Adidas Adizero Sprintstar review

We believe that the Adidas Adizero Sprintstar is a smart pick for:

• Sprinters who want a durable spike without spending close to £190. It's ideal for training!
• Anyone looking for an affordable sprint spike with a secure race-ready fit.
• Runners who liked the original Sprintstar and want a better updated version.

In our view, runners chasing the most explosive, race-day speed should skip the Sprintstar. We think it’s not the best when the Adidas Adizero Prime SP 3 STRUNG exists, bringing turbo-charged Lightstrike Pro foam and a premium STRUNG upper.

We also believe athletes targeting races beyond 400m should pass on this model. We found its sprint-first design too focused for longer efforts, and the Nike Rival Distance offers a more forgiving and cushioned setup for 800m and beyond.

The Adidas Sprintstar only features 11.9 mm of stack height in the heel, but we can clearly understand why it is not as cushioned as spikes designed for longer-distance events. 

With the limited budget needed to keep this shoe affordable, a premium foam was never really an option.

The forefoot has the exact same amount of material at 11.9 mm. Therefore, cushioning is moderate with a very thin layer of foam, while the insole plays the main role in absorbing impacts.

As you may have already guessed from our identical forefoot and heel measurements, the Adidas Adizero Sprintstar has a completely flat midsole and a true 0.0 mm drop. Quite rare to find!

The foam used by Adidas in the Adizero Sprintstar can barely be called foam, as its extremely low softness of 91.3 AC feels more like another type of material.

For this reason, do not expect any plush sensation here. This ride is firm and direct instead, and maybe not a bad option for those who love classic spikes.

When we tried the Adizero Sprintstar on, we found a fit that is very similar to most running spikes: tight, secure, and without room for toe splay.

Afterward, we created a gel mould of the shoe to take three measurements. The first one, at 89.3 mm, clearly confirmed the fit feel we noticed before.

The toebox features serious taper with 66.8 mm at its widest point, which confirms that no one should expect toe splay with the Sprintstar. Likely what most of you are looking for!

We also found that the fit is quite restricted vertically.

With 24.0 mm of space, there is not much room to move the toes, and the Adizero Sprintstar feels very tight and secure.

Even while doing some strides, the Adizero Sprintstar has noticeable longitudinal stiffness. Afterwards in the lab, we confirmed that with an 18.3N reading in our 30-degree bend test.

With 6.3 oz or 179g on our scale, we think that the Adizero Sprintstar has a reasonable weight but also room for improvement.

However, going below our lab average is usually reserved for more premium and expensive spikes, and we cannot forget that this one is made with your wallet in mind.

The upper of the Adizero Sprintstar looks stunning in the toebox area because of its extreme thinness, something that surprised us even more considering its low price.

When we turned on the smoke machine and performed our test, we found a 4/5 score. Despite not being the max score, it's better than many low-priced competitors and ideal for year-round training, including hot outdoor summer sessions.

We also found serious ventilation in the midfoot area, which is a welcome bonus feature.

The upper looks stunning under the microscope, and it is hard to believe that this shoe is priced below one hundred bucks.

From our point of view, this is one of the highlights of the shoe and probably the part that adds the most overall value.

The lack of a carbon plate makes the Adizero Sprintstar quite flexible from a torsional standpoint. We only had to produce 8.4 Nm of torque to twist it in both directions.

The heel counter has some padding and structure, leading us to give it a 2/5 instead of a 1/5 like other options. For beginners or those wanting this shoe for long training sessions on the track, it is likely a good deal.

With 92.0 mm of midsole width in the forefoot, we found that the Adidas Adizero Sprintstar is not the widest spike we have ever tested and stays more or less reasonable in terms of dimensions.

Adidas went all in on forcing everyone to use forefoot landings by using a crazy-narrow heel of just 50.8 mm.

This is extreme even for a sprint spike, so hopefully your technique is good enough, especially if you want this model for the 400, where form often breaks down in the final stretch.

The paper-thin mesh of the toebox gave way quite quickly against our Dremel tool. However, we are used to this with running spikes, so it should not be surprising at all.

For those worried about making holes in the heel area, we are happy to say that the Adizero Sprintstar performed very well here and earned a 5 out of 5, changing the story completely.

Adidas played it safe with the outsole and used 3.2 mm of thickness, which is a solid guarantee of durability.

The insole has a thickness of 3.0 mm, which is more or less the average we find in running spikes.

The laces go through punched eyelets and may be a bit wide, but overall we did not find any issues with the lockdown.

The tongue is extremely comfortable and resembles one from road running shoes, with 6.1 mm of padding. That clearly shows, in our view, that Adidas sees this shoe more as a workhorse than  a racing-focused option.

The heel comes with a very classic, almost retro design that skips any kind of heel tab.

The low price of the Adidas Adizero Sprintstar is one of its main appeals. It offers a solid package for training and occasional racing below the magic £100 mark.

The Adizero Sprintstar includes a spike tool in the box, allowing you to remove the pins and use alternative depths and shapes.