Adidas Adizero SL2 - The trainer Adizero needed 

Nailed it! I love the analysis and shoe anthology you bring to your reviews! I only have 20 miles in my SL2s so far but boy do I love them. Your Takumi Sen/Ren analysis has opened up my point of view on what i can do with this shoe!

and he delivers 🎉

Your insight and detail are unmatched in the running shoe space on RU-vid. Enjoying your channel more and more. Keep up the good work! 👏🏼

I got it last week and I’m in love with its performance.

I like your product-design approach for these reviews, as you leave most of the price tag component out. Don't get me wrong, prices matter and I don't have an unlimited budget for shoes, as neither do most people, specially in Brazil, where imported products are tagged with a 50-100% premium upon release, perhaps because of importing taxes and currency issues, or because the big corporations know they'll sell anyhow. However, most of the other reviews on this shoe (and other models, too) focus on cost-benefit, and sometimes this approach "clouds" viewer's glance into design and usage (and I'm including myself). Interestingly, in other contexts, these prices could be totally rearranged, perhaps rearranging consumer bias towards this or that brand/model as well. Here's a list of daily trainers as they are priced in Brazil at this point, converted to USD: 1. Adidas Supernova Rise - 100 USD (w/ a discount) 2. Nike Vomero 17 - 120 USD (w/ a discount) 3. Adidas SL2 - 145 USD (full price) 4. Puma VN 3 - 160 USD (full price) 5. Nike Pegasus 41 - 180 USD (full price) 6. NB Rebel V4 - 180 USD (full price). As for the SL2, got my pair this morning in the "wannabe-volt" colorway, ahah! Let's see how it does on the road. Keep up the good work, Chris, and happy Sunday for everyone out there.

The video the people have been waiting for. I still think it is an absolute crime that Adidas isn't giving the SL2 the promotion that it deserves, the mainline page hasn't mentioned it at all. This makes me want to pick up the TS10 though, I held off for a while but if it's basically a slimmed down, racing version of the SL2 then it's got me interest more than it did, especially now that the Metaspeed hasn't worked out well for me since I was using that for faster stuff due to the weight. Fingers crossed the Pro 4 has a release before Chicago

Nailed it! Insane pound-for-pound running shoe, especially since adidas has frequent promos. The Value and versatility is tough to beat at around $100

Been waiting for this review!

Once again, a best review!

Love bringing in the history

Very interesting video, thanks dude !

Great dissection, Sir. This was a pleasure to watch.

you make great reviews :)

Best review of many of this great shoe

Really enjoyed this initial review of the SL2 and glad you are enjoying it. I’m loving the show as well. Your review is the first I’ve seen where the connection was made to the SL2 being the training partner to the Takumi Sen. I can see that now thinking back to my time in the TS8 and how I’ve had a lot of those same feeling in the SL2. Keep up the great content and looking forward to your other SL2 comparison videos.

Good video mate. Love the graphs around where you think the shoe sits in terms of pace.

You knocked it out of the park on this review. Great work on analysis, history and storytelling!

I am always here for the shoe history ❤

Took mine out for their maiden voyage yesterday. Very comfortable and surprisingly quick too. Love them.

Just had my first run in them. Only five miles but wow! I had an easy day on the schedule and I was afraid these would make me want to run faster but I restrained myself and these responded extremely well to easy pace. Can’t wait to throw some tempo at them. I recently got the SNR and I’ve got about 50 miles on them and they’ve been excellent too. After running in the SL2, it’s going to be hard to want to run in anything else though, at least for a couple of weeks.

Let’s go! Just did a first run in mine yesterday was surprised how squishy it was compared to the SL a shoe I actually enjoyed despite it being really stiff.

I love that the lateral heel bias is made here by lack of medial heel bewel. I applied powertools today and created that medial heel bewel. That forced supination on heel landing made my lower back hurt. Fixed it 😮 so this shoe is my detox for overly soft shoes. To me, the bounce is super shoe level. But my foot is the only plate. Good point that medial forefoot collapse. Is ok.

Good insight as ever especially the Foot Strike Differences section as strikes an accord about midfoot striking and rolling in a bit. I like this shoe but I think I will need to park it until sort out some issues. My physio thinks I need more arch support and I felt the SL2 basically has none so hence some rolling in! In recent weeks some ankle and Achilles issues which had been troubling me for a while got a lot worse - not due to this shoe (think more general overuse TBH) but I when I tried the SL2 those issues certainly did not go away and actually, in hindsight, made things worse. But hey got to get some miles in a shoe to "review" it. As a result been reaching for the Peg 41s instead and indeed now am trying them with insoles with more arch support. Maybe they might help in the SL2 but then the "SL" would be lost and would need to pull out the glued insoles. So when I hear things like the SL2 is a lot better than the Peg 41s etc etc well yes it is if you want a lightweight "daily" trainer shoe that is fun and snappy but it must suit your gait.

