The predator line has always been the working mans cleats, they bring home the bacon on just about any field. Predators by far are not the lightest boot out there, nor do they have the fanciest tech, but they do a great job day by day. The Predator X cleats line includes the typical
Adidas Predator X SG – for soft ground
Adidas Predator X FG - for firm ground
Adidas Predator X HG – for firm ground
Adidas Predator X Cleats Review Pair in Black / Red / White Colorway
as well as some cool colorways, including the traditional red / black / white and now white / brown and yellow.
Adidas Predator X Cleats White / Brown / Yellow Colorway
According to Adidas they pulled the new design from the brain of no other than Zinedine Zidane. He is great spokesman for sure and a pretty sharp fellow to boot. Of course he is getting paid a ton for his endorsement, so lets take a look for ourselves.
#1 Breaking Them – Woahh Nelly!!!
As with most of the Adidas line these days the Adidas Predator X cleats are not a blister magnet. You may notice some stiffness in the heel plate but a couple of break in sessions should be enough to get them into order.
#2 The Fit
Adidas has a theory that the best way to dribble is to put your foot as close to the ball as possible. These cleats accomplish that in a couple of ways. First they pulled out the tongue and went with asymmetric laces, then they changed over to Taurus leather. Taurus is weatherproof very thin leather so it feels like your foot is right up against the ball. Adidas labels all of this as “Optifit”.
Along the inside of the heel area Adidas has created a series of friction ridges that are raised just above the surface. These ridges serve to prevent the heel moving around and blistering. I suspect that they were inspired by fingerprint friction ridges which serve the same purpose.
The Adidas Predator X soccer cleats overall have a comfortable fit with a special bit of barefoot feeling when it comes to ball handling.
#3 Tech
What does it take to justify a $200 price point? You got it throw some cool sounding tech in there! In additional to the Taurus leather, friction ridges, and redesign of the laces / lack of tongue, Adidas redesigned the “Predator Zone” tech. They moved it in my opinion in to a better location and increased it’s size in part by moving to the asymmetrical lace design.
The Predator Zone is a triangle of silicon material on the instep of the cleats that allows better ball grip. Using that extra bit of grip makes putting a nice swerve on the ball a lot easier. The traditional memory foam inserts are still a part of the design and allow dribbling to be more controlled.
Adidas Predator X Cleats with New Larger Predator Zone
The Predator X replaces the tungsten power pulse system with the powerspine. The powerspine firms up the cleats during strikes to make the energy transition between your foot and the cleat more efficient. Think of it as the difference between hitting a baseball with a rubber tire or a baseball bat. Adidas testing showed a 7% improvement over the previous model in energy transmission.
# 4 The Looks….
Well to me these cleats are pretty sharp looking, not to overstated and they have a quality feel to them. They really have a bread and butter feel to them just like the rest of this review. This is the cleat of the guy who goes out to score one for the team.
# 5 The Performance
Adidas has made a great all around set of cleats with the Predator X, for just about any player on the field there cleats would serve. They have the extra bit of oomph when you kick, the extra touch when you dribble and a great overall solid feel to them.
#6 Negatives
11.2oz is just not going to appeal to the sprinters out there. If your game is speed these cleats are not for you.
#7 Price
Current pricing on Ebay is in the $180 range. You can check for yourself from the link.
Summary: Overall this is a very good all around player’s cleat. I wouldn’t suggest it to any speed demons out there, but for everyone else who is putting out the effort the Adidas Predator X cleats are a great choice.