The Adidas Adizero Takumi Sen 9 (Adidas likes long names!) is Adidas's top
racer for shorter distances. Being part of the Adizero family means that this
shoe is designed for performance. With a hefty price tag does this shoe have a
place among top-tier marathon racing shoes that cost only a few bucks more?
Let’s find out!
Introduction
Adidas has been away from the favorite running shoes among runners for some time, but in the last years Adidas has been working hard to catch up with the competition and it has paid off.
Today we have great examples of how Adidas knows how to build fantastic running shoes. We have the marathon’s winner Adios Pro 3, the maximalist Prime X, the just-launched speed shoe Boston 12, also the Adios 8, the daily trainer SL, and the short-distances racer Takumi Sen 9.
Since the 8th iteration, the Takumi Sen is seen as one of the best short-distance racers and a great workout running shoe, and I wanted to try them since then.
I bought these shoes for my workouts and also 10K races and I have already logged more than 50 km (31 mi) with them. Usually, I only do shoe reviews after I have reached 100 km (62 mi) but because I’ll only wear the Takumi for workouts and races (and there will be none during the Portuguese summer), I would need several weeks to do the review.
Stats
Upper
Being a top-tier racer, the Takumi Sen 9 has a very strip-down upper with an extremely lightweight mono-mesh upper. Don’t expect those nice-to-the-touch uppers because you won’t get one. You get a very plastic upper, very thin and breathable, but this is what is contributing to the Takumi’s low weight. Despite the minimal upper, we still have some nice overlays that give it more structure.
Starting from the back, the heel counter is more rigid than what I would expect when looking at the shoe. You can easily bend it, but you can feel and see a small piece of plastic that is reinforcing the heel counter, giving more structure and helping with the lockdown.
Moving up, we have the funny pull tab that you can (and should) hide away just by bending it down when you don’t need it anymore. More than just funny, this pull tab is indeed useful. I found out that the Takumi Sen 9 is not an easy shoe to put on and I always need to unlace it more than I like to be able to slide my foot.
The heel collar has a nice and comfortable fabric with a suede touch to it and you’ll only find padding for the Achilles, providing extra comfort and also helping with the lockdown.
Moving to the tongue, we have a minimal, very thin, non-padded, and non-gusseted tongue with a loop to fix it with the laces and I had no issues with tongue slip. A lighter tongue than this one would be a non-existing tongue! The tongue interior has a silicone band and that will also help prevent tongue slide. To be honest, I don’t know if the silicone band has any effect while wearing socks. Despite being very thin, I had no issues with lace bite, but I am not using this shoe for longer runs or for easy runs so I am not looking for comfort.
Now the laces are where Adidas could have done way better. The laces are flat like I prefer, but they are too thin and too short. It’s hard to do the runners’ knot and a double knot and I have slim feet. Also, I don’t know if it’s the laces or the eyelets, or both, but it’s not easy to tie and untie this shoe to get a perfect lockdown.
Midsole
The Takumi Sen 9 midsole features a full-length Lightstrike Pro foam with carbon energy rods instead of a plate, like many other brands. The energy rods are small tubes that run along the shoe and have the same purpose as a plate. Limit the energy loss and increase the energy return. This is the same combo that equips the marathons winner Adios Pro 3, but the Takumi Sen 9 has less stack so it's nimbler.
This foam is not as soft as other supercritical foams, but it’s still a soft foam and it has a great amount of energy return.
The midsole is also rockered, but it’s not an aggressive rocker like you find in the Hoka’s or in the Saucony Endorphin line.
Looking from the bottom, you’ll see that the midsole has some cutouts in the middle of the shoe and in the forefoot's outer side. Besides removing some weight from the shoe and exposing the beautiful energy rods, I see no other purpose for these cutouts. They don’t seem to help the shoe flex.
This foam doesn't need to break in. It delivered everything it has since mile 1.
Outsole
If you can’t have PumaGrip, then the next in line is Continental rubber for sure. It’s hard to pick a winner between these two rubber compounds, but the Puma rubber it’s just a tiny bit better than the Continental rubber. In real-world usage, I’d say that there is no difference.
The Takumi Sen 9 Outsole has a lot of rubber coverage on the forefoot while the heel has strategically placed rubber, covering the high-impact zones. Because this shoe is designed for optimal performance, the outsole rubber will follow that premise as well and we get a thin layer of rubber that, has a heel striker, I’ll destroy it until I reach 200 km (125 mi). Performance racing shoes never last as long as daily trainers, for sure, but the Takumi Sen 9 outsole seems to be less durable than other super shoes’ outsoles.
