Adidas Adizero Boston 10 vs 9 Comparison Shoe Review

Josh reviews the neutral Adidas Adizero Boston 10 running shoes and explains how Adidas have reconfigured this design from the ground up to create a totally fresh running experience.

Weighing in heavier than the Adidas Adizero Boston 9 and more closely resembling the running experience of the Adidas Adizero Adios 6, it creates a more stable feel yet continues to be primarily for progressive runs and race day training as opposed to high mileage running.

Continental rubber has been rearranged on the outsole, protecting the heelstrike zone when you land hard or repetitively on your rearfoot and amplifying the forefoot stability.

Adidas have stacked the running shoe on a higher platform to accommodate the carbon-infused ENERGYRODS underfoot, providing structure and support for a more responsive sensation on toe-off. Paired with Lightstrike Pro and Lightstrike cushioning technologies, you get a light and snappy feel in every stride.

A more voluminous forefoot, secure midfoot lockdown and supportive heel counter work together for a just-right feel and fit in this energising ride.

Check out the review with full transcript below.

Hey guys, Josh here from Sportitude Running. It is shoe review time and we're going to be talking all things Adidas Adizero Boston 10. This running shoe has had a massive update from the Adidas Adizero Boston 9, let's not hide that fact.

There is a lot going on with these Adidas running shoes and in today's review we're going to dive into all the changes from the Adizero Boston 9 to the Adizero Boston 10 and give you all the information that you need at home to potentially throw this into your shoe rotation.

I'm also going to let you know how I've personally experienced this shoe because this little guy has been in my rotation now for the best part of four weeks and I like it, but you’ll find out why in today's review. Without further ado let's get stuck in.

Runner Profile

Before we get diving into all the specs and bits and bobs about this running shoe, let's talk about the foot type that could be considering the Adidas Adizero Boston 10. First things first, before I dive into the foot type let's talk about why this shoe even exists in the first place.

If you've been an Adidas Adizero Boston wearer in the past, you've probably used that shoe for your workouts, your sessions or even some races. I hold an Adizero Boston 9 in my hand and you can see even to the silhouette there is a significant difference between the two shoes, not only from the outsole but the midsole, the stack height and the weight of this shoe. There's a lot that has changed in the Adidas Adizero Boston 10.

It isn't really designed for what I classify as your mileage running. It is certainly a little bit more of your workout shoe or something you can do progressive runs in.

It is a little bit heavier than what it used to be. I know that some people out there are not going to like that, especially a lot of Boston wearers, but there are going to be a lot of people that are going to enjoy what this shoe is all about. Being marginally heavier, you get a slightly more stable ride underneath the foot and that's in conjunction with what's going on in the midsole.

This running shoe is really targeting that threshold to your progressive long runs but also your workouts as well, being a pretty versatile shoe. Being a neutral shoe, technically that means we don't want to put someone who is a heavy pronator inside this shoe.

However, I mildly pronate and in this shoe, I've experienced a really good consistent ride. That's more due to the stabilising factor of those carbon rods which we'll get into in the midsole part of this review.

Let's start talking about the Adidas Adizero Boston 10 and Adidas Adizero Boston 9 regarding where things have changed.

Outsole

Looking at the outsole first, you can see straight away there is a lot that's different. With the Adidas Adizero Boston 9, Adidas used a Boost cushioning system in conjunction with that Lightstrike foam which sat on top of the Boost from the heel to the forefoot, so it was a pretty light and snappy ride.

To get a little bit of rigidity and support through that forefoot, they use their plastic Trusstic support system through the midsection. It gave your midfoot a little bit of structure and integrity as you're transitioning through your gait cycle. They still use the Continental rubber on the outsole which has been a very good outsole for Adidas for the best part of five plus years.

The outsole really hasn't needed any upgrade at all. It is more about the strategic change in the positioning of where they put that Continental rubber.

You can see through the forefoot it's considerably more filled out so there's a lot more surface area with that Continental rubber. That does add a little bit of weight, but keep that in mind that it also helps stabilise the forefoot.

