Adidas "Equipment" Fencing Shoes

Lets start with the drawbacks first:

*The undercut of the back shoe is a little far which can make it a little too easy to roll the back foot. Since the rubber doesn't wrap around the ball, you end up on fabric, which results in a total loss of traction. I've ended up in the splits a couple of times on slippery floors when the back foot slipped enough to cause my foot to roll.

*Lack of reinforced holes for the laces. As a general rule, they WILL break at some point, or if nothing else, stretch out and make the shoe feel lose. IMHO, fencing shoes MUST ALWAYS have the holes for the laces reinforced to prevent tear-outs.

*The stick-on details on the side are useless and peel off in a week. This is an utterly useless feature that the company could have saved a few dollars on by eliminating (or spent the money on an enqual amount of plastic for hole reinforcement?).



Neutrals:

*The high side on the rear shoe doesn't actually do anything for me.



Positives:

*Generally good reinforment in the critical areas.

*Well-protected front heel, rolled and rubbered on the back side.

*Good traction on par with wrestling shoes (NEVER FENCE IN WRESTLING SHOES, DESPITE THE TRACTION). Good support.

*Generally a very stable feel (excepting back-foot rolling issues).

I'm really happy with mine. I am a beginner and bought them as I am also a competitive runner and have had ankle problems. My rear ankle was consistently sore after practice and the cant in these shoes has all but completely alleviated this issue for me. Mind you I don't have much to compare them agains, but I agree with others that the grip on a wood floor is not as good as my Adidas Samba soccer shoes. However, the ergonomics are better for my ankles. They seem to favor a narrower foot though, which may be a problem for some folks. All in all, I am just thrilled with them.

Previously used the Adidas "blue stripe". Still use an almost 4 year old pair for practice (holding up very well under twice a week use).



Immediately loved the fit & feel of the asymetric shoes vs. the blue stripes. Hated the traction for the first 10 or 15 uses. It took a fair amount of use for the soles to "break in". I have had several other fencers confirm this feeling. I would say that the traction is still less than the blue stripes on the typical gym floor. Markedly better on either rubber or metal strips.



Durablilty is excellent so far (1.5 years of steady use), with no

real wear inside or out.



Heavier than many shoes, but I have to say that I don't notice the weight when they are on my feet. Perhaps because the soles are very well formed & cushioned. No joint pains with these shoes (none previouly either).



I have relatively narrow feet and these shoes fit well. The blue stripes stretched to the point where I almost can't tighten them any further. No signs of any stretching yet with the asymetrics.



For my foot they are worth the money. An very good product at a premium price - a fair value for money spent, not an exceptional value. Absolutely try them on before you buy. I wound up a half size smaller than usual for proper fit.

The asmyetrics are the first time Adidas really looked at what the feet do while on the strip. Now, I was asking myself whether the Equipment asmyetrics were worth the money when my wrestling shoes weren't giving me near enough lateral support, but, I got a great deal on a pair, so I bought them. Now, I'm convinced, these are the best and most comfortable fencing shoes in existence. They've got cushion in all the places you need it, and the support overall is phenomenal. A completely different and outside the box design made for the only shoes TRULY designed for fencing. In these shoes, it's the little features that really make the difference and enhance your performance on the strip.

I've been having trouble with muscle and tendon soreness on my lunging foot. I just figured tennis sneakers must be the same as fencing sneakers... After one day of footwork in the Adidas Equipment shoes, it was obvious that they were custom built for the sport of fencing. The rear foot has an angle to it that gives a better platform for launching and stopping, and that makes a huge difference. The extra support of the rear foot tongue and extra protection around the ball of the foot is a great feature as well.



The real win in these shoes is the rear one - it's just perfectly designed for the job at hand. The front shoe is fine, but one could wear any number of court specific sneakers up front if need be. Too bad ya can't buy just one shoe for half price :-)



They are expensive, but after owning them I'd say they're well worth the money. A well made product with a lot of obvious thought put into the design.