I tested this shoe and agree I could feel where the lightstrike in this shoe ends at the toe. I found the Supernova Prima to give me that extra cushion in the toe I wanted but am loving using the Sl2 and Supernova Prima as my primary daily training shoes and will slot in the Superblast 2. I have my plated shoes for more longer sustained and threshold runs

Fascinating video - the takumi sen/ren connection. Very very interesting. I bought a takumi sen boost but they were sent back, far to tight in a UK 9 (was totally not true to size back then)

Looks like I found my next dedicated treadmill shoe, once I retire my 1st pair of Novablast V3, and transition the 2nd pair of NB V3 to outside. Hopefully Adidas continues to utilize the design of the inner heel on the entire Adizero line. Which will allow a wider audience to utilize their shoes. Point of reference, my last adizero shoe I loved was the Adios 6, due to the inner heel.

Most anticipated video in a while. Perhaps another comment after watching.

I still have the tekumi sen5. Compared it to my 8. So much has changed. So tempted to get the sl

Spot on review once again! A fairly interesting point that I saw another reviewer said is that if you look at the insoles of all Adizero shoes, the Pro3, takumi sen 10, and now SL2 are all perforated while the Boston and Adios 8 both have non-perforated ones. It's a somewhat strange design choice however if you think of the separation as intentional, it really feels like the former 3 is designed to complete a "premium" rotation, while the latter 2 are sort of another line of "budget rotation", where Boston 12 covers daily easy, tempo, and longer races with Adios 8 handling threshold, interval (basically faster) and shorter races. Would love to hear your thoughts on this!

That navy colour-way is fantastic.

Thanks for this video! Been really looking forward to your thoughts on it. It’s been on my radar recently to add to my rotation. I’m actually from Trinidad in the Caribbean & needed a daily trainer that could be used as a hybrid (road to trail). I love the testing you did on the Puma Velocity Nitro 3, can you kindly compare these two? Never really got along with the less flexible Lightsrike foam, so this 2.0 looks very intriguing.

This analysis is SUPERB. Thanks a lot! I loved the intro about SL20 and it's origin SL72, and how product-wise it stripped down to Duramo line... In my heart, since I love my old SL20, I feel more like a fork between Duramo and SL, and I guess the dna of SL20 rhat relates to the SL2 is the creative jump. I'll definitely have one, just not sure if I wait more colors... anyway, I'm sick recovering and having SL2 but not sample running it would be just impossible; better wait a little! So.. is it a good understanding as trainers and racing partners: - SL2 - Takumi Sen - Boston 12 - Adios Pro 3 and Evo (?) I look forward to your review between Supernova Rise and SL2. SN Rise is just too soft to me, but it will be fun having your insights. To me, it could work as a walking shoe (yes, walking is part of my recreational runner training). Cheers! ❤🇧🇷👏👏👏

I want that color !

Already ran 3 times on SL2 and it's an excellent daily trainer for me. Really worth buying it for 90$

Amazing video packed with useful information as always! How does it fit compared to the SL1?

Ah, so that's where the Duramo SL comes from. Likewise, I had no idea about the Takumi Ren, thanks! The fit with Adidas' shoes has been strange for me. I'm a US 10.5 with Nike Pegasus (same with Puma's VN3), but with the AP3 I went half a size down, then when I tried the SNR I was between 11 and 11.5, and when I tried the SL2 I was 11. Going from your performance matrix alone, I would've imagined the SL2 to be almost interchangeable with the SNR and not that good of a (non-plated) tempo/interval companion shoe (something like the VN3, though that's not a dedicated tempo trainer). I read that your next comparison is gonna be the SL2 v SNR so I'll definitely be looking forward to that one (and SL2 v VN3 after that too!).

Hi Chris! Thank you for taking us through the Takumi history. I still run in a pair of Takumi Sen 7's and have an additional new pair in its box. They are definitely hard core! Love them. I didn't know about the Takumi Ren. Interesting, indeed!

Done watching. Excellent history background, I assume you gonna mention SL72 as the ancestor of the SL even though I didn’t see that connection😂 My question, how does this compare to Supernova Rise?