As you come back through the heel part of the shoe, we can see that they've strategically placed that harder wearing rubber for that heel striker who comes down underneath the heel first.

I happen to be a midfoot runner and there's a little bit of exposed Lightstrike foam at the midfoot region. I might see some significant wear towards the end of the life of this shoe, but I’m not fazed by that because it's going to wear consistent and true in my opinion.

Midsole

Coming through to the midsole, this is where all the fun really happens inside this shoe. We should probably talk about the biggest change in specs. Adidas had a 26mm to 16mm heel-to-toe drop in the Adidas Adizero Boston 9 last year, so that's a 10mm offset but on a relatively low platform.

For the Adidas Adizero Boston 10, they've jacked it up to a 39mm heel and 31mm forefoot, so you've got 13mm more stack underneath your foot. It is a higher shoe, you are a little bit higher off the ground but the reason they have raised that stack height is that they needed to put something in the midsole. They have five carbon rods which run from the midfoot through to the forefoot and their function is to provide structure, integrity and stability for that forefoot.

If you think about how your metatarsals function when you're going through toe-off, they dip down and engage. Giving your metatarsals and metatarsal heads support by having those five carbon rods through that forefoot allows a little bit more of a rocker sole or a propulsive feel through that forefoot.

It is a unique ride and experience for your Boston wearers out there. It's not the stiffest shoe in the market and certainly not the first shoe to throw in some technology through the forefoot to offer some extra stiffness. However, brands gone by in the past have used either carbon plates or nylon plates which are the full width of the midsole, from the medial to the lateral side.

However, by using the carbon rods you can almost get more of an adjustable functionality for want of a better term through your forefoot. You can manipulate where you want your forefoot to toe-off, whereas sometimes when you're stuck in a shoe with a plate and you're on a linear transition, it is hard to change where your foot is going to propel out of your gait cycle. Yes, it's a little bit stiffer but I like what Adidas have done regarding the carbon rods versus a full plate.

However, there is a little plate construction at the back of the shoe. We received this data from Adidas. They sent us through a tech sheet on how the midsole has been put together. The plate that sits at the back of this shoe is placed not to give the heel any real support, but to give the carbon-infused rods an anchor point to start off their engineering as it goes through to the forefoot.

There is a lot going on underneath the foot with the carbon rods and the little plate at the back injected inside the Lightstrike Pro midsole on top, and then the Lightstrike foam underneath. Lightstrike foam is a little bit dense underneath the foot, however the Lightstrike Pro is Adidas' superfoam. It's light, spongy and very responsive through the gait cycle.

Upper

Let's talk all things upper in the Adidas Adizero Boston 10. First things first, I want to call out a couple of things. It is only available in a standard width which is a D in the men’s model and a B in the women’s model. However, it does fit a little bit broader than what I would classify a traditional width for your Adidas series.

In my true to size 9.5 I had a little more volume through the forefoot which I initially thought was going to be a concern. However, as I said I've used this shoe for four weeks now and I have not had any issues at all with the fit and feel of the Adizero Boston 10. It’s a little bit deeper through the front half of the toe box too which I really liked about this shoe.

Regarding the tech features or the biggest points of difference, with the Boston 10 they have a more advanced gusseted tongue. That's the only way I can say how this whole almost gusseted tongue/bootie construction works, fits and feels.

At the forefoot there’s a suede toe box and underneath we have a strong mesh top. The tongue is attached from the little green line on the midsole underneath the underlay and it runs right the way through to the forefoot, wraps up around the top of your toe box and it's the same thing on that lateral side. You can see it's called out by that green foam sitting underneath the Adidas 3-Stripes on the lateral side in this shoe.

You feel a bit broader and a little boxy through that forefoot, but on top of that arch it felt incredibly secure and that saddle was a great fit.

I like what they've done with the heel counter. It is a stiffer shoe, so you must make sure that you counter balance that with a good heel counter. It’s not too padded, not too foamy through that internal heel collar and I think it's just-right. I like the amount of foam on offer. It's a very comfortable but a very functional fit at the same time.

