You Got’s to Chill – adidas ClimaChill Cosmic Boost Performance Review -Duke4005

Introduced years ago,13 to be exact, adidas’ ClimaCool (and now ClimaChill) has always been about one thing – keeping temps down in the summer streets. The introduction of PrimeKnit in the Cosmic Boost can only up the “cool” factor in every sense of the word. But do they perform enough for the athlete or are they strictly for “chilling?” You know how we do it…

MATERIALS – Regardless of what the website/press releases said, it IS PrimeKnit, not engineered mesh. If you haven’t tried PrimeKnit, what are you waiting for (besides availability and a price drop)? PrimeKnit is stretchy, flexible, supportive where it needs to be, and very, VERY ventilated. Perfect for summer, except…there is some serious rubbing and chafing over the instep. If you look closely in the weave you can see some nylon threads interwoven and they suck if you are barefoot. With socks, even thin ones, I was good.

Forefoot is Boost and it doesn’t get any better. More on that in the cushion section. Heel is EVA, but soft–very soft. Again, more later. So, that’s that, let’s get on the road, or treadmill–there’s been rain in Texas for a month.

ClimaChill is what the shoe reviewer ordered for summer. The vents in the midsole run completely through and serve two purposes: first, allowing sweat to evaporate and air to flow through, and second, letting water escape if you are running in wet conditions. Unfortunately, this also lets water in and if you are wearing socks, you will feel it. If you don’t wear socks, those threads will eat you. Your choice – wet feet or eaten feet.

FIT – Perfect. Length is dead on – I wear a 10.5 in everything – Kobe, Lebron, KD, Ultra Boost, Rose – and the 10.5 in these was it. However, there is always a but; the area of the big toe was shorter than I normally like (usually a finger width) but the knit material flexed and gave enough that there was no pain, just a second-skin fit. The toebox is short and sits right on top of the toes, but again, the PrimeKnit flexes and gives with every movement, letting the foot fly through toe off and sprints with no drag. Midfoot is narrow, close, and the laces don’t need to be pulled super tight to get locked in. The stripes are woven tighter for support in order to hold the foot over the footbed and they work. The PrimeKnit would seem very unstructured and unstable based on the technology alone, but when woven tighter in areas of high-stress and flex it works as well as a Fuse or SprintWeb (Jordan XX9 did this well also).

The heel has no counter, only a mesh panel wrapping the area, which, I found in the Lillard, made for some not-so-nice heel slip. Not so on the Cosmic; the materials lend to wrapping tight when laced and the shoe is cut more narrow (narrower?) around the heel for solid lock. The tongue is sewn in bootie-style so overall, there is a wrapped in Snuggie feel that just never goes away.

CUSHIONING – Anytime a shoe involves Boost, cushioning becomes my favorite part of the review. Boost is the stuff legends are made of. Not me, but, you know, athletes. Bouncy, responsive, alive, durable, freaking gold. There is a sink for cushioning, impact protection, and immediate rebound into the next step – closest to energy return since long-ago Zoom. Not saying you will explode and improve times because of it, but you will experience less foot fatigue. As for me, my calves and knees feel great after a run in a Boost shoe. My only complaint of the shoe is coming in 3…2…1

The heel. EVA. Yeah, I guess. The shoe has a minimal drop from heel to toe, which may be the reason for the EVA. Or it could be a cost saving thing. Or it could be to signify that this shoe is meant as a lifestyle model, although the site and the press release took a definite performance aspect. Whatever it is, the EVA is super-soft and comfy when casually kicking around. When sprinting, the shoe shines. Long distance, when you start getting tired and gait’s become uneven, that first heel strike will bounce you back to reality. Bottomed out on first try. Maybe that makes it a casual shoe?

DURABILITY AND TRACTION – First of all, I am NOT going to be doing durability categories on the regular. This is purely because of complaints I have heard about the Ultra Boost outsole and the nubs wearing down quick. They do. However, the base is thick and should last for at least a couple miles. Same here – the nubs have already worn off of mine after less than fifty miles, but the base is thick (watch the video). It doesn’t affect ride and doesn’t affect performance but I understand the concern. The Knit, even though it is thread, shows no unraveling or tearing. These photos were taken after over 75 miles and four weeks of wear in the gym and road.

Traction: Well, it’s a running shoe, so the old “herringbone works” argument makes zero sense. But it isn’t the best on the Cosmic. If you are on wet roads or wet smooth-finished pavement, you run the risk of meeting that pavement up close. On dry, the Boost lets you dig your toes in and the softer rubber grips down and goes.

OVERALL – No scorecard for the running shoes, but the adidas ClimaChill Cosmic Boost is a good shoe. Not great, but gets the job done, especially for summer, which is what we need in Texas (96 and 80% humidity as I write this. ClimaChill indeed). The Boost forefoot is great for quick work and sprints, but for long distance watch yourself. Fit, durability, and materials are awesome. If you don’t like this colorway you can grab multiples at Foot Locker now for $140 (they may start seeing markdowns soon). I wouldn’t recommend these for a serious marathoner or even a regular trainer of more than 2-4 miles a day – the Energy Boost, SuperNova, and Adios all fit that bill better. However, for a gym to work to casual type of shoe, they don’t come much better.