First Look: adidas Adizero Adios Pro 5

There is a difficult job in running-shoe design: improving a race shoe people already love.

The adidas Adizero Adios Pro 4 gave generation five a very high starting point. Soft, light and properly energetic, it pushed the Adios Pro into a much more forgiving place without losing the quick turnover that made the series such a strong marathon option in the first place.

The Adios Pro 5 arrives while that formula is still working, yet adidas has chosen this moment to make the biggest mechanical change in the mainline series since the original landed in 2020.

EnergyRods are gone.

In their place come EnergyRims, bringing carbon technology first developed for the extreme Adios Pro Evo into the regular Adios Pro. Lightstrike Pro has been retuned, Lightlock becomes Lightlock 2.0 and weight has been chased out across the shoe.

Visually, it is still unmistakably an Adios Pro. Underneath, generation five moves things on considerably.

This is our first look rather than the full adidas Adizero Adios Pro 5 review. We have had the shoe in hand and on foot, so we can get properly into the construction, changes and early fit. The full ride, grip, durability and race-day verdict comes once the miles are in.

adidas Adizero Adios Pro 5 Specs

The Adios Pro 5 remains adidas' main long-distance road racer, built around roughly 39mm of stack, full-length Lightstrike Pro cushioning and the new carbon-fibre EnergyRim setup.

The men's shoe weighs an average 177g in a UK 8.5, with the women's version coming in at 150g in a UK 5.5. That makes the men's Adios Pro 5 23g lighter than the Pro 4, a 12% weight saving.

Weight is only part of the story. Combined with changes to the foam and carbon stiffening structure, adidas is claiming a 9% uplift in energy return.

Up top, Lightlock 2.0 uses a unidirectional-stretch textile designed to hold the foot securely while still moving with it. Underneath, LIGHTTRAXION keeps outsole coverage down to save weight, with Continental rubber concentrated around the toe and toe-off area for extra traction.

There is a lot going on for a shoe that looks relatively familiar from a few metres away.

EnergyRims Replace EnergyRods

This is the big one.

EnergyRods have been part of every mainline Adios Pro since the beginning. Rather than relying on one conventional carbon plate, adidas used separate carbon-infused structures through the forefoot, following the line of the foot and working with the Lightstrike Pro around them.

By the Pro 4, EnergyRods 2.0 were a defining part of the shoe.

Generation five leaves them behind.

EnergyRims move the carbon stiffening structure towards the outside of the platform instead. The central carbon elements disappear, leaving more uninterrupted Lightstrike Pro directly beneath the foot while the carbon works around the perimeter.

It also uses less carbon material than before, helping with that 23g weight reduction.

That changes the relationship between the foam and the stiffening element quite significantly. The carbon is still there to provide structure and help control the platform, but it no longer runs through the cushioning in the same way.

For anyone who likes pulling apart super-shoe construction, this is the bit worth staring at longest.

It is also where the influence of the Adios Pro Evo family becomes obvious. EnergyRims started at the extreme end of adidas racing. Now that same basic idea has made its way into the Adios Pro most marathon runners will actually train and race in.

Lightstrike Pro Gets Another Tune-Up

The Pro 4 was already a major Lightstrike Pro update.

Its softer, livelier cushioning helped give generation four a smoother and more forgiving feel than earlier Adios Pros. That was a big part of what made the shoe work so well over longer distances.

The Pro 5 does not simply carry the same foam over.

Lightstrike Pro has been retuned again, with a slightly firmer setup aimed at adding spring and stability while improving energy return.

"Firmer" needs a bit of context here. This is still a modern high-stack super shoe, not a return to an old-school racing flat. The more important point is that both major parts of the midsole system have changed at the same time.

The foam is different. The carbon layout is different.

That is why the Pro 5 is more than a Pro 4 with the rods taken out. The whole platform has been rebalanced around the new EnergyRim construction.

Lightlock 2.0 and the Fit

There has been plenty of work above the midsole too.

Lightlock 2.0 uses less material than the previous upper, contributing to a claimed 9% reduction in upper weight. The textile uses one-way stretch to help secure the foot without completely restricting movement, while the heel construction and lacing setup have also been revised.

Our first on-foot impression is positive.

In our usual size, the Pro 5 feels slightly more accommodating through the forefoot than the Pro 4 without feeling loose or overly broad.