So, if like me you’ll be using this shoe for workouts, then after 200 km (125 mi) consider every mile as a bonus.
Fit
Perfect lockdown. It’s not easy to get it and to keep it for the next runs, but I can get a perfect lockdown with this shoe and that’s not that common for me.
The fit is snug as you should expect from a top-tier short-distance racer, and you’ll feel your midfoot very tighten, but without being uncomfortable.
The toe box is also snug, but not enough to cause any complaints.
Regarding the sizing, it’s hard to choose the right size with Adidas. My usual size US11 is equivalent to EU45 and 29 cm. In Adidas, the US11 is equivalent to EU45 1/3 and 28cm. I can say that Adidas 28 cm are not real-world 28 cm and are more like 29 cm.
So, if you follow the US or EU numbering, you should be fine, nevertheless, I feel that I could go for a half-size down because I have more than a thumbs of space for the toes. But I didn’t exchange it for another size because I feared that the toe box would be too narrow.
Ride
This shoe really delivers on the promise. It’s fast and it will make you run faster, whether you want it or not! I had a hard time keeping my pace controlled because this shoe was really asking me to go faster.
So, I will not spend more of your reading time describing how fast this shoe is. It’s one of the fastest (if not the #1) shoes up to 10K.
But, can you take it beyond 10K? Sure! I would take it to a half-marathon without any issues. It’s softer than the Hoka Rocket X that I took to some half-marathons. But it’s the best one can take to a half-marathon? No! This is not a shoe that will help you sustain a fast pace for long periods, and that’s why it’s best up to 10K. Even for 10K, I have some doubts if it will perform better than other lightweight marathon racing shoes, but I am waiting for my next 10K race to try it out. Nevertheless, for speed workouts and races up to 5K, I will pick the Takumi without hesitation.
The Takumi Sen 9 has a rocker but it’s not an aggressive rockered and I even didn’t notice it. Once again, this shoe is not intended for longer races so is understandable that it doesn't have an aggressive rocker.
Despite being a speed shoe with a midsole firmer than other super-shoes, it’s still soft enough for easy runs. The foam compresses very well even at slower paces. But this is not a workhorse so it’s not a shoe to take on easy or long runs. It’s not padded and it’s not the most comfortable shoe as you can imagine. The slim fit may cause discomfort over longer periods of time and the rigid upper did cause me some discomfort in the midfoot area, near the arches. But it’s a despicable discomfort up to 10K or 15K runs. I like to warm up and cool down in the same shoes that I wear for the workout session and the Takumi are fine for that.
Lastly, I must say that this shoe works better for forefoot strikers. I am a heel striker but I tend to land on my midfoot when I am running really fast and I noticed that the Takumi Sen 9 works best for midfoot to forefoot strikers. You can feel the shoe responding much better, it’s more alive, bouncier, and gives you a great toe-off. So, the Takumi will ask you and will try to force you to be more efficient while running and use more the forefoot instead of the heel.
This doesn’t mean that it’s a bad shoe for heel strikers. It’s still a top-tier racing shoe, but will not respond in the same way and I feel that for heel strikers this shoe might not be better than other lightweight super-shoes designed for marathons like the Saucony Endorphin Pro 3 for example.
Value
This one it’s not easy. It’s an expensive shoe like all carbon racers are, but it’s worth it indeed. With a price that’s near the marathon racing shoes, it’s hard to justify this shoe unless you’re only interested in 10K races. If you are interested in races beyond the 10K and don’t want to spend too much money, then skip the Takumi and go for a marathon racing shoe plus a more durable speed shoe.
Verdict
The Takumi Sen 9 fits nicely in a 2-shoe rotation where you have your daily trainer and then the Takumi for workouts and racing, or in a 3-shoe rotation, if you want to race half-marathons or marathons, being a training companion for your marathon racing shoe.
If you can, and because the Takumi Sen 9 is expensive and not that durable, leave the Takumi for really fast workouts like fartleks, sprints, and track, and of course races, and get other speed shoes for the not-so-fast workouts, like tempos.
For a one-shoe rotation, forget it. That would be the Saucony Endorphin Speed 3.
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If you're interested in buying the Takumi Sen 9, follow the links below:
- US: Road Runner Sports
- EU: Top4Running - Code "allaboutrunning" for an additional 5% discount.
- UK: SportsShoes.com | ProDirectSport.com
- Global: Amazon
These are affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you. It helps out my blog so I can keep bringing new content.
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