Shoes are like ice cream; there’s always room for more and this week, Adidas and New Balance introduced new ones into the market. These two shoes, the Adidas adizero Pro and the New Balance FuelCell TC were made in compliance with the new World Athletics rules which now dictates what kind of shoes can be worn in certain competitions.

Here, we will look at the shoes to see what show designers can take away, especially if they make plan on making track shoes for the global populace.

ADIDAS ADIZERO PRO

In typical fashion, Adidas constructed this shoe with a continental rubber sole that gives it good grip in all weather conditions, reducing the risk of slipping and making it more durable.

The shoe is made of a lightweight outsole that ensures durability and flexibility, a lightstrike midsole that transmits the body weight to the floor seamlessly allowing for explosive movement and enduring speed, and a Carbitex Carbonplate which ensures a flexible heel strike and a tender toe off.

The upper part of the shoe has a single layer mesh which helps to optimize the breathability and comfort of the shoe.

This shoe ticks of all the boxes on durability, flexibility, comfort and breathability and is also optimized for speed. Definitely an amazing shoe!

NEW BALANCE FUELCELL TC

What good shoe in 2020 will not boast a carbon fiber plate in the midsole? As with the adizero Pro, the TC has a carbon fiber plate which bends laterally when the foot strikes the ground offering lateral stability.

It also has a midsole foam to provide cushioning and has thick, solid rubber soles covering that up ensuring a comfortable landing. This means that the soles are about 30mm thick at the heel and 22mm at the forefoot.

It has a synthetic upper mesh with lace closure making it stretchy but secure, allowing for ease of removal, breathability and comfort all at once

The shoes comes in white with black and vision blue colors and ticks the boxes for aesthetics, comfort, stability and ease of removal.

It goes without saying that these shoes were tailored to meet a demand. No wonder barely a week after the release of the shoe, the New Balance FuelCell TC is sold out.

With the new rules,  there was a demand for shoes meeting the specifications and following the release of Nike’s Air Zooms to meet that demand,  Adidas and New balance have also released their own products to match. 

Responsiveness to market is the lesson we get to learn from Adidas and New Balance. Of a necessity, Nigerian shoe brands must pay attention all the more to the demands of their customers tailoring their products to meet those demands. Selling out? That will be the least we will have to deal with.