That could be useful over the marathon. A close race fit at the start line can feel very different once the feet begin swelling deep into 42.2km, particularly in warmer conditions.

We would not turn that into a universal sizing rule yet. Foot shape will play a part and we want more running time before making the full call, but so far our standard size has fitted as expected.

adidas Adios Pro 5 vs Adios Pro 4

The visual similarities make this an interesting comparison because the biggest changes are not immediately obvious from the outside.

The Pro 4 uses EnergyRods 2.0. The Pro 5 replaces them with EnergyRims and moves its carbon stiffening towards the perimeter.

The Pro 4 introduced the softer Lightstrike Pro setup that became such a big part of its appeal. Generation five keeps Lightstrike Pro but changes the formulation towards a slightly firmer, springier and more stable platform.

The weight drops too. At an average 177g in a men's UK 8.5, the Pro 5 comes in 23g lighter than the Pro 4, a 12% saving.

Lightlock becomes Lightlock 2.0, cutting upper weight and changing the way the material stretches around the foot. The heel and lacing setup have been revised, while our early impression suggests slightly more forefoot room.

LIGHTTRAXION and Continental rubber remain underneath, so adidas has not replaced every component simply to make the spec sheet look new.

The Pro 4 established the softer, lighter modern Adios Pro. The Pro 5 changes the way that platform is stiffened, then adjusts the foam, upper and fit around it.

That is a much bigger shift than the familiar silhouette initially suggests.

From Pro Evo to Adios Pro 5

The Pro Evo provides useful context for what is happening here.

That shoe sits at the extreme end of adidas racing, where low weight and outright race-day performance take priority over almost everything else.

The Adios Pro 5 has a different job.

EnergyRim thinking makes the jump across, but the Pro 5 still has to make sense through marathon training, race-specific sessions, tune-up races and repeated starts.

That repeat use is a major difference.

The Pro Evo can afford to make more compromises in pursuit of minimum weight. The Adios Pro needs enough upper, outsole and overall structure to be trained in, trusted and raced more than once.

That makes the technology transfer especially interesting. This is not simply adidas putting Pro Evo technology into a cheaper shoe. It is taking one of the ideas that worked at the sharpest end of the range and adapting it for a much broader race-day role.

LIGHTTRAXION and Continental Stay Put

Not every part of the Pro 4 needed replacing.

LIGHTTRAXION remains the main outsole concept, keeping rubber coverage targeted rather than covering the entire base in heavier material. Continental rubber stays around the toe and toe-off area where grip matters most.

It worked on the Pro 4, and it fits the wider thinking behind generation five.

Less carbon. Less upper material. Less unnecessary outsole weight.

The goal is not simply making the shoe lighter for the sake of a headline number. That 12% saving sits alongside changes to the foam and stiffening structure, with adidas claiming the complete package delivers a 9% uplift in energy return.

Wet-road grip and long-term durability will be things we come back to once there are more miles on the shoe.

Where the adidas Adios Pro 5 Fits

The Adios Pro 5 remains the key long-distance race shoe in the wider Adizero range. The adidas EVO SL covers quicker daily miles, tempo work and plenty of training, while the Takumi Sen sits towards the shorter, sharper end of road racing. The Pro Evo is the extreme option. For runners targeting a half marathon or marathon, the adidas Adios Pro remains the main event.

We will also get a proper look at the Pro 5 over 42.2km very soon. Team PDRC are heading to the 2026 Berlin Marathon in the Adios Pro 5, giving us a chance to see how the EnergyRim setup, revised Lightstrike Pro and updated fit perform when the miles really start adding up.

Generation five is especially interesting because adidas did not need to rescue the Pro 4. It was already one of the strongest shoes in the range. Instead, one of the technologies that defined the Adios Pro from day one has been removed while the broader race-day identity stays intact.

If you want to go back through how we reached this point, our history of the adidas Adizero Adios Pro covers the series from the original EnergyRods through to the latest generation.

The Pro 4 showed how good the modern Adios Pro formula could be. The Pro 5 takes some of the thinking from adidas' most extreme racer and puts it into a shoe designed to be trained in, trusted and raced again.

Berlin should tell us plenty more.

Keep an eye on @prodirectrunning for more Adios Pro 5 content and our full review.