adidas Men's Ultraboost 19 Running Shoe

Product Information

Weighing 286g, the shoe is slightly lighter than the UltraBoost 21, which weighs 297g, but it still feels pretty hefty underfoot during a progression run or speedier miles. The men’s UltraBoost 22 weighs 333g, compared with the UltraBoost 21 which weighs 340g. The Boost sidewalls are already cupping the upper so to speak, so the skeletal clip only augments the cupping action. This, to us, is a marked improvement in the heel counter design. The new counter is movement-friendly so it works together with the softer components without getting in the way. When Adidas launched the UltraBoost in 2015 there weren’t many, if any, running shoes like it. This was the only place you could find such a combination of style and substance in the form of Adidas’s impressive Boost cushioning and the fashionable knitted upper.

But there’s a lot of Boost foam on the Ultraboost shoes. Can’t complain too much there since the shoe’s name literally says “Ultra”, but you should be aware that most runners will not need this much foam. And just like the ST, the under-arch area feels substantial. The UB 19’s inner midsole has higher sidewalls with more Boost foam underneath. The rest of the midsole is more cushioned, and that’s no surprise considering the increased volume. While the molded insole has a new reverse-molding design with smaller squares, its softness is similar to the outgoing version. However, when you want to push the pace the UltraBoost is slightly cumbersome, especially when compared with lighter shoes in Adidas’s line-up like the SolarBoost or Boston. It’s not built for sprinting or racing, and although the upper’s now tighter than in past versions of the shoe, I still found that my foot would slip a bit when turning corners at speed. There’s a plastic cage that wraps around the midfoot section of the UltraBoost, which helps a little in this regard, but if you tighten the laces too much the cage can become uncomfortable. The UB19 is one of the most durable shoes on the market today. Its Boost midsole and Continental outsole set-up ensure many miles of ownership. The stretchy upper is also unlikely to cause any problems. PROS AND CONS As such, the Ultraboost 19 meets the needs of a comfortable daily trainer which goes very easy on your feet. It’s also a capable long-distance hauler at easy speeds. Due to its softness, we don’t recommend the Ultraboost as a shoe for faster runs.Ultra Boost (top) and Ultra Boost 19 (bottom): Take a look at the key elements of each shoe. The Primeknit, lace cage, and heel frames even look lighter on the new design.

The German company will certainly hope so, because other brands have emulated the success of its original by releasing shoes that offer a similar combination of boundless bounce and street-ready looks. The Nike Epic React Flykni tis our favourite of these, and it’s significantly lighter than the UltraBoost (239g men’s size 9), making it a more versatile option for different kinds of running. The shoe has the same extended heel as the UltraBoost 21, designed to make the shoe more comfortable for heelstrikers, and the same Linear Energy Push system on the outsole to produce a snappier toe-off. Adidas says the tweaks to the upper and the fit of the UltraBoost 22 make the shoe 4% more efficient underfoot than the UltraBoost 21 for female runners. Even adidas knew how bad the plastic cage was. So much so that they actually profited from it. We’re not kidding. Why else would they feature a cage-free version named the Ultraboost Uncaged? It’s mostly just a set pattern with a few permutations of say having blue/red fabric shifted around, but still neat to know this shoe can do this. Part of the appeal of the UltraBoost shoe has always been that it’s stylish enough to wear out and about when not running, which I’m not entirely convinced remains the case with the new “unfinished” style. Then again, no-one’s going to mistake me for a shoe trendspotter, so maybe Adidas has nailed it.

How more Boost improves the shoe

The UB19’s deeper cushioning comes with a firmer top and bottom layer due to the new upper and the harder outsole.

The Ultraboost 18 had these similar notes, where the shoe felt sloppy at high speeds and overly bulky at the same price point. I've said it before, and I'll say it again. Adidas makes the most comfortable sneakers ever — and it's all because of Boost technology. There are a couple of reasons, and one of them doesn’t even have anything to do with the midsole. The standard UltraBoost and the ST version have a perforated lasting fabric below the insole. This gives the foot easier access to the Boost foam, which in turn results in the soft, sink-in experience. What really matters, of course, is what these changes mean to your experience when running in the shoe. And the good news is that the ride has improved, especially in terms of how secure the fit of the upper is.

Adidas UltraBoost 19 Sole Unit

It’s not hard to see where it’s been added either. The sizeable rear end of the shoe stands out as soon as you look at it. This is intended to make it more comfortable, especially for heelstrikers, but as a heelstriker myself I didn’t feel like I got a lot from this big chunk of foam. I enjoyed running in the original UltraBoost design, and while the looks of the UltraBoost 19 and 20 weren’t to my tastes, the shoes were still solid, especially for easy efforts. Adidas has set out to improve things with the UltraBoost 22, changing the design of the women’s version. This isn’t Adidas’s first foray into female-specific footwear: in 2016 it launched the Pureboost X, a shoe designed for female feet that had a somewhat bizarre-looking floating arch above the midsole. However, tailoring the fit of Adidas’s most popular cushioned running shoe to women is a much bigger deal. After making significant changes to the UltraBoost formula for 2019, Adidas has opted for a far more minimal update for the 2020 edition of the shoe. That may be why the marketing campaign for the UltraBoost 2020 has been all about space, rather than the shoe itself.