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All Day I Dream About Skiing? Thats right, the soccer/futbol, basketball, running, pick up your kids from practice in a track suit Adidas is expanding their brand into the outdoors. At the recent Outdoor Retailer show in Salt Lake they showed off their new shoes, apparel, and even glacier specs.
Adidas Outdoor
Hiking boots, trail shoes, softshell, puffy jackets, touring pants – what more could you ask for in an outdoor company? Oh and they even have sweet athlete pictures of people skiing and ice climbing in Adidas beanies er… gear. They’ve teamed up with GORE-TEX for most of their gear which is pretty much the same old stuff we all love with a different name. Or is it?
Adidas Outdoor Footwear
At the show they sent me away with their new Terrex Fast X FM GTX (quite the name) with the most innovative heal I think I’ve ever seen. They call it Formotion. The idea is the last 2 inches of the shoe near the heal is semi detached and flexes as you walk. This is suppose to keep you moving forward. Look out Red Bull, Adidas is giving people wings. Honestly I notice the Formotion way too much and if anything it throws me off. The design is a bit too much and down right uncomfortable.
I’ve spent the last week in the shoes and my favorite part is the speed lacing system. Nothing much different from a Salomon, but speed lacing is always a nice feature. I also noticed the fit is a bit more rigid which offers more support which may take some breaking in. I honestly can’t compare this shoe to any other shoe I’ve tried. Adidas just might be in a league of their own. The shoe price will be around $140 USD.
Will the Adidas Outdoor brand latch on?
From what I heard Europe is all over it. It will be interesting to see how Adidas outdoor does in America. I just don’t see skiers on dawn patrol rocking an Adidas softshell. But hey, what would I know. They are definitely offering an innovative swing on footwear. I think spying an Adidas pack on the trail is going to as common as Helen Hunt giving you the time of day at the Sundance Film Festival.
My best wishes to Adidas as they move into the outdoor apparel. I hope their products can help people get outside. At the end of the day thats really what its all about. And of course stalking Helen Hunt at Sundance.
Check out the Adidas outdoor gear on their website.
;)
I got the full run-down of the line at Outdoor Retailer and it’s got some great pieces in it. The jackets are very technical and (as you’d expect), it does have some great footwear. The downside to it all is that I’m not so sure that people are going to latch onto Adidas as a ski brand or dedicated backcountry brand.
Perhaps Flava Flav and Run DMC have successfully turned Adidas into a soccer and urban brand.
It’s well-documented that I’m quite the gear snob, so to be quite honest, I’d have a hard time donning a $500 Adidas Gore-Tex jacket and hitting the backcountry. It just does not compute — not that the quality isn’t there, it’s just out of place.