Not quite what I expected
3/5
Overall
Pros.. Lightweight, Wear resistant, Excellent grip even in wet weather, Fits true to size, Looks great in Signal Coral colourway, Good value when on sale
Cons.. Lightstrike 'cushioning' is rock hard, Shoe has no bounce, Inflexible
I took a flyer on this shoe on Black Friday 2020 as the value ($80CAD) was good. I bought it in an 11.5 and it fit true to size. The fit is narrow but excellent if that is your foot type. After 300km I am overall disappointed. The SL20 with Lightstrike is too firm, almost harsh, like running in a dress shoe. With a Reebok Floatride Energy 2 in my rotation the harshness of the ride was immediately felt compared to it. Using the SL20 back to back days for 8-10km tempo runs made my legs feel beat up as if I ran much greater distances.
The shoe is so unnecessarily firm you feel/hear every footstrike and bounce/energy return is non existent. In fact I would think there is energy losses as you really need to work hard to go fast for long. My runs have been relegated to short quick bursts on odd days with the SL20. This seems to be where it performs best with it's lack of cushioning.
Grip in all conditions are top notch with the Continental sole. Also not showing significant wear after 300K. It's light weight, inflexibility and lack of cushioning have relegated this shoe to short runs. I keep using it hoping that the lightsrike foam would soften somewhat eventually but it has not. Personally, I would never buy any Adidas shoe with Lighstrike ever again and would not recommend this shoe.
BitcoinLou · Sep 19, 2021
25 mpw came from the Reebok Forever Floatride Energy 2
- Comfort
- 5/5
- Cushioning
- 2/5
- Durability
- 5/5
- Appearance
- 5/5
- Value
- 5/5