Subjective Opinion

I've given you all the tech and specs on the Adidas Adizero Boston 10, now it's time to give you my subjective opinion on this shoe. Straight off the bat when I saw this shoe 12 months ago, I must admit I was sitting on the fence. I was really confused about what Adidas was trying to achieve with this shoe.

The reason I say that is because at the same time I saw this in our workshop with Adidas, we'd only just received the Adidas Adizero Boston 9 and the feedback with the Adizero Boston 9 in early days was great. The consumers liked it, the runners liked it - it's a Boston shoe. It's light, snappy and relatively close to the ground so you get a decent proprioceptive feel.

When we got our head around how the Boston 9 works, functions and feels and the feedback from the running community out there, I was super happy. Then we were shown the Adidas Adizero Boston 10 and I said, “Oh dear, what's going to happen with the Boston 10 and what's going to happen with our Boston runners?”

If you're at home and you're thinking, I've been a Boston wearer before, I'm just going to add this to my cart, I'm going to run in it and I'm going to love it, I'm telling you right now, it's going to be completely different.

It might be a good different, but it also could be a bad different. Because this shoe has had an increased stack, they've changed the foam and they've injected carbon rods, it runs, fits, feels and functions completely different than the Adidas Adizero Boston 9 from last year.

If you happen to be a Adizero Boston 9 runner and you really enjoyed that shoe, I would say you'd be better off looking at the Adidas Adizero Adios 6. It’s probably going to run a little bit like the Adidas Adizero Boston 9.

The Adidas Adizero Boston 10 is what we're here to review and from my perspective, when I put it on my foot and I got about a kilometre into my first run, I was overthinking this shoe too much. I was trying to pick up what I didn't like about it because I had that negative thought in my head about what the Boston runner is going to think about this running shoe in the first place.

Adidas have increased the weight. We've gone from around 230 grams in the Adizero Boston 9 to 290 grams in the Adizero Boston 10 in the men's models. A 60 gram increase in this running shoe is significant, however it's stable and it's snappy.

I think it's going to be fantastic for that person that needs and requires a stiffer forefoot and is searching for that that propulsive feel which is where those carbon infused rods come into place. You can use it for some long slower runs, but for progressive runs or workouts this running shoe is going to be absolutely fantastic.

The Wrap Up

I have loved this shoe over the last four weeks and again it took me about three or four runs to try and figure out where I’m going to slip this into my rotation. I have used it for my easy runs, I've run up to 12km in this running shoe comfortably at a very easy 5 minutes per kilometre pace, but I've also done some progressive runs and workouts and I've been really happy.

One thing I will call out about this shoe is that I really liked it for hill sprints. When running uphill, you get that forefoot grab and have a little bit more rigidity underneath the foot on that asphalt surface. I thought this shoe felt fantastic underneath the foot.

I didn't do much running in the Adidas Adizero Boston 9 at all but from where I stand right now, what the Adidas Adizero Boston 10 is all about, it actually works in my shoe rotation which is fantastic.

If you have any questions, comments, theories or queries or you want to just let us know if you've used the Adidas Adizero Boston 10 and what your experiences are, please contact our Sportitude shoe experts.

We love to hear everything about you the runners out there and all your shoe experiences. Please subscribe to the Sportitude YouTube channel if you haven’t already done so to stay notified and we'll keep pumping out these shoe reviews for you the running community all around the world.

Until next time stay safe, be kind to one another, happy running and we'll see you on the road. Take care.

FEATURES

Adidas Adizero Boston 10

• Support: Neutral, Lightweight
• Upper: Mesh
• Midsole: Adidas Lightstrike, Adidas Lightstrike Pro
• Heel Height: 39mm
• Forefoot Height: 31mm
• Offset / Drop: 8mm

Men

• Weight: 290g / 10.2oz
• Width: D (standard)

Women

• Weight: 260g / 9.2oz
• Width: B (standard)