There’s a reason this sold a million units from its launch and got a lot of hype. Personally, I never get carried away by hype, but the Adidas Adizero Evo SL caught my attention. I know it’s quite a late review since the model was launched about 1 1⁄2 years ago, but since Adidas relaunched it in India just a few weeks back, it’s never too late to speak about something that will continue to see a demand.
The Adidas Adizero Evo SL (Evo SL hereon), in its inaugural edition, has impressed a lot of us, spoilers alert, including me. There are a lot of things that are right about the shoe – the midsole, the upper and the overall intent, though not without caveats. The midsole features a full-length Lightstrike Pro foam, the same tech used in Adidas’s elite Adios Pro racing series. The Evo SL is more like a daily trainer, with some up-tempo character, which is an ideal one-shoe-do-all, but does it ride well? Let’s dive in.
Before we proceed, obviously, the disclaimer. We bought this pair of Evo SL with our money, and this is neither a sponsored shoe nor a sponsored post.
WHATS MAKES UP THE EVO SL?
The Evo SL is a super trainer out-of-the-box, that feels sleek, weighs feather light, and looks race-ready. The trainer is the literal younger sibling of Adidas’s elite series line-up, the Adizero Adios Pro series, minus the carbon-plate or the energy rods. For the UK 7, it weighs 207 grams, which feels massively lighter for someone who retired the Brooks Ghost series before breaking in to these. Though the heel is stacked at 38 mm and the forefoot at 32mm, featuring a 6mm drop, the Evo SL doesn’t feel like a max-cushion shoe and feels grounded on a positive note, courtesy of the super-soft and responsive foam.
In India, the EVO SL max retails at ₹15,999, which is on par with uptempo trainers series like the Saucony Endorphin Speed or the Asics Magic Speed.
MIDSOLE
The heart of the shoe, and Adidas aces it here. The Evo SL features a full-length Lighstrike Pro foam, which is the brand’s high-performance midsole foam. The Lighstrike Pro foam is a supercritical foam, built from Thermoplastic Polyester Elastomer (TPE), making it responsive, softer, yet firmer. The TPE is also a more durable foam than the PEBA. Adidas borrows the midsole from its even premium and superior marathon-race-day shoe, the Adizero Adios Pro 3. Unlike the Pro 3, the Evo SL cuts down on the energy rods, to make it a up-tempo or a speed trainer, and not categorically a race-day shoe. This also makes the trainer a little flexible to make it suitable for everyday runs. Despite the substantial (but the new-normal) 38mm on the heel, I still felt close to the ground, most likely due to the firmness of the midsole. Can you race a marathon on them? More details ahead.
UPPER
The Evo SL features an almost transparent upper, made of engineered-mesh. The sparsely dense thin mesh makes the shoe highly breathable, making it more ideal for hot-and-humid conditions. If you are a fan of this version, like I am, you should ignore the newly introduced woven (Evo SL Woven) edition that replaces the thin mesh with more traditional woven material. The woven edition improves the lockdown, making it a bit more stable, but makes it less breathable than the original edition. The lacing is standard, and the laces are quite thin, making the double-knot almost mandatory for every run.
HEEL
The Evo SL features a rigid heel counter and is otherwise quite basic. The counter is aptly padded, giving it a nice comfort touch. For someone with haglund deformity, I did not face any irritation. I neither had any heel slippage issues, but still resorted to heel locking out of habit, specifically for the longer runs and races. Basic lacing worked fine, too.
OUTSOLE
The Evo SL uses Continental Rubber in its outsole for grip, and they are strategically placed. The largest piece of the rubber sits below the forefoot, and the other two smaller ones on both the medial and the lateral side below the heel. The rubber in the outsole is neither thick nor features lugs, which I feel is perfect for a performance trainer. Expectedly, it does lack confidence while running in wet patches or loose mud.
WHY DID I CONSIDER THIS SHOE?
I wanted a daily light-weight workhorse to replace my existing daily trainers – the Brooks Ghost 16, the Asics Noosa Tri 16. Another reason to consider this was its performance nature, which could handle the grind without feeling like a brick on my feet. I wasn’t looking for the Evo SL as a race-day shoe since I already have the Nike Vaporfly 2, but little did I know.
RIDE IN THE EVO SL
I have logged close to 250kms on the pair, predominantly during the peak and the tapering phase of my marathon training. The first few runs felt comfortable, but felt a little firm, not what I expected out of the box. The Evo SL requires a break-in, but it just takes about 3-4 runs. It felt much firmer initially than I expected, but it slowly got softer, just apt enough.
The more I logged miles on them, the more the midsole felt responsive. Speed works like intervals and tempo runs felt amazing. The midsole pops up well, yet stays on the firm side when you are really pushing the pace. To keep the pair fresher, I parked them and started taking them out only for the long runs.
