Confession: I’ve never been a huge fan of Adidas tennis shoes. But this Adidas Cybersonic Review can change my mind.
Adidas Cybersonic Review
The full name of these shoes is Adidas Adizero Cybersonic, but product names are so long these days so I shortened it for simplicity. The Adidas Cybersonic is a lightweight shoe made to maximize player speed. Like with all tennis shoe marketing copy, the advertising says it does everything well, but I would say it is a shoe made for speed, not for dampening.
What is interesting about the Adidas Cybersonic shoes is the Energyrods placed in the heel of these shoes to provide an energy return while you sprint without adding a lot of weight to the shoe. Let’s look at the construction of the shoe, courtesy of Tennis Warehouse and Tennis Warehouse Europe (they are also available from Tennis Only in Australia).
Construction
- Upper: Stretchy internal sleeve connected to the tongue for a superbly comfortable, glove-like support. Outer mesh layers for added support and ventilation, combined ADITUFF recycled material on the toes and medial side for added durability and drag protection. The Upper contains a minimum of 50% recycled content.
- Midsole: Dual-density Lightstrike foam keeps the weight down while blending great comfort, shock absorption, and responsive reactivity.
- Outsole: ADITUFF rubber compound holds up strong on all surfaces, even the gritty hard courts, and is formed into a multi-directional herringbone pattern for enhanced traction and hardcourt slide capabilities.
- Color: White / Blue Fusion / Solar Red
Fit Details
| Length: | Snug |
|---|---|
| Width: | Medium |
| Arch: | Medium |
| Break-in: | Slight |
| Surface: | Hard (all court) |
| Weight: | 14.1 ounces (size 10.5) (400 grams) |
How do they play?
The Adidas Cybersonic required a break-in of about 8-10 hours for me to soften a bit. They are far more comfortable straight out of the box than the heavier Barricades. I still felt like the dampening wasn’t quite there compared to the Babolat Propulse Fury 3 that I currently use on hard courts. However, the shoes felt fast and look great and I much preferred the comfort of these shoes compared to the harder Barricades.
The Adidas Cybersonic also seem durable, which is something Adidas historically are pretty good at, at least in my experience.
The Energyrods seems like gimmicky tech, but actually seem to work. You do feel like you get an extra “spring in your step” with these shoes. They feel fast and explosive and for me that is the outstanding feature of these shoes. The fit is not my favorite as it is quite snug and tight and not so cushioned around your foot. It grabs the foot and the cushioning is not bad, but I would have a liked a bit more dampening for my troublesome knees personally. But if you have no knee issues and you want a speedy shoe for your hard court grinding, then this shoe should be on the list.
My tennis friend, Dennis Timar, also bought these and he’s a big fan of these shoes. He especially liked the speed and lightness of the shoe. So although I wasn’t fan of the cushioning, there are definitely several good things about the new Adidas Cybersonic shoes.
Have you tried the Adidas Cybersonic?
2 comments
I agree with your review. Great for speed but lack cushioning. The upper on top of foot was so tight it caused me pain. I returned them.
Asics Gel Resolution 9 are the perfect fit for me, and play faster than they look.
My ladies size 8 (I went up half a size from normal shoe size 71/2) can be laced up nice and tight, and feels like a glove on my narrow foot as I am standing. However, in taking some tennis action steps, my heels are popping up, and when I take a stop-step, my big toe on either side is hitting the front of the shoe. Perhaps that is because of my narrow foot (despite being laced up tight) or maybe they run small. They do feel quick, but they don’t have the all-around cushioning support as my Babolat or K-Swiss tennis shoes. I wanted to love these.