ADIDAS THRILLRAHNA | EASY DOES IT
words & images_Nick DePaula
Every year in our industry, there’s several types of shoes that release, as there’s always a marquee signature launch that weaves in details from a player’s life or playing style, there’s surely a new gimmick technology that is either widely accepted or denounced by most, and then there’s the shoes designed to just fit into the business plan and perform admirably considering its price and intended value. The adidas Thrillrahna is exactly that, a great value buy for the hooper looking for some longevity out of their next hoops shoe, who’s not worried about wearing a signature product or high-tech beast.
For the people uninterested in rocking another grown man’s namesake sneaker or calling a dude “King” or “The Answer,” adidas has been making some great strides the past few seasons with their more value aimed sneakers. After the Pilrahna earned some great praise from hoopers nationwide, the Thrillrahna is the latest of that lineage to carry on a total package offering. Priced at $80, the shoe is pretty straightforward and more importantly, basic, with a simple combination leather and mesh upper and herringbone outsole that you can simply get in and get out of.
Along the upper, the first thing you’ll notice is that there’s huge allowances of mesh everywhere. It’s a great testament to there being leather overlays for support only where needed, and an even brighter note is the brand’s continually expected Three Stripes branding is used as a functional element of the shoe. Rather than add lines to the shoe just for the sake of a court view, the stripes make up what the brand is calling adiWear, which in this shoe entails branding made up of a rubberized compound that is then integrated into the lacing system. (We also saw adiWear used as a forefoot lateral support wrap on the TS Creator.) The middle stripe is doing most of the legwork for the shoe, as it wraps underneath the arch and securely hugs the midfoot of the upper, helping you get a snug fit that’s just to your liking. With the systematic approach to the integrated lacing, and the shoe’s stable base that I’ll get into a bit later, it allows the shoe to work with the foot nicely.
Above: Here you get a good look at the adiWear midfoot stripe wrapping underneath the arch, resulting in a nice cradling feel along the midfoot.
While the upper features a refreshingly straightforward and intuitive design, it’s along the outsole that the shoe’s performance-first mentality is carried over. With a not-so-standard-by-industry-standards herringbone outsole (there’s a layer of concentric circles a few millimeters below the recessed groove pattern), the outsole of the shoe helps contribute greatly to the overall durability and longevity of the Thrillrahna. You’ll notice the nods of ‘65′ and ‘60′ labeled along the navy and white portions of the rubber bottom, and that’s actually a call out of the rubber’s durometer, a measurable way of determining firmness. For comparison, a rubberband has a durometer of about 25, while a car’s tire tread clocks in around 70. The 5 point difference in hardness simply means the heel crash pad, outrigger and perimeter of the outsole are tuned more firmly, while the herringbone pattern has more give for squeakier traction. Not a huge factor by any means, but a cool technical note indeed not often seen outside of a developer’s office. In an era where rubber outsoles seem to go quicker than normal and bringing up the term ‘metered obsolescence’ makes most brands uneasy, the Thrillrahna ranks well above most shoes in terms of its durability. The rubber outsole may seem firm at first, but the shoe’s durability and breathable mesh upper makes it a great outdoor option for players of all sizes. You’ll notice other techy trinkets like the TPU midfoot shank, and heel and forefoot pivot point hits, and as we learned with the Zoom Kobe IV, it’s not always the height of the shoe that determines its overall stability, but rather the base. Thanks to the adiWear along the midfoot, collar fit and radiused heel, the shoe sits low to the ground and you’ll never get concerned about its stability or stance.
Initial firmness might be an attribute from adidas that polarizes most hoopers, and while cushioning like Lunar Foam and Zoom Air feel exponentially more responsive than adiprene and in this case, just an EVA midsole, once again, if you’re after a shoe that’ll last you several months and you’re thinking marathon over sprint, the Thrillrahna is worth taking a look at. The biggest point of difference when comparing kicks from the Swoosh and Stripes is the fundamental approach to longevity and cushioning. Units like Lunar Foam may start out soft and become firm or bottom out over time, while the Thrillrahna’s EVA foam begins firm and softens up nicely during the life of the shoe. Deciding which set-up serves you best is entirely a personal decision. If your rotation is pretty thin, you can definitely expect a few months out of the Thrillrahna and it’ll hold a consistent feel throughout. If you’re after responsive cushioning or place a ton of importance on the first ten wearings and less weight on a shoe’s longevity, then you might want to look elsewhere for more lively cushioning systems.
Above: The Thrillrahna boasts a nicely integrated lacing system. The midfoot’s adiWear stripes and the top eyelet’s heel collar wrap