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Adidas Ultraboost 19
£159.95, adidas.co.ukGEAR
THE JOYS OF SPRING
The Ultraboost, Adidas’ bestselling shoe,
is now lighter and fasterKey features
New torsion-control
device in the midfoot
A new heel counter
New one-piece
knitted upper
Improved outsole design
Midsole contains 20 per
cent more Boost foamHow they tested In 2013,
Adidas launched what was to
be a game-changing shoe: the
Energy Boost. It was the first
model that contained the
Boost midsole foam, which
quickly became an industry
leader in energy return. The
first Ultraboost followed, in- Since then, the shoe has
not strayed too far from its
roots, but there have been
some big leaps forward in
performance footwear. So
what has Adidas done to
bring the shoe up to date?
After three years of R&D
and a consultation process
that, Adidas says, involved
over 2000 runners, we have
the new Ultraboost (UB19).
It is a substantially stripped-
down affair, containing just
six main parts. For context,
the average running
shoe can contain up to
65 component parts
and the previous
Ultraboost had 17.
The weight is
roughly the same (310g,
UK 8.5), due in part to
the extra midsole
foam, but it feels
lighter, thanks to the
improved fit. The
slight bagginess of the
previous upper has
gone and the new
version is lighter,
tighter and more
elasticated, and it moves
superbly with your foot,
controlling it better
and limiting lateral
movement. It helps that
the upper is embedded
into the midsole rather
than being stitched
on top of it, as is
standard; it feels a lot more
cohesive.
We were also impressed
by the redesigned heel
counter. It’s been reshaped,
repositioned and reduced in
size – and it does a superb job
of gently but firmly cradling
your heel. Previous iterations
have been a real, er, Achilles
heel for the shoe but this time
Adidas has nailed it.
There’s little to say about
the outsole other than that
the traction is as excellent as
ever. We ran an extremely
rainy marathon in the UB19,
as well as a muddy towpath
long run, and the Continental
rubber didn’t even blink.
However, we should point
out that the relatively open
weave on the upper means
this is not a shoe you’d choose
to wear in rainy conditions.
The torsion control bar and
the extra Boost (hundreds
of tiny capsules of steam-
compressed foam) are what
give the shoe its fantastic
bounce and energy return.
The bar is, in essence, a small
spring in the midfoot section
that compresses upon
footstrike and then expands
quickly on toe-off, which
helps to push your foot
forward more quickly. The
combination of the two gave
us the delightfully ‘elite’
feeling that our feet were
turning over faster without
any extra effort.RW verdict At £160, these
are expensive, but consider
this: the UB19 is a shoe that,
for the vast majority of
runners, can multitask –
long-run training shoe,
tempo runner, track
companion and race-day
speedster – thanks to the
combination of bounce,
slim fit, responsiveness
and reliability. It’s a joy
to wear and is already
one of the shoes of 2019.
•••••••••MAY 2019 RUNNERSWORLD.COM/UK 087