durability of Adidas terrex agravic speed ultra

Adidas terrex Agravic Speed Ultra after 500 miles or 800 km

The Adidas Terrex Agravic Speed Ultra may have proven the entire concept of trail super-shoes, arguably becoming the first fully successful representative of its category. The Agravic Speed Ultra is efficient, lightweight, looks good, and is priced competitively compared to its rivals. Over the past year or so, the shoe has earned widespread praise despite some sizing issues (the shoe is at least ½ size too big) and not great hill locking, and it seems the Agravic Speed Ultra will remain unchanged for the 2025 season.

In this report, I’ll focus on a rarely discussed property of a racing shoe: durability. I ran 800 km (500 miles) in this pair, including three races (win, win, 2nd place) totaling 180 km with an elevation gain and loss of 11,600 m, all on fairly technical or very technical trails. The rest of the mileage comes from training runs (typically 20-30 km long runs with 1,000-1,500 m elevation gain) on rocky trails, gravel roads, and occasionally asphalt in Norway. Suffice it to say, the surfaces I ran on were abrasive. Although, you should know that I am on the lighter side, wear a size 43 1/3, and don't have any particular running stride features—such as overpronation or extreme heel/forefoot strikes—that would cause excessive wear of the shoe.

With that context in mind, let’s see how this orange trail super-shoe has held up. The outsole shows visible wear, particularly in the forefoot area. Some of the 2.5 mm lugs at the very front are almost completely worn down, while the larger 3.5 mm lugs have been reduced by about half. However, the remaining 80% of the soft Continental rubber outsole is still in good condition and hasn’t noticeably compromised grip.

The wear on the Lightstrike Pro midsole is harder to quantify and difficult to capture in photos. What I can report is that the shoe’s full-length rocker shape has been preserved, and the heel and toe still maintain their original lift, just as they did when the shoes were fresh out of the box. As with most road and trail super-shoes, the foam in the Agravic Speed Ultra is exposed on the periphery, leaving it vulnerable to environmental damage. During one of the races, a sharp rock cut the foam on a heel part of the shoe quite deeply. It's easy to see how very sharp stones could not only damage the delicate midsole but also the outsole, which is extremely thin between the lugs. The vulnerability of the soft foam and outsole is the most significant drawback, potentially sending your shoes to the recycling bin much sooner than you'd expect. Would I sacrifice the shoe’s light weight and bouncy ride by adding extra protection to the foam and a thicker outsole? Probably not. After all, my pair has already run 800 km in tough conditions, and I’m not planning to recycle them just yet

discolored but intact upper of the shoe

Lugs after 500 miles (800km)

Minimal creasing of the midsole

After 800 km, the energy return of the shoe is definitely reduced compared to when it was new, but it still provides enough responsiveness to propel you forward and cushion the impact from downhill running. When comparing it with fresh pairs of non-plated (yet more minimalistic) performance shoes I’ve been using recently, such as the Salomon Pulsar SG 2 and NNormal Kjerag 1, the Adidas Terrex Agravic Speed Ultra after 700-800 km still feels like a step up in terms of running efficiency, bounce, and overall fun

As for the upper, after 800 km, nothing significant has happened. The only noticeable change is some discoloration of the original bright orange. With new materials like Matrix or Dyneema, durable uppers have become the industry standard in performance trail shoes, and Adidas' version certainly falls within this category

So, if you're wondering how cautious you should be with this €200-230 shoe, my experience suggests it will last much longer than just a couple of races —unless you’re running frequently on very sharp rocks and get unlucky.

There are real benefits to training in plated super-shoes time-to-time, and you shouldn’t hesitate to use your race pair for training runs, especially as you approach race day. The Adidas Terrex Agravic Speed Ultra continues to perform well beyond expectations, making it a solid choice for both enjoyable and effective training, as well as racing, over the course of a season or more.

P.S. This review is based solely on my personal experience and does not contain any paid promotion.