Adidas Adizero Pro 5 Review | A Faster, More Stable Marathon Super Shoe

The Adidas Adizero Adios Pro 5 feels like the shoe Adidas has been working toward for the last few years.

The brand has its wildly fast, incredibly stripped down Adizero Adios Pro Evo 3, but that shoe is really designed for chasing every possible second. Hence it’s very limited availability so that the pros could legally race in it!

The Adios Pro 5 takes some of what Adidas learned from the Evo and puts it into a race shoe that feels much more practical for the sub 4 marathoner.

And by practical, I definitely don’t mean boring.

This is still a lightweight, aggressive super shoe with a noticeable rocker, plenty of bounce, and a ride that immediately makes you want to run faster. But it also feels surprisingly stable underfoot, has much more outsole coverage than we see on a lot of racing shoes, and doesn’t feel like you need perfect mechanics to control it.

Unfortunately, I’m still being cautious with faster running right now, so instead of putting it through a full marathon workout I had to settle for a few shorter intervals. That was still enough to make me really wish I could keep going.

The Adios Pro 5 has that super foam bounce, but it’s not an uncontrolled trampoline feeling. Instead, you get a really nice amount of energy back while the wide platform and carbon structure keep the shoe surprisingly stable. Add in the aggressive rocker and it becomes one of those shoes where you hit race pace and immediately understand what it’s designed to do.

Adidas Adios Pro 5 Overview

The Adios Pro 5 is isn’t simply an Adios Pro 4 with a few tweaks.

Adidas says it reworked essentially every major part of the shoe, taking some of the technology developed for the Pro Evo 3 and bringing it into the regular Adios Pro line.

The midsole is still LIGHTSTRIKE PRO, Adidas’ premium racing foam, but the construction around it has changed quite a bit.

Instead of the familiar ENERGYRODS found in nearly all previous Adidas super shoes, the Pro 5 uses a new carbon infused ENERGYRIM structure (that’s right the same as the Evo 3). That essentially allows Adidas to put more LIGHTSTRIKE PRO foam directly underneath the foot while using the carbon structure around it to provide stiffness and stability.

They also added 2mm of cushion, so it is indeed softer than the Adios Pro 4. All while being lighter and of course in their words providing even more energy return.

On the run, I wouldn’t describe this as one of those super shoes that feels wildly soft or like you’re bouncing all over the place.

There is definitely bounce from the foam, but it feels controlled. You get that nice energy return underneath you while still feeling like you know exactly where the shoe is going. For a marathon shoe, I really like that combination because the last thing most of us need at mile 22 is to work extra muscles for control in our shoe.

The other thing you notice immediately is the rocker. It’s aggressive.

There’s less material underneath the toes, so you really feel yourself roll forward through the shoe and onto toe off. Since you drive a great deal of power from your big toe that can be a good thing, but it’s also a different feeling. Those who tend to run more on the forefoot may dislike the lack of foam. But for others it’s going to give them some great momentum.

The outsole deserves some attention.

One of the things that surprised me most is how much outsole coverage Adidas gave this shoe.

A lot of super shoes sacrifice rubber to save weight, which is great until race morning is wet.

Here, Adidas is using its LIGHTTRAXION outsole along with Continental rubber, and there is enough coverage underneath that I would choose this for a rainy marathon over most other carbon plated shoes. Adidas also says the outsole was redesigned specifically to improve grip and durability over longer distances.

The upper is extremely light as well, so if you do end up running through rain or water stations, there simply isn’t much material there to soak it up.

For a shoe this fast, it feels unusually ready for less than perfect race day conditions.

Adidas Pro 5 Fit

The fit is pretty much what I expect from a true super shoe.

It’s narrow through the midfoot, there isn’t a ton of overall volume, and despite the base of the shoe looking really wide from underneath, the actual toe box is fairly average to narrow.So if you typically need a wide toe box or a lot of room across the midfoot, this probably isn’t going to suddenly become the roomy Adidas racing shoe you’ve been waiting for.

The upper itself is incredibly minimal. Adidas calls this new construction LIGHTLOCK 2.0, with ventilation zones and internal support pieces designed to hold the foot securely without adding much weight.

What I like is that the minimal upper doesn’t translate into a sloppy ride. This might also be because of the ribbed laces, YES!! They just help keep everything tied and that’s what we want when busting out our top paces.

Once you’re locked in, the shoe feels very secure, and I think that plays into how stable the entire shoe feels at faster paces.

In fact, the heel collar is pretty narrow. I don’t have an issue with it and they’ve added padding from the Pro 4, but this was an issue for some in the past and I don’t know that the little padding is going to make a big difference.

I’d stick with your normal running shoe size unless you already know that Adidas racing shoes tend to feel too narrow for your foot.

Where the Adios Pro 5 Fits in the Adidas Fast Shoe Lineup

Shoe names are so similar, I had to look at the shoe 5 times to make sure I was putting in all the right words as I described it. I mean does it need all those words?!

• Adidas Evo SL – Their mega popular lightweight, daily trainer with a partial carbon plate that is an ideal middle and back of the pack training or race shoe, with a slightly more accommodating fit.
• Adios Pro 5 – The race shoe I would point most sub 4 hour marathoners toward. Very light and fast, but still stable, grippy, and practical enough for 26.2.
• Evo 3– The no compromises racing option as the lightest marathon shoe ever. Built around maximizing speed for the sub 3 hour runner and minimizing weight rather than versatility or everyday practicality.

Similar Shoes to the Adidas Adizero Pro 5

We’ve tested a few max cushioned shoes that feel similar, but different based on the brand fit:

I only got a few short intervals in the Adios Pro 5 while being cautious with my return to faster running, which is honestly my biggest complaint about testing it. This is a really fun, fast shoe that made me want to keep going. For marathoners who want the technology Adidas has developed through the Pro Evo line without jumping all the way into that extreme racing shoe, the Adios Pro 5 makes a lot of sense.

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