adidas Adizero Prime X - 100km Review
Monster stacked, great fun! There's a cameo too - read on...
The Eve of the New Year saw Cheong, Calvin and I gathered in front of the Putra Mosque at 6 a.m., each at his own fitness level. Cheong has been training for some time, Calvin is presently prepping for a Marathon Major, and me still struggling to escape the current rut.
I didn’t have any plans for the morning other than to get some running done. I do have a Marathon coming up in just over 8 weeks’ time and while that event’s for me to remain acquainted with the distance (and therefore to be undertaken as a training run), I still need to get the miles in. What better way to take the Prime X past the 100km mark. I brought along the Xtep 160X 3.0 Pro for comparison. The morning’s plan was 3x5km over a variety of paces.
Since the Prime X isn’t new to the market, I won’t be spending paragraphs writing about the shoe specs but instead point you to the video below.
The morning was wet and a light drizzle prevailed, so we’ll be learning about how the shoes handle in such conditions. Before lacing up the Prime X, I thought it’s be good to kick things off in the Xtep. A 4km jog with Calvin averaging 6:15 felt really good and I continued in the same shoes the next 3km (4:48 average) pushing the pace a little and again, I love how the shoes responded. No issues with traction at the u-turns as well.
Next up was the Prime X. The softer ride and bounce was palpable compared to the Xtep. Of course, at 10.5oz at my US10, the shoe felt significantly chunkier, although it didn’t feel that weighty, than the Xtep (8.75oz, US10).
Although I’d recommend sticking true to your size, I personally feel, a half size down would’ve been perfect. I took a few turns just to work the shoe a bit, lowering the pace from 5:42 down to 4:46 over the 4.8km distance and found it totally serviceable at those paces. Despite its extraordinary stack height, I’ve never had stability issues in the Prime X compared to something that appears stable, yet hardly, say the ZoomX Invincible. Now, if the Invincible had something like a stabilizing plate embedded in the super soft ZoomX…
Again, traction on the wet surfaces were spot on. In fact, the Continental rubber outsoles were making squeaky noises throughout our run. Unless you tend to heel strike at the extreme lateral section (see below) where it’s smooth, you shouldn’t be overly concerned about the stability, or for that matter, road holding quality of the shoe.
I do have a couple of beef, minor though they are, about the upper. Firstly, the first row of the lace loops are positioned too close to the front. That creates an unnecessary pressure point when toeing off. The easy fix is to bypass the first row and lace up from the second one.
Secondly, the Celemesh upper puckers up easily. The Prime X has a generous toe box which means regular width feet folks like me may find it a tad roomy up front. Try sizing down by half before buying. Yes, I employ the runner’s knot for a more secure lockdown.
So, is the Prime X a shoe that I’d recommend? Here are my thoughts, in no order:
It’s a very comfy long haul shoe, traction is fantastic and I expect it to be durable as well.
It can take a variety of paces but holding it at MP for an extended period of time may ultimately tire you, due to its heft (again, 10.5oz in US10). While not super heavyweight (see NB Fuelcell Supercomp which borderlines 11oz in my size), you will feel the weight late into the 25-32km runs. No issues in long, moderate-paced runs, but certainly not for your A-races when there are other excellent options out there.
Don’t worry about the 50mm stack. Unless you’re chasing championship spots, the majority of us can live happy and just enjoy the shoe for what its worth.
I personally didn’t find it unstable.
At close to RM1200, the Prime X isn’t cheap by any means. However, adiClub members do enjoy decent discounts, so get that app downloaded and set up.
I’d give it a 👍🏽and a “Recommended Buy” if not for the launch of the outstanding Prime X Strung. Same stack, same price and much lighter. I went half a size down and my US9.5 weighs 9oz flat, a full 1.5oz difference. The Strung has an immediacy to the turnover and pace and definitely warrants an audition in a low key race, something I fully intend to do in March.
Disclosure: All shoes mentioned here were purchased using my own money and no obligations are owed to any parties.