Nice review! New perspective added compared to other reviews I've seen. So, I suspect that if I have Supernova Rise, Boston 12 and Adios 8, the SL2 doesn't have a place in my rotation, right?

Thanks for the great stories. Particularly like the use case tempo chart. Makes it obvious to me that the Adios 8 is kind of unnecessary (I like that shoe a lot) if you have the three others. And even more, it totally makes sense to have a full and plateless A9. With that being said, I personally see adidas to rethink the positioning of the Boston model in the future (if they keep all other models for 2025 and beyond).

“super leicht” is all relative. But they do appear light for a daily trainer which is generally what I’m looking for. A lot of daily trainers suck at size 13. I used to just use the Streak and Streak LT for everything. The relationship that you observed with the TS10 is really interesting. They do look like they share a design language. Actually it looks more like the TS8 if I’m honest because the heel collar and “blinker” in the TS8 and Pro 2 were more like this. I’m still eking out a few speed sessions in my TS8 as we are having epic rain in Abidjan and I am still babying my white TS10. I’ll give it a go especially with the $30 summer discount it is $100 less than another pair of TS Eliot.

The Adizero SL left my forefoot sore almost after every time I ran on then. But I still kept running for a total of 250km before donating my pair. I overpronate, but the shoes were stable enough for me. I just did not like that pocket idea for the LiteStrike Pro that was probably not lying correctly under my forefoot and that is why I was extremely sore in the first 5 runs before my feet started to get used to it. Anyways, super close to the ground Adizero Adios 3,4,5 never left my feet sore ... I will give these SL2 a try ! Especially since Adidas is no longer bringing the "normal " Adios to my country. Only selected markets got tge Adios 8 and will get Adios 9 along side tge Adizero SL2.

I now have 800 km in my SL 1, and it is still going strong, almost no midsole deterioration, I would say it is better that out of the box. Hopefully the SL2 will be just as durable.

I have all 3 of those shoes, except takumi Sen 8 instead of 10 and largely agree, except Boston 12 is better for longer efforts. Have used all in 5k parkrun and ts8 got my PB. SL 2 did ok last week and not bad for faster efforts. However I would size up half a size in the SL 2 over other adizero. I'm 11 US in the Prime X strung 1, Boston 12 and takumi Sen 8 and went 11 in the SL 2 and could do with 11.5US. Definitely recommend half size up.

Great insights! Thank You! I am having lateral heel pain around achilles insertion point in Supernova Rise. I don't know why Adidas is making the heel base uneven. Why encourage the foot ro roll in a certain way, it does not make sense to me. I still went ahead and ordered SL2 and the foam feel great, hope I can keep the heel pain at bay by rotating among different shoes. I love what Adidas have been doing with their foams, lightstrike pro is my favorite foam out of all modern foams that I have tried so far but I wish they stop doing these crazy 'innovations' on the geometry of the outsole. I wish there was a Hoka clifton with Lightstrike Pro foam :D

I think it is clear that between the SL2 and the Pegasus 41, the SL2 is the obvious choice especially for those who are disappointed with the recent Pegasus releases for that all around daily trainer.

Yes, If one has the SL2 and the Sen 8/9/10 Boston 12 would be redundant unless all you do with it is one day a week long runs. For that I have the DN2 and Superblast.

Nice vid, you didn’t even mention price which apparently this shoe is bang for the buck 👍 if I’m in the market, the SL2 vs Pegs41 for daily trainer?

YEYYE

bro not pregnant but he delivered everytime! very interesting comparison to TS and looking at it now makes more sense. Questions : 1.I haven't buy the SL2 yet, waiting for nicer colorway, but I went to the store and tried it, infact the LS here is much softer than LS2.0 in Boston12 right of, my question is, I am now liking my Boston12 as more miles gets into them, the foam really fun to run in and its gets softer and fun I would say, the question is , in term of foam softness, Do you see SL2 will even be more soft and softer to the point it become mushy when you put your miles into them? 2.Next is that, since you said that B12 is become the "kinda you dont need" given SL2 exist, how this you anticipate on Adidas line up in future? 3.SL2 is definitely more padded, how does it feels running on hot days? Any hotspots and how you clean them, I bet it might take a while to dry. 4.In term of product design and marketing ,why hasn't this shoe been marketed as much as I would like to see in Adizero line up, maybe not in my country, but I often see other ahoes been pushed by Adidas recently, not sure the reason but maybe you have some interesting idea ? 5.Yes this not the B12, how does the LSPRO insert different from LSPRO stacked in B12? Sometimes I felt like companies now are so in bed with the ideas of dual foam setup but don't really explain to us their decision or logic of it? They be like, whats our idea for next shoes, "dual foam" YES, then they just think of way of making it "different" than the rest and then market it as "this is the way". Just wanna know the logic of this shoe. 6. Last but not least, Long Runs, do you see this shoe able to help witb long progressive run lets say 20kplus? Or perhaps thats why the Boston still relevant. Sorry asking too much as I been waiting this and still has so much to ask! 😅 Best shoe talk so far!

