adidas D Rose 5 Boost Performance Review

 Boost in a premium hoops shoe ? Yes please!

How’d the D Rose 5 compare to other top tier shoes ?

King of the Court shootout

PROS: traction, support, stability, containment, fit, price

CONS: a little deadspace in the toe box (cured with replacing insole, could use a little more Boost in forefoot if  wanted to nitpick

I know I’m late to the party as I’ve read all the reviews ranging from “trash” to “awesome” so wanted to help those who are on the fence and clarify that these are definitely AWESOME especially after you swap the insole. With the nba x nike air force 1 coming down as the season wears on, you’ll be hard pressed to find a better shoe for under $100. Currently Eastbay has them for $109 plus 15 to 20% off which makes it about $88. Full size runs are still available which means they will be discounted further and most hit outlets for even bigger discounts.  Just because a shoe sits on a shelf and hits outlets doesn’t mean it isn’t a great performer, it just means the average consumer isn’t buying them.  I’d expect them to hit the outlet for about $79.99 soon with additional discounts like buy 2 get 1 free etc ..anyways onto the review.

Traction

Traction is fantastic on all surfaces which is what I’ve come to expect from the DRose line.   The rubber is soft and pliable and does a great job pushing away dirt and gripping the floor.The pattern in the forefoot reminds a lot of the nike kyrie 8 which had excellent traction as well. I’d say it is almost as good as the Kobe ix and Clutchfit Drive just a touch less grabby thanks to a wider thicker herringbone pattern but just as consistent. I even played in these over my Clutchfits during a tourney this weekend bc they were just that good.

Fit

Fit in the Rose 5 is great as well except for a little deadspace in the toe box. I had the “Brenda/Ltrain” and that colorway had a but more space than my alternate away colorway due to the materials used. This colorway is a mix of leather and mesh which I believe tightens up the toe box. The inflexibility of the Brenda colorway made it tougher to tighten up the toe box imo thus the extra deadspace. I did not have a problem with the deadspace but I decided to swap out the insole with the Rose 4 and it really cleaned up the fit and eliminated all the dead space.  If you compare the insoles, you can see the stock insole is half the thickness of the Rose 4s. The idea was probably to put your foot as close to the Boost as possible and was probably an afterthought when they measured and designed the shoe. Does a few millimeters make a difference in performance ? No it doesn’t, but it does affect how you perceive the fit.

Cushioning

Boost is awesome plain and simple. Bouncy and responsive yet plush and durable. I’ve had these shoes for two months or so and the Boost hasn’t lost any of the bounce. I wore them for a tourney this weekend and I didn’t have the normal aches and pains I usually have after a bunch of games. Adidas calls it full length but it is more like 3/4 length as it seems to end around where the toe and foot meet.  It is definitely thinner as you move from heel to toe (and as you can see)

Adidas thinned out the Jordan 1 in the forefoot to give more court feel and make the shoe more stable. I wish they put a touch more in the forefoot but these aren’t my sig shoe. Swapping the insoles also beefed up the forefoot cushioning a little. Every time I put these on every other brand’s cushioning feels second rate compared to these.

SUPPORT

Fantastic support plain and simple . I really don’t know anyone would need to wear ankle braces when you have these on. Most of the support comes from the supports seen below which are made of a stiffer plastic compound that breaks in the more you wear the shoe.

Additional support comes from the plastic heel counter and keeps your heel in place.

Since my foot was already securely in place I didn’t have to worry at all about my foot sliding or moving. The support and stability on these are my favorite feature.

STABILITY

These passed my heel test easily and have a torsion bar to keep the foot from twisting. It really helped stabilize the Boost which was a genius move by Adidas. They were able maintain the Boost feel while providing additional support. I never felt out of balance or felt like the shoe was going to tip even I landed off balance .

CONTAINMENT

Some reviewers said they wished try used PrimeKnit or a woven upper on the Rose 5 but my guess is that Rose’s herky jerky movements would have resulted in a blownout in the shoes upper.  Plus Adidas wanted to keep the price under $150 so using a woven upper wouldn’t have allowed that.  The containment is wonderful on these thanks to the foam ” rails ” that run along the entire side of both sides of the foot.  I believe Adidas calls them FitFrame. These sit up about 4 of 5mm  around the foot and keep the foot in place even on the hardest cuts. The thicker upper also keeps the foot from coming out of the footbed which I really love .

PRICE

As mentioned earlier, the Jordans 2021 has been seeing price cuts and will continue to fall in price as the season wears on. For under $100 you can get a fantastic shoe with excellent lock down , traction, cushioning , fit and containment. I forgot to mention they are durable too . My still look like bew after a few months.

CONCLUSION

I think the Rose 5 got lower than expected reviews due to high expectations and hype. If you break down each component of the shoe , it is an exceptional shoe, especially for the price .  Once these start hitting outlets I will be picking up several more pairs as they have crept into my elusive top 5 rotation of all time.