I used these shoes for the past 3 years until they wore out and I got a phenominal deal on some leftover black-stripe Adistars. The fact that they lasted 3 years helps show that they are worthwhile even if they were the same quality experience as "normal" fencing shoes. I liked the feel. That said, having switched back to a traditional design really drove home the fact that the extra material really does add a noticible weight. Talking to other people, fencers tend to either really love these shoes or absolutely hate them, so trying them on before purchasing is a good idea.

I used other less pricey fencing shoes and they lasted 6 months if that long. I have had these going on two years and they are starting to show some wear and tear but it is only cosmetic. I mostly only use these for competitions and other important events like demonstrations where the floor is wood or has metal pistes. This practice has helped them last even longer the same could not be said for the cheaper shoes. The bottom line is that you could get a 2-3 cheaper pair for the price but you will be using the 3rd pair before these even begin to look bad.

Aside from price these are the shoes for me. Yes, they don't work as well on dusty wooden floors, but nothing else does either.

The ergo-angled back foot did the trick for some ankle pain I was having, and the front heel seems well padded enough without an additional heel cup.

Mine are about 6 mos old, and the soles show no visible wear, but the the back foot inside-side leather scuffed through pretty quickly, and the metal pistes at nationals turned the scuff into a hole already. I'll accept that as normal wear and tear though.

Caution: size does matter though, I wish mine were a 1/2 size smaller. They felt right when new but stretched out a bit after a week or two.

Adidas fencing shoes

All,



I've posted these views in another thread before but my opinion based on usage - i.e. for those who insists on it, my personal experience of these products - bear repeating.



I've been using Adidas fencing shoes since the 70s - I think that's when Adidas started. I remember my first fencing coah wore leather fencing shoes...



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The top-line Adidas fencing shoes, the 'Equipment', are an improvement over the previous generations of fencing shoes in the following ways:



1. Adidas have gone back in time to the dedicated right-handed or left-handed shoes, vs the previous universal non-handedness shoes done I suppose to reduce the cost of keeping inventory - SKUs for those in the know of retailing.



2. The shoes generally offer a better box - read support - for the feet than the previous Adidas Fencing shoes. This starts with a higher collar, as well as a more solid box. The downside of this is that it's more difficult to get into these shoes especially the non-sword-hand shoe with its ankle protecting flap. A strap to help getting into these shoes would definitely help. Otherwise keep a strong METAL shoe horn with your shoes.



3. The non-sword-hand shoe, i.e. the shoe for the rear foot has a higher collar than previous generations and an extra flap to protect the ankle from the inevitable roll-over of the rear foot. The whole innerside of this shoe is covered by synthetic leather to better resist the abrasive metallic piste surface.



4. The sword-hand shoe has better heel protection than previous generations of Adidas fencing shoes. That said, I still use a heel cup to offer additional protection to my sword-hand heel.



5. Adidas have wisely put in a softer shoelace to keep the shoe laces stay tied. The shoe laces on some of their other shoes have a round cross section and won't stay tied...imagine you're a marathon runner... not good.



6. The two compounds that make up the soles of the 'Equipment' -one blue, one white - are harder than previous Adidas fencing shoes. This is good for longer wear for fencing on metallic pistes but not so good on the typical hard-wood gynasium floors. The soles have very little tread - i.e. grooves - on them. In car tire lingo, they are almost like slicks. If you wear them on hardwood gymnasium floors, especially dusty gym floors which most of them tend to be, they do behave like slicks in the rain. For this latter application - on dusty gym floors, not in the rain - I do keep a pair of Adidas court shoes, specifically the 'Response' which were introduced in 2002 Nov. These are excellent on dusty gym floors. One can tell by the squeaks these shoes make on this type of floor.



Adidas may want to consider putting the holes in the soles which act as suction cups a la their fencing shoes circa 1970s. (Walk on a wet floor and you can actually hear the suctions cups working.) This would give the users better traction. It will reduce the material that go into each pair of shoes, thereby increasing Adidas' profit margin.



7. For my personal use, the toe boxes are too low, especially when one compares the 'Equipment' to the 'Response' court shoes that I use. The toe boxes are so low that they caused my toe nails to detach one time. I wore them for the whole day even when I was refereeing. Now I have to wear thinner socks than otherwise. The difference in the two shoes let me know that Adidas heard the complaints.



