Going downhill
Written: Jan 18 '06
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Product Rating:
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Pros: ventilation, no pain with running
Cons: no pleasure running either, color can be odd, not as comfortable, shoestrings, narrow feel
The Bottom Line: Not an improvement over previous generations, not a great nor terrible shoe, but not worth your money unless you require extreme ventilation over all other things
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| rookshark's Full Review: Adidas Climacool III for Women |
I own many pairs of running shoes, and had a favorable experience with the Adidas climacool I, so when these went on sale on eastbay about six months ago, even with the rather outlandish color of the orange(uh, liquid hot magma orange would be an appropriate name), for safety…of course. For some reason, Adidas left the white midsole for some reason on this colorway, not exactly helping the orange color. But, I did not buy these to look good per se, but for running, and if you run in dusk or dark conditions, wow, it would be hard for a car to miss you wearing these things.
I am a pretty large guy (trying to be nice), size 15, and cushioning is probably my main determiner for selecting shoes. Something about those first climacools though really appealed to me, since I do almost all my running in a warm weather environment. And after I finished with those shoes for running and used them for casual wear, they made almost more sense in that application.
One would assume that two generations later, the shoes would take the good and make it better, and ditch any negatives. Uh, whoa there. Not exactly.
So, let us start from the beginning. Putting the shoes on, you notice that the structure of the shoe surrounding your foot is not as inviting as the other shoes, or for that matter, most other shoes. They feel stiff (still do!) around your foot. More of a box rather than an extension of your foot. Is this a deal killer? I suppose not, but a let down for sure.
Now, lace those shoes up. Whoa, not so fast. Now, I know I am a size 15, but with a bigger shoe, one would assume comes the appropriately bigger shoe strings (I have the ultrarides, no problem there), but no, keeping these shoes tied usually means resorting to tying them in a knot. Always fun.
I could try cinching those puppies up some more…but they are tight on my foot already. My feet are certainly not narrow, but few shoes make them feel as wide as these do. If you are already convinced your feet are wide, steer clear of these for sure.
How about that ventilation? After all, that is the whole reason for this shoe line. They seem to me to be on par with the other clima shoes I have (climacool I, and clima revolution). This is to say that they are pretty well ventilated. I like this feature, which especially feels good on a hot day with a nice breeze. If you don’t have a breeze, you won’t feel this feature so much, but when taking off your shoes you would. Also, there is that nice “no stink” in this shoe as well, I assume due to the high ventilation. Sit in front of a fan with them on…quite the feeling.
Now the other reason for buying these…running. In spite of the above negatives, I still use these for running. Granted, they are not my favorites by far, but I bought them, and as long as they are not painful, I will use them to get the use out of them, so to speak. After running with these shoes, there is the plus of somewhat fresher feet due to the ventilation, and the comfort level in my feet and knees is similar to my other shoes.
The actual running though is a different story. You do not feel as fast or strong with these “boxes” on your feet. Any Asics shoe I have automatically makes the start of your run feel better, faster, and softer.
Buy these shoes if you need extreme ventilation, otherwise, take a pass on these. They are not great (especially in this colorway) for casual wear, and are not as comfortable as other running or walking shoes for casual use. For running, they will not do you any harm, but you will not feel like they are helping you either. Not something you want to see in a running shoe.
Recommended:
No
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Epinions.com ID:
rookshark
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Location: Honduras
Reviews written: 54
Trusted by: 3 members
About Me:
missionary living in Honduras
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