Adidas "Equipment" Fencing Shoes

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.)