Adidas Continental 80 Shoe Review/Wear Test

Adidas Continental 80

Shoe Review/Wear Test

By: Jason Lee

1 Hour of Wear(Note: This is my "switch foot" but this is more or less the condition of the shoe at the 1 hour mark)

Initial Impression

The shoes look nice, and the rubber heel cup resembles the City Cup, which I’m assuming took inspiration from said shoe(Continental 80). The Continental’s rubber bumper gives off the impression that it could help with flicking heelflips. The shoe itself is rather puffy in the ankles’ support region, which is nice, but does no real help because it sits below the ankle. The shoe looks promising but does look a tad strange with slimmer pants. Thanks to Eugene’s uprise in baggy clothing, and my crippling desire to conform, this is not really a problem.

Sizing

The shoe for me fit better a half size down. I would suggest going to a shop and trying them on wherever available.

10 Hours of Skating. Shoe is starting to become blown out near the toecap, and the ollie hole is minute but there.

Shape

The shape does not stray too far from what we expect of Adidas, meaning that the toecap is pointed but more rounded as oppose to a company like Nike, often known for having more pointed and narrow shoes.

Durability

The shoes durability is below average. Within the first hour of skating the shoe, the shoe began to show prominent amounts of wear and unfortunately, the shoe did not hold up all that well. The stitching around the toecap seems to only be single stitching. Within the tenth hour, the shoe started to rip around the general kickflip area, and soon the shoe itself started coming apart. My sock began to show, and it became a tad distracting after awhile. The ollie area performed poorly and a hole appeared within the tenth hour. Although the leather on the shoe was relatively well layered, it ripped quickly. Given that I tend to spend some sessions only doing slappies, the shoe may fair worse with someone else. The higher point on the kickflip area showed smaller amounts of wear, but that’s due to the fact that I suck at kickflips. The few kickflips I did do, made it apparently obvious that the leather does not hold the same grippiness or flick over time. The leather wore down rather quickly(possibly within a week or so) and became smooth, making me feel like I was missing my flick. Heelflip-wise, I did not notice the rubber bumper helping me with flicking my heelflips, nor did its condition change from what it was prior to the wear test.

Stitching is loose, and there is no underlying layer past the toe cap and top of the shoe.

Breathability

The shoe’s breathability was average, I did not face swampfoot or any irritation when wearing the shoe. However, I think the only reason I did not encounter swamp foot is because the weather in Portland is currently ranging at 30-40 degrees fahrenheit. I think in the Summer, the shoe would lack in breathability, or maybe not, because the shoe’s toecap will be flopping around, giving your sock plenty of air.

Grip/Support/Comfort

The grip on the sole of the shoe was painstakingly average. It did not suck, nor did I feel like I was wearing Vans, or something close to it. Walking around in the shoe became painful due to the lack of cushioning in the shoe itself. This translated over into skating as well, I experienced discomfort after about twenty minutes of light cruising, albeit I did not jump down any stairs. Besides the sole, the Continental is relatively comfortable thanks to the added cushion around the ankle side of the shoe. But, in terms of comfortability in support and impact cushioning, it falls at a below average level.

Final Thoughts

Overall, I found the shoe to be very boring and fell below my expectation levels. I personally would not buy this shoe again, as a skate shoe, or a shoe just to walk around in. As nice as it may look, it is a painfully drab shoe that offers little to nothing in terms of long term support and durability.