The Adidas Adizero Adios Pro Evo 1 has been one of the best carbon plate running shoes of recent years, with elite athletes using it to break three world records, and the second version of the shoe has just launched ahead of the London Marathon.
Adidas promises even better levels of performance from the Adidas Adizero Adios Pro Evo 2, which has a redesigned midsole that crams more springy foam into the forefoot without increasing the weight of the shoe.
Adidas Adizero Adios Pro Evo 2: Price and availability
The Adidas Adizero Adios Pro Evo 2 costs an eye-watering $500 and will be available in highly limited numbers on 25 April, before a full launch ahead of the fall marathon season.
Runners aiming to get hold of it this month will have to sign up for a chance to get the shoe, which will initially be available in a silver color with red stripes.
Its price will put off many runners, and there are certainly excellent racing shoes available for a lot less, like the Asics Metaspeed Sky Paris and the Adidas Adizero Adios Pro 4, which is the more accessible carbon racer in the brand’s line-up.
A new midsole
Like the Pro Evo 1, the Pro Evo 2 has a midsole made from Adidas’s lightweight and bouncy Lightstrike Pro foam, with carbon EnergyRods running through the foam to add stiffness and extra propulsion.
However, Adidas has changed the shoe's geometry to add 3mm more foam under the forefoot, which it says increased the Pro Evo 2's energy return by 5% compared with the Pro Evo 1.
The extra spring should make the Pro Evo 2 an even faster shoe than the original, which is a mouth-watering prospect for runners not put off by its price.
This also changes the drop of the shoe to 3mm, with 39mm of foam at the heel and 36mm at the forefoot, with the Pro Evo 2’s sharp forefoot rocker also helping to roll you forward and off your toes.
Improved outsole grip
A new grid pattern on the rubber used on the forefoot of the Pro Evo 2 should improve the shoe's grip compared to the original.
Crucially, both the increase in the midsole foam and the redesigned outsole have not increased the weight of the shoe.
The Pro Evo 1 was one of the lightest racing shoes available at 4.9oz in a US men’s 9, and Adidas says the Pro Evo 2 will weigh the same.
Whether the durability will be any better is unclear. The Adios Pro Evo 1 drew criticism after initial reports that it would only be at its best for one marathon.
A world record in London?
Adidas athlete Tigist Assefa wore the Pro Evo 1 to break the women’s world marathon record at the Berlin Marathon in 2023.
That record has since been broken again by Ruth Chepng'etich at the Chicago Marathon in 2024, but Assefa might have Chepng'etich’s time of 2:09:56 in her sights when she runs the London Marathon this weekend, where the Pro Evo 2 will likely debut on the feet of Adidas athletes.
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