Kit & Gear

adidas ADIZERO PRIME X STRUNG

adidas ADIZERO PRIME X STRUNG is the latest in adidas' running tech innovation. It is a look into the future and a testament to where they can push elite running technologies when they throw away the rule book. No design limitations and no reservations, just pure creative and technical flair coming together to create a super advanced running shoe.

With a flexible and a lightweight design, STRUNG helps optimise your comfort and provide ultimate cushioning, whilst supporting you in breaking your personal best on long distance runs. The STRUNG upper is fused to a Prime X outsole packed with carbon ENERGYRODS and three-layers of LIGHTSTRIKE PRO for a fully responsive run.

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Our Sportsshoes ambassador Ben Mounsey, interviewed adidas Global Director of Running Footwear Simon Lockett, to find out more about this innovative running shoe release.

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BEN: Hi Si, thanks for taking the time to answer some questions about the exciting new adidas ADIZERO PRIME X STRUNG running shoes. I must say - they look incredible!

Please could you tell us more about STRUNG - what is it?

STRUNG is something we started looking at a few years ago when we had a FUTURECRAFT STRUNG launch and it was about how we could take this brand-new innovation up a level. As you know, with ADIZERO from a tooling and innovation perspective, we've been flying. So, we next looked at how we can start to manufacture things slightly differently and how to take it into a high-performance PRIME X shoe.

STRUNG is essentially a textile innovation that transforms athlete data into a dynamic material tuned to the athlete's needs. It makes it possible to map and program different fibre properties thread by thread.

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Can you explain the process of creating the STRUNG upper?

By using computer design, we decide where we want to have multiple layers of yarn placed across the shoe. And essentially what the machine allows us to do is specifically select where we're going to put these yarns and where we don't want them to go. Then you just start to build out the shoe.

For example, when we think about the heel, we start by overlaying yarn, then add more and more for heel lock down and then repeat the same process in the midfoot. Then you eventually get to the forefoot and we use less yarn in order to make it more breathable and adaptable. We essentially build the design on screen, transfer to the machines and then thread by thread, over a matter of minutes, it codes the entire piece. What this allows us to do is replicate what you would normally do with a multi-piece upper, but just using one piece of material. Usually with a shoe upper you would have a tongue, heel padding, different internal support, cages and systems etc. and all of these pieces have to be individually manufactured, bonded together and put into one shoe and then tested together. However, with STRUNG we can do it in one go and with a single piece of upper. Then in the heel, we add just a little bit of padding to make it feel more comfortable. We also create the tongue using some synthetic material for a little bit of comfort and a place to put the laces. So ultimately, this is just one piece of upper material that we can just code and create layer by layer, which is amazing. It's an incredible achievement to be able to do this in the first place, but then to be able to put it on a PRIME mix at the top of our racing range takes this practice to another level and scale of innovation. So, I'm as excited as anyone else to see it hit the market and to see how people respond to it.

Does this manufacturing process lend itself to more sustainable practices in the future?

Yes, definitely. This method makes it more sustainable because we don't use too much additional yarn. We place it in exactly the right length and width that we need, which in turn reduces the amount of waste. Generally, as a brand and as a running team we are just way more conscious, season on season, of sustainability in general, whether it's the method of making an upper, what we put into a midsole or how we bond the shoe together. It's as engrained with us as something as important as comfort. So, not only do we focus on creating comfortable, high-performance running shoes, we always focus on developing sustainable practices in everything that we do. It's certainly a step in the right direction and it's just one of a series of things that we will continue to do to develop an even more sustainable range.

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Does STRUNG increase comfort levels and the fit of the shoe?

Yeah, so the idea is that STRUNG builds a cocoon-like shape around your foot that closely follows its contours and movement. It takes the beefy, chunky shoe of PRIME X and with the addition of STRUNG it helps you to feel at one with the shoe. It's designed to feel nice and snug with a 360 degree wrap around effect. This is where the feeling of unrivalled comfort comes into play because it just feels like one nice piece of material that wraps around your foot. It also doesn't add any weight and it doesn't have any irritation with different stitch lines, overlays or underlays and things like that. We've tried to reduce the amount of distraction within the shoe, with a focus on providing a perfect fit for maximum levels of comfort. From an internal perspective, it's bonded and it has a sheen-like feel to it - so it fits really nicely on top of a sock or even directly next to skin if you don't wear socks.

The PRIME X is essentially our fast, long run shoe. It's a shoe I would suggest you use to go and run 30-40K at the weekend or elite athletes wear it to tackle huge mileage. This isn't a 100m sprint shoe, you're wearing this for serious distance, so comfort is definitely key.

Are there additional benefits to using this type of upper material? Like increased breathability for example?

100%. I've seen athletes wear the current PRIME X in some of the hottest temperatures that I've ever experienced, so it's massively to create a breathable shoe for performance in these types of extreme conditions. Before the shoe gets hot, it changes shape, it expands, and then it gets smaller during the long runs, so you need breathability and airflow throughout the structure. Also, because we're only using yarn in the areas where you need it the most, inevitably there are holes in the parts of the shoe where you don't. So, this balance of yarn placement for precision and support also means you have gaps that allow for increased breathability and ventilation.

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STRUNG is the upper equivalent of the 4D tooling used to create the midsole and outsole of the 4DFWD. Is there a plan in the future to create a fully computer-generated shoe?

It would certainly make for a nice story, but I can't really give a definitive answer at this point. 4DFWD technology was coded and built from data driven insight and this is exactly how we built STRUNG. Whether the two will eventually come together or not remains to be seen. But the most important thing for us as a company is the insight. So, whether that's building an upper or a midsole, we are ultimately building shoes based on fact-based insight and data. This can only help improve performance and how someone is going to feel when wearing the shoe.

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