Adidas Aerobounce ST
Price: $100
Specs: 10mm heel-toe offset; 28mm (heel), 18mm (forefoot)
Weight: 9.3 oz. (men’s size 9), 8.2 oz. (women’s size 7)
The Scoop: About the the time Adidas started to make waves with its innovative Boost midsole foam made from TPU, it sent its engineers back to work to develop something new. Last year, as every other brand was still scrambling to catch up to Boost, Adidas unveiled its new EVA-blended Bounce foam. The Aerobounce ST lightweight trainer is one of the first shoes to feature the energetic new midsole compound and our wear-testers were pretty impressed with it, mostly because it had a great cushion-to-weight ratio. Like the Boost midsole compound, Bounce foam offers both luxurious cushion and a bouncy feeling, but, let’s face it, it’s not Boost. The Bounce foam comes off as being softer, slightly heavier and less energetic than Boost. It serves up a comfortable, moderately soft and mostly dampened ride.
Who’s It Best For: If you’re a novice to intermediate runner who’s not necessarily training to run a race fast (or any race at all), the Aerobounce can be an ideal shoe for a variety of training runs. It’s not going to be very versatile or dynamic, but it’s still a quality shoe that can eat up some miles if you’re training for a longer race.
Plus: With a $100 price tag, this is a bargain of a shoe. It shows that you can still get a good pair of running shoes without breaking your budget or your piggy bank.
Minus: While this could be the marathon or half marathon shoe of choice for some runners, it doesn’t have the giddy up to run shorter and faster efforts for 5K, 10K or tempo runs.
