, the effective or dynamic heel-to-toe drop can be much lower, depending on the circumstances. The slim and hollowed-out heel compresses deeper than the forefoot and goes down to at least a zero drop, if not more. One of the pictures (above) shows scuff marks inside the heel cavity. That means the deepest point of the cavity briefly makes contact with the road during heel-first landings. The depth of the cavity is well over 10 mm, and the heel drop is 6 mm. That means the full compression of the heel will consume 100% of the advertised drop. The Adios Pro 3 did not do this, nor does the adizero EVO SL. A low squeaking may be audible during runs; that’s the sound of the heel bottoming out and the air rushing through the flattened cavity. On smooth floors, the soft Lighttraxion rubber squeaks on contact.
It’s extremely tempting to blast out the door, all thrusters firing, and take the Adios Pro 4 out for a 20k run at a sub-4:00 min/km pace right out of the box. After all, the softer midsole cuts down on the time needed to break in, leaving only the Energy Rods to loosen up over time. But that would be missing the point – the shoe doesn’t require a break-in period as much as the body does.
You see, the unstable heel and shearing-compressive nature of the Lightstrike Pro midsole increases the workload for the foot, relative to the Adios Pro 3 and tamer racers like the SC Elite V4 and Saucony Endorphin Pro 4. The weak proprioceptive properties of the soft midsole make the foot work harder to find its bearings. The foot also has to deal with the difference in stability between the forefoot and heel, as well as the shoe’s inclination to zero drop. It won’t be surprising if first-time Adios Pro 4 users experience temporary soreness around the ankles, Achilles tendon, and calves. A low or negative drop puts pressure on the Achilles and calves (Soleus), while the torsion from midsole softness and lack of heel stability stresses the ankles. The soft midsole and negative drop may also apply pressure on the plantar fascia and become a source of temporary soreness at the base of the heel.
The unique ride signature of the Adios Pro 4 puts heel strikers at a distinct disadvantage. Runners are more likely to bottom the heel cavity, leading to higher chances of a negative drop and increased workload through the gait cycle. Forefoot/midfoot strikers will have less to deal with, but they still need to maintain a certain pace range and cadence to help the Adios Pro deliver optimal performance. The faster one goes, the less noticeable and impactful the softness and heel instability become, as the duration of torsion and foam shearing becomes shorter. Ideally, one should be running in the Adios Pro 4 at a 4:30 min/km (7:00 min/mile) speed, with a cadence of 175 steps/minute or higher.
The Adios Pro 4 has switched to an early-stage rocker configuration, meaning the midsole drops off just before the forefoot so the foot can be propelled forward by taking advantage of the rocker sooner. Conversely, on a late-stage rocker, the transitions have to wait slightly longer before tipping down and forward. Most general-purpose trainers use a late-stage rocker, including the adidas EVO SL.
It’s important to recognize the contribution of the upper in increasing the efficacy of the late-stage rocker. By adding foam padding on the heel center, the foot is pushed further into the Adios Pro 4’s toe-box than the Adios Pro 3. This places the foot in the rocker’s sweet spot to make the roll-offs easier.
We love the Energy Rod’s ability to integrate itself so well with the rest of the midsole. Unlike wider carbon-composite plates, the articulated tubular design of the Energy rods complements the bounciness of the Lightstrike Pro foam instead of having an outsized influence on the ride. That’s because the Energy Rods are not designed like the carbon plates inside the Asics Metaspeed Sky Paris, Vaporfly 4, and the Saucony Endorphin Pro 4. Five different rods embed themselves in the soft foam, only to be activated when necessary. For example, loading the large toe will only load the Energy rod under that area. In contrast, a full plate lacks this kind of autonomy. Loading the large toe on the Saucony Endorphin Pro 4 and Vaporfly 4 will activate the entire plate and not just the area under the toe.
On the Adios Pro 4, the Energy rods also provide the rocker shape with the stiffness required for propulsive toe-offs. In a way, the Energy Rods mimic the skeletal structure of the foot, efficient to the point where it only acts when it’s asked to. adidas has always been good with that sort of thing. Back in the 90s, they had a ‘feet-you-wear’ collection inspired by the foot anatomy.
The outsole is the icing on the top – or in this case, the bottom. The new outsole uses thin Lighttraxion – a soft and grippy rubber compound that blends into the soft midsole. The grip is excellent, even on rained-on surfaces. A patch of thicker Continental rubber is placed under the high-impact area.
