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BOARDFEEL AND GRIP

As aforementioned, the cushioning of the Samba ADV was minimal. As we know, minimal cushioning often correlates to maximal boardfeel, which is exactly what the Samba ADV excelled in. The boardfeel of the shoe was very good. The sole itself is quite thin, which paves for a close gap between the foot and the board, allowing for more control for flip tricks and pop. The toe area was the best part, where the sole was the thinnest and boardfeel was amazing. Moreover, the pattern of the sole itself is quite soft, and after a few sessions, broke in nicely to adapt and form to the concaves of your feet and board. This in the end proved to be very effective, and helped immensely with flip tricks and flatground. The outsole features a classic herringbone tread pattern that provided consistent grip and didn’t reveal any blow out spots during the weartest. Adidas also paid homage to the original Samba outsole by adding in a separate pill tread pattern on the medial side of the heel that helped with additional support and functioned as a bit of a heel stopper.

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COMFORT AND STABILITY

Another highlight of the shoe was it’s stability. The shoe itself is a snug fit, with a few different factors working together to ensure a tight and compacted fit for the feet. For starters, the shoe’s heel collar consists of a high quality breathable mesh stuffed with a foam composite that stabilizes the ankle and heel into a deep pocket. The tongue of the shoe is made of the same material, but is held in place by two flexible straps that work to stabilize the superior surface of the feet. The sidewalls of the shoe really highlight the comfort and stability of the shoe; each lateral sidewall is made of an extremely breatheable mesh panel that is held up by a seamless imprinted overlay called Fantom Tape. This allows maximum breathability without sacrificing structural support and leaving seams vulnerable to abrasion. The feet were completely stabilized within the shoe, which eliminated slippage and helped with the consistency of flick tricks. During the whole weartest, breathability was exceptional which made the shoes quite comfortable to wear. The high quality materials used in the 868 really do show a difference and help wick away moisture rather than trapping it. Often times, good stability of a shoe is overlooked and not really focused on, but when it came to the 868, it was an excellent surprise.

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SHAPE

Surprisingly, the shoe is quite spacious which might be nice for those who have wider feet. More often than not, we had to tighten the shoes more to bring the sidewalls closer to the feet to ensure stability. The toe cap is a nice element to the shoe, and rounds out nicely, unlike some shoes that become very pointy and have less surface area for abrasion. Although the HUF Hupper 2 is  a classic vulcanized design, it is a bit heavier than most and feels a bit more clunky before breaking them in. The sidewalls also rise up a bit higher than most shoes, which is nice for a deeper fit for your feet and also better protection.

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CUSHIONING

Cushioning was a feature of the Ultrarange Pro that went through many trials in the Vans R&D center. Vans tried to hit two points with their newly introduced Co-Molded Outsole: provide a high quality shock absorption material that would also make the shoe as light as possible to prolong the skater’s stamina for jumping down sets or gaps. To do this, they threw away the idea of a removable insole, and instead selected the insole material Ultracush Lite to be made into a midsole.  Afterwards, they molded the infamous waffle outsole to the midsole and created an outsole that was lighter, and didn’t sacrifice cushioning. If you look at the sole, you can see the molded Ultracush Lite coming out from in between the tread patterns of the waffle sole. After realizing that there was no insole to remove, we were skeptical at first jumping down sets during our Shanghai weartest. However, the shoe’s Ultracush Lite outsole was more than enough support to handle skating an 8 stair, and barely any impact could be felt through the shoe’s thick, but light, outsole.

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