I recently got in a pair of adidas Response Boost 3s and the changes from the v2s make them a completely different style of running shoe. So I was fairly disappointed when I got to looking closely at them.
Let’s back up a little.
I really, really like the way adidas Boost midsoles feel underfoot and have run in a few of the Boosted models. The biggest issue I tend to have with the adidas brand running shoes was always the narrow, tapered toe boxes that they seemed to have.
Due to a couple of things I have been able to run more in narrower shoes and lately have gone back to running in more in adidas running shoes recently. Plus it seems that some of adidas’ running shoe lines have relaxed the forefoot fit – in my opinion a very good thing.
One of the shoes that I have liked for the most part is the adidas Response 2 TechFit. Yeah another one of those older models that you can find fairly cheap, but still have some life left in them.
While I had some issues with them initially, they do fit well, are very comfortable and now that they have broken in a bit, have become my preferred shoes. No they are not the top of the adidas line of running shoes, but they were a reasonably priced model that seems to work well for me.
Since I like the Response 2s as well as I do, when I had a chance to get a pair of the Response 3s for a great price on eBay, I decided why not go for it.
I sort of wish that I hadn’t bought them now that I have them in my hands.
They are quite simply a different shoe.
The Response Boost 3s gained way too much weight and went from having a fairly simple upper to something where I had to scratch my head and ask why?
They went from a running shoe that could compete pretty nicely and be in a similar price range with the Nike Pegasus, Saucony Ride, Mizuno Wave Rider, Reebok Sweet Road or Grasse Road and others in this light-weight/lower cost daily trainer category to a WTF is going on.
Yeah they still have the Boost midsole and with the changes to that design I expected a bit of weight gain, but damn the upper sucks in the Response Boost 3s compared to the 2s.
When I got to looking close at them, I decided that a pair of scissors would cut down the weight a little without any structural changes.
The green Xs are what is now gone (fabric adidas tag on the tongues and pull tabs on the heels), half an ounce doesn’t sound like much, but I can feel the difference.
After I run in them a few times I will decide on those seemingly useless lace strips that I circled in yellow and just punch a lace hole in the normal place. There is a plastic overlay under that strip to give some support to the upper, so unless this strip actually does something it probably needs to go away too.
Also adidas choice of laces seems to be a bit overkill.
So with a few more changes I might be able to lighten up the shoe a bit more. I don’t think they will be sub 10 ounce shoes like the 2s, but it would be nice to get them down a little more.
Sometimes, I think that brands screw-up decent shoes by attempting to make them into something they are not. For me the Response Boost 2s were a basic light-weight trainer without too many frills.
I am not sure of the direction adidas meant to move with the Response Boost 3s, but they were redesigned and no longer are a pair of basic light-weight daily trainers in my opinion. The pull-tabs in back are not really necessary, the side lacing strip is of questionable use/value and the fabric adidas label on the tongue makes me scratch my head and wonder why all these extras were even necessary.
All they do is add unnecessary weight to a running shoe that was going to gain a bit of extra weight from the design change to the midsole.
The other part is just from a looks department, the Response Boost 2s look like a decently styled shoe, while the 3s seem busy and the components don’t work well together and the fabric label made them look cheap.
I know that both of these shoes are long in the tooth and not really current models, but it shows how a brand can screw up a perfectly runnable running shoe and make it something quite different and not as good as what it supposedly replaces.
In this case the Response Boost line took a big step backwards in my opinion. Not that my opinion matters to anyone but me. 🙂
We will see how the adidas Response Boost 3s do as running shoes with the changes I have made so far.