The Adios Pro 3 was so accessible, performance-wise, that it felt like a super-shoe with training wheels. Anyone could run a 10K, half, and a marathon in the Adios Pro 3 without having to worry about their form. On the other hand, the training wheels are off the Adios Pro 4. Not only does a runner need to be mindful of the speed, but also the footstrike pattern, gait, and overall conditioning. One needs to take the ‘Pro’ suffix in the shoe’s name seriously – the Adios Pro 4 asks a lot of its wearer. Staying within its performance boundaries makes it ridiculously fun – if you’re lucky, you may even hear the Adios Pro 4 perform an orchestra, the symphonic music that brings all the superlative bits of the shoe together. But here’s the catch – only you, the neutral-forefoot-striking 4:00 min/km pace runner, can be the conductor of that orchestra.
RECOMMENDED ROTATION
Rotating the adidas Adizero EVO SL with the Adios Pro 4 would suffice for most training needs. Sure, one can consider adding an Adios 9 or Takumi 10 to the mix, but that’s optional and not strictly necessary. We described the EVO SL as the Adios Pro 3 without the Energy Rods, you get a lot of user-friendly super-foam cushioning for training runs.
THE UPPER DESIGN AND FIT
The soft glove-like upper of the Adios Pro 4 fits very differently from the Adios Pro 3. The thin ripstop mesh hugs the foot like a pair of socks; this time, the tongue is attached to the upper for a hassle-free fit. While there is no gusset, the collapsible heel and soft tongue flap make it easy to put the shoe on.
There’s a sizing difference between the Adios Pro 4 and the previous model. The Adios Pro 4 has a pointier toe-box, while fitting about a half-size smaller than the Adios Pro 3. There’s less room ahead of the toes, and the upper fits flush over the large toe – which wasn’t the case before. None of the changes are uncomfortable, but the Adios Pro 4’s fit is more race-day-like than the Pro 3. The lacing system no longer relies on speed loops as the Adios Pro 3 and eliminates the hot-spot concerns of the older versions. The Adios Pro 4’s upper feels one with the foot, if you know what we mean.
So what’s causing the fit to change? The answer to this question is usually found not in the front of the shoe, but in the back. The Adios Pro 4 has something that the Adios Pro 3 did not. The center of the heel collar is now padded, shifting the foot forward by 2-3 mm. The foot moves further towards the pointier end of the upper, affecting the fit and sizing.
There’s another unintended side effect of the heel design. Some runners, particularly heel strikers, will experience heel bite because of the padding rubbing against the foot. Heel striking causes the foot to momentarily sink (and subsequently rise) into the midsole, leading the offending heel collar to ride up (and down) the foot. Avoiding heel striking altogether helps, as does wearing thick running socks.
If the Adios Pro 4 fits tighter than the Adios Pro 3, should runners buy a half-size larger to compensate? Meaning, should the Pro 4 be purchased in a size 10.5 instead of size 10 in the Pro 3? That would depend on a couple of things, both based on personal preferences. The sizing question can only be solved if you have the answer to a couple of other questions. Firstly, do you tend to jam your toe against the bumper during landings? Secondly, are you okay with a slightly weaker rocker effect? If the answer to both these questions is no, then staying true to size on the Adios Pro 4 makes greater sense. Selecting that choice will reward you with a second-skin fit that allows the foot to take full advantage of the rocker.
The upper fit has a greater effect on the cushioning and rocker than one would expect. While going a half-size up gets you a roomier version of the Adios Pro 4, the foot will move towards the rear by an equal margin. Doing so shifts the foot away from the sweet spot of the rocker, thereby affecting its efficacy.
Though the interior doesn’t run hot, the Adios Pro 4 doesn’t feel as well ventilated as the Pro 3. The thin mesh has a tighter weave than the airy mesh of the last model.
The die-cut footbed doesn’t have a molded arch, so the midfoot has a smooth fit under the arch. A flat insole has been a design best practice for road racing shoes since the beginning of time, but sometimes, brands digress. We thought it was important to mention the obvious, as some runners may be apprehensive of insole design, partly due to shoes like Nike Alphafly 3 and its hit-or-miss footbed.
IS THE ADIDAS ADIOS PRO 4 DURABLE?
So far, we haven’t heard chatter about low durability. Except for some minor scuffing, our test pair has held up well at the 50-mile mark. The soft Lighttraxion rubber has a way of telescoping into the midsole to lessen the impact. A lifespan of about 450 miles should be within easy reach for most runners.
SHOES COMPARABLE TO THE ADIDAS ADIOS PRO 4
The options listed below aren’t as demanding as the Adios Pro 4. The New Balance SC Elite V4 is an excellent choice if you’re looking for a blend of carbon-plated quickness, ride comfort, and versatility related to speed and footstrike. Others, like the Saucony Endorphin Pro 4 and Nike Vaporfly 4, offer a tamer ride experience that works for most runners.