trainer version of the takumi sen..? I am sold

Hi Chris, great video as always. I was thinking of picking up the SL2 as a non-plated interval shoe (mainly because heel design of previous adizero shoes cause me issues). Do you think its snappy enough for those type workouts?

Hi there, my first comment over your channel! love your work. Let me ask you a question. I´m working on my training for my first marathon and I dont usually use supershoes with plate for any training, do you recomend this Adizero SL2 for long runs (I would say, 25km to more)? thanks! If not, wich options do you recomend, without plate, thanks!

Nice matix! Just wondering where the supernova rise would sit?

Great review! I have the Takumi Sen 10 for track intervals and I'm looking for a new daily trainer. I was wondering if the Adizero SL2 would be the best match with the Takumi Sen 10 over something like the Asics Novablast 4?

Since you have both Supernova Rise and this SL2, how would you put them in your shoes rotation, i.e., what kind of running day would you pick SL2 and what kind of running day would you pick Supernova Rise ?

Takeaway from this video is: SL2 trainer to Takumi Sen 10 ( from 5K races up to a half marathon) The Boston 12 may still be a sensible option for a full marathon training block as a trainer for the Adios Pro 3? How is the fit lengthwise? On Boston 12 and Adios Pro 3 I am a size 9.5US but on Takumi Sen I am a size 10US? I am not allowed to run for six weeks as my physio advised. MRI test later this week to determine whether meniscus tear or just ITB problem on lateral left knee.

Thank you for the review, For the Takumi Sen 10, you said that you needed to go up one size, it is the same for you for this model ?

Much more exciting innovative release than a Pegasus.

How's upper's breathability, especially considering the hot and humid summer in Taiwan?

What does the full length LSP sandwiched into LS 2.O feel like? I loved the step-in feel and the firmness of the last year’s SL when running. Kofuzi compared the SL2 to VN3, which is not a plush ride.

How does the use case compare to the Supernova Rise? Will you do a comparison video?

Hmm... in terms of midsole feel for cushion n energy propulsion, where does SL2 sit among Novablas4 n NBrebel4? in between? or towards/above either 1 spectrum?

Hi - good info here. You mention that back area of shoe has overlay that is just cosmetic. So just looks but for me the look adds nothing to improve shoe appearance. Yes is very minor in weight but why add if just for no real look improvement. Wonder what else added this way. So not to consider for daily trainer. Thanks for good full analysis all shoe aspects.

I returned my peg 41’s and bought these…. Trust me when I say I made the right choice 👍

You say you don’t really need the Boston 12. But which should would YOU pick to do it all, Boston 12 or SL2 ?

How does it compare to the Supernova Rise which you gave the thumbs up to ?

I'm jealous of the colorway. Here its only available in white and thats is what i bought

Thanks for sharing, I am from HK. The temp. & humidity are like Taiwan. Can you share your heart rate training of easy run? It seems really hard to slow down the HR under high humidity.

I loved these shoes....had to return them unfortunately as it was to narrow around mid foot. It was weird, never had a shoe like that before...other than that they felt great. I think I'll try a different adidas pair. Anyone else had this issue?

Would this be a better overall daily trainer than the Asics Novablast 4 ?

need to size up with this one, it's so narrow compared to the fit of adios pro 3

Does the SL2 fit similar to the Sen 10?

And they are discounting $30 in the US online store.

How is this compared to Asics NB 4? Im leaning towards this shoe for its weight and versatility

Wish they would use a removable insole. Some of us need specific adjustments to not be in pain.

Best buy in adidas line, now reinvent Rise crap:)

Would you recommend this for a heavier runner?

Everything you ever wanted to know about the SL2, and then some.

I got one Monday last week and I can't take it off.

9 mm drop tho🤷🏾‍♀️

Got it for $80 in Taiwan and broke some PB when I was originally planning an easy or steady run. Could be just adrenaline of a new shoe but I love the way it feels underfeet, it was a huge pleasant surprise. It is like a Boston 12 without the upper and lacing issue. Factor in the price, it is the bargain of the year by far.