The Evo SL was originally meant to be my daily trainer leading up to the Tata Mumbai Marathon. However, I noticed that the midsole of my Vaporfly 2 was starting to break down, and I didn’t want to risk it. With just a few days to go, I didn’t want to experiment with a new shoe, so I decided to run the marathon in the Evo SL. Since I had already raced two tune-up races, I was quite comfortable lacing them up for the race day, and it worked amazingly, especially for someone who has not trained or raced much on carbon-plated shoes for today’s standards.
Evo SL is a great race-day option if you are not a fan of carbon-plate shoes. It’s versatile; you can go all-out in the early segments and still hold on when things get tough later.
FIT & COMFORT
The Evo SL fits true to size, and it is one of the most comfortable shoes in my lineup. The shoe is one of the easiest to ingress and hugs the feet comfortably. The tongue is short, non-gusseted, asymmetrical, and probably the only frustrating part of the upper. It keeps sliding, folds eventually, which makes the run occasionally uncomfortable. This is probably one reason I resort to heel-locking lacing, especially for the important runs.
Breathability is typically a deal-breaker for me, considering the all-year hot and humid weather in Mumbai. Fortunately, the Evo SL sets a good example here, thanks to the generous perforations across the upper that keep the air moving. I would rate it 10 out of 10 here. Saying this, since we are in the middle of summer, I have noticed that the midsole gets a little hotter while pushing paces, even during my evening runs. I did not feel such during the (so-called) Mumbai winters when the max temperature settles at 26-28 degs.
(UN)STABILITY
The title says it all. Even the basic daily trainers carry some features to aid stability, but the Evo SL lacks them all. The high-stack Lightstrike Pro foam is super-responsive, but since there are no energy rods or carbon plate to provide a stable base, the shoe doesn’t feel stable by any means. Taking U-turns or sharp turns during races felt a bit compromised. It doesn’t stop here. While the shoe does fit true-to-size, my feet swayed forward and back during downhill patches. I actually had to hard-press my toes into the forefoot just to stay centred.
ROAD GRIP
The Evo SL is not the friendliest or most stable shoe on wet surfaces. I was fighting for life, and barely avoided a somersault, treading carefully while running the wet patches of Peddar Road downhill during my race. While Continental Rubber is considered the gold standard, I evidently won't be picking the Evo SL for speed workouts or races on a rainy day. Outside of wet surfaces or loose debris like Mumbai’s infamous construction sand, the Evo SL carries enough confidence to remain a solid, dependable shoe.
DURABILITY
The midsole is slightly coming out in the forefoot section, which is a bit concerning at about 240 KMs. While the Lightstrike Pro foam is more durable than the standard PEBA foam, it won't last as long as the standard EVA foam, but that’s an apple-to-orange comparison anyway. The much larger durability problem is the medial side walls wearing off due to constant friction. I noticed that as early as 50 km in the shoes. This is for someone like me with a narrow gait, but I have had this problem only in two shoes, and they both are from Adidas - the Evo SL and the Duramo Speed.
The outsole is decent and will hold up fine for a few more miles. The Evo SLs can last about 500–600 km before the foam loses its energy return or the wear becomes too much.
AESTHETICS
The Evo SL is a masterpiece, aesthetically as well. The looks that Adidas has borrowed from its down super-shoes lineup look clean and near. There’s nothing extraordinary. The almost transparent upper, minimal branding, and sleek colourways all add a nice touch. I opted for the all-red with black stripes to twin with my car. I wouldn’t mind occasionally taking them out for casual drives once I retire them from running. Pro-tip: Do not buy the white colourways in India, considering our roads and pollution.
RECOMMENDATION
The Adidas Evo SL is a perfect ‘super trainer’, and it’s that one shoe that can indeed do all. You can lace them for your marathon race day, and then can immediately take them for your recovery run. Foams like the Lightstrike Pro are proof that one does not need a carbon plate or energy rods to hit those race-day paces. If you are a one-shoe person, the Evo SL has to be your go-to shoe. The shoe is extremely versatile and performs amazingly for the price it retails at.
The shoe is unstable, which can be a deal-breaker for some. In that case, the Saucony Endorphin Speed series or even the Asics Superblast lineup are great alternatives. The Superblast is, unfortunately, way more expensive than the Evo SL, though you can look for the discontinued versions like the Superblast 2. If not for the durability and stability issues, I would have rated the Evo SL 100 on 100.
Given the option, I would buy one more pair of Evo SL, especially if they are available at amazing discounts like they are frequently in the US. In India, the pricing is rock solid, but given that the shoe is more than a year old, it's time for some discounts.
PROS
CONS
