Back in the day, one of my favorite sites to check out was Kicksology. For the unfamiliar and perhaps the new bucks, it was a site that almost purely revolved around the review of performance basketball shoes (although they did throw in the periodical lifestyle/post-game shoe). I actually rarely if ever played ball, but I was interested in seeing how the technology developed by all these sportswear brands were translating in the real world in terms of performance. Known as Professor KO, the eloquent write-ups were genuinely interesting despite the fact I would never ever be wearing the shoes he was reviewing. Solecollector has re-published a few old reviews you can check out to get the just of exactly what he was putting down. I still have an affinity of sorts for performance footwear, just to see what’s the latest and greatest shit and how technology has come to manifest itself in the athletics world. Although for the most part I had largely been out the sporting arena since I hung up the (soccer/football) boots two years ago , I have since “returned” as of a few months ago. I’ve been lifting in beat Chuck Taylor All Stars (no not Hiroshi Fujiwara joints haha) for a minute and on the odd occasion I would run in Nike Free 4.0s so that was the extent of my athletic shoe use as of late anyways. Just recently I’ve started getting more active and sort of kept on top of footwear developments, I’ve become weary of the current crop of running shoes due to the un-healthy nature of all these overly cushioned and supportive shoes (shit the big shoe companies DON’T want you to know). Emphasis should be simply to enhance the foot’s natural biomechanics, something that has come through evolution throughout the years and based on our hunter-gatherer lifestyle up until approximately 10,000 years ago. Nike’s Free outsole has been the best move from a large brand towards a shoe that places more importance on your foot’s natural ability to cushion and work so I’ve sort gone with that and tried to change up my running style to land forefoot rather than heel first. Ok, I’m getting derailed from the original point of this post which was to give a run-down, in a sort of tribute to Professor KO and Kicksology. My medium and platform is different with a football/soccer shoe, but performance footwear needs reviewing anyways.
So… the adidas Predator franchise, probably one of the most well-known line of soccer/football boots out there. It celebrates its 10th incarnation with the Predator X. Aesthetically, this is probably the biggest change yet mostly cause the boot goes away with its traditional fold-over tongue style. A shame really, cause now it sort of looks like the Total 90 series from Nike. Branding is a bit much for me, adidas has traditionally been more subtle in their promotion of technologies, but as you see beneath the transparent Predator vamps is PREDATOR across pretty much the whole instep. As well, what the hell is with the blinged out bit on the external heel counter? Bound to get scratched to shit and it just sticks out like a sore thumb. Yes adidas, it’s hideous, please get rid of it.
Construction & Materials
From a quality perspective, boots are what you’d expect from a top of the line boot. With all the pieces that go into the upper, the quality is good cause I assume it’s relatively labor-intensive to put together and align all the pieces. In what many might perceive as a sacrilegious move, no kangaroo leather on this sucker, instead you get “Taurus” leather. Same difference to me, I never really got that “buttery leather” feeling from adidas’ k-leather anyways, so aside from being able to stretch I don’t really feel all that much benefit from k-leather. For the last few Preds, we’ve seen the move away from a full-leather upper and replacing pretty much the middle of the shoe with a synthetic material to alleviate weight. Makes sense, as well I usually never need any stretch in those areas anyways, the fitting is controlled by the laces.
Fit
The initial fit of this was unreal. The absolute best-fitting Predator I’ve ever worn and I’ve worn quite a few of them. Maybe it’s cause of my fat, relatively Fred Flinstone-esque feet (you haven’t seen my friends though, she’s got boxes on her feet pretty much), but the new roomier shape of the toebox makes for quick and easy break-in for me. I can’t really say how much or how little the Taurus leather can stretch but maybe people with narrow feet might need to look elsewhere. Before, I would really struggle with sore feet when breaking in new Predators, but within 30 minutes these were actually good to go. The laces provide a pretty solid lock-down fit. There’s some Orthofit feature implemented, but in all honesty, a lot of these technologies could never be tested independently, so there’s no point really putting a lot of weight on them in my opinion. You pretty much have to review it as a package. Unlike the F50i Tunits (which aren’t even worth a review, just plain Jane, middle of the pack boring in my opinion), the lock-down fit was real good. I am however a bit worried down the line, the laceloops might rip, but who knows. I have been reefin’ on them pretty hard to get a nice tight fit.
Traction
adidas Traxion is about the same as always, I haven’t really worn any other brands aside from adi so I’m a poor judge across other brands. I’ve preferred Traxion/bladed studs much more than traditional conical studs (perhaps my disdain for the F50i). The studs (although not pictured) are pretty neat, the initial bit is clear and the tips are yellow.
Miscellaneous
So another big thing to mention is this new “Powerspine” technology they put into the outsole. It’s inspired by adidas’ goalkeeper glove tech, Fingersave. Essentially, imagine a strip of material that can curve forward, but can’t bend backwards. Actually, if you’re a Nike Basketball techhead, Nike had a similar technology called the Monkey Paw that was in a Vince Carter signature (the one with the rubber shroud)… yeh I learned that from Kicksology haha. The whole point is to support your foot and remove any lost kinetic energy from impacting the ball since your foot is naturally quite soft and flexible. I’ve worn aspects of this “Power” technology in other Predators and actually did feel a difference. I can’t really say this Powerspine stuff necessarily works but the videos are pretty convincing haha. I almost felt as though the older styles were better, the ones that just had a weighted insole that encouraged power that way. I won’t really comment on what the Predator is actually known for, the Predator vamps which are meant to increase swerve and accuracy… you’re talking about a a goalkeeper turned outfield Sunday league player who would much rather smash a ball with his laces to finish rather than go for some cute little tuck into the corner. As well, I always thought it would have made much more sense to have the Predator vamps on the first metatarsal of the foot but it’s placed quite high-up on the boot itself.
The Final Word
Fit alone, these boots are awesome. There’s a lot of unnecessary shit going on which I really don’t care for. I remember when adidas used to make an “un-Predator” version of their boots which were essentially the same but came with a full-leather upper as opposed to having Predator vamps. But I guess why make a cheaper and arguably BETTER BOOT. As I see it, an un-Predator bound boot could stretch in more places so it would mold a little better. I really have no use for the Predator tech but pretty much everything else I’m feeling from the Powerspine to the Orthofit and the shape of the upper. I would like to see an adidas x Nike “Flywire” un-Predator… that would be a dream boot haha. I can’t and won’t comment on “WHILE THIS HELP MY TOUCH?!?!?”… hate to break it to you, but if you have cinder blocks for feet, no boot will help your touch son…
Just as an FYI and if anybody’s curious, nobody pays me to write this (aside from some free gear), I just do it cause I enjoy analyzing product.