8. The colour scheme of these shoes are quite attractive. A combination of silver/gray, blue and white with touches of light brown and green. For the die-hard Adidas fans, the three stripes go around the whole shoe, from the upper to the soles. They alternate between blue and white in the soles.



9. These are the epitomes of fencing shoes. They do justice for the price Adidas charge for them.





Conclusion: These are excellent fencing shoes for the metallic pistes. But if you fence on hardwood gym floors a lot then these are not the shoes for you. But if you fence on metallic pistes, then go for them they are worth every pfennig Adidas charges.





There you have a two-inone review.



PK





__________________

You can defeat a man without taking away his dignity.

Nelson Mandela's father's sage words.



I am not young enough to know everything. ~ Oscar Wilde





Last edited by pkt on 07-10-2003 at 04:24 PM

This is the best shoe for fencing, period.



The asymmetrical design and hard but grippy soles let each of your feet do what it wants and needs to do when you're on the piste. The ball of your back foot is millimeters away from the piste, without layers of squishy padding to slow down your lunge. The heel of the front shoe is thick enough to absorb the force of your lunge and rounded to speed your recovery. There are dozens of subtle technical features included in these shoes that make them perfect for fencing.



I used to go through a pair of shoes in 6 months. These last much more than a year, more than justifying the comparitively high cost. That's because of the harder outsole, which I though would make the shoes slippery on a hard smooth surface. I haven't found that to be the case though. Whatever magic Adidas worked with the outsole is better than I could have hoped for before I bought these shoes!



Now, I won't wear any other shoe while fencing.



I do have two complaints though. The last is a bit wide for my long thin foot. I wear two pair of socks, and I have to lace the (size 13) shoes up so tight there isn't any more room to tighten them further. I suppose it's too much to ask for Adidas to make these in a normal-thin size and a wider size to accommodate those of us with out of the ordinary feet.



My second complaint is that on both pairs I have owned, the top inside eyelet on the back foot has worn through in a month or two. There should be a metal or plastic grommet to reinforce that eyelet. (I suppose, knowing that, I should install one of my own on the next pair. Perhaps you should too.)

I LOVE these shoes. Expensive but comfortable. You really can "feel" the floor through them but still feel quite stable. I cant say much about how well they wear as I only use mine for competitions, however, others whcih I have seen appear to be wearing well. My only complaint is the fact that they are not that good for general warm ups. Due to the make up of the sole and the fact its wedged etc, running warm ups in these shoes are difficult and uncomfortable. Its best to do warm up in your general takkies and then change before you get on the strip. Also its a good idea to wipe the soles down with a damp cloth occassionally to stop them getting too slippery with dirt.

I have tried a lot of different shoes for fencing. Back when I started, I tried running shoes. Those were terrible because I could not feel the floor beneath my feet and felt sluggish.



Then I tried indoor sport shoes. Those were fine in the floor-feel department, but unfortunately they had bad support at the arch, and the insoles became really bad really quick, and my knees were aching after a little bit of fencing.



I tried some of the older models of fencing shoes, and had the same problems than with the indoor shoes.



Then I saw the new Assymetricals from Adidas. Bought a pair. When I got them and put them on, I felt like fencing. I did not feel like standing there with them on my feet, I wanted to fence. I wanted to go on guard, and that was the position that felt the most comfortable to be in while wearing these shoes. I knew I had to buy them. And so I did. A whopping $150 went from my pocket to the vendors. After a couple of months, my knees weren't hurting and I could fence for a longer time.



Sure, everyone has them, and if you want to look different don't buy these shoes. Sure they are expensive, but they last about twice as long as the old models of fencing shoes, and the fact that their insoles are specifially designed with fencing in mind makes for less pain in the legs. So I think that these advantages far outweigh the disadvantages.



One word of advice, try them on first, they tend to size a little different than other fencing shoes, and make sure you are wearing whatever socks you fence in when trying them on. Also, don't buy the high top version, unless you've had a bad ankle injury, they don't add anything to the low-top version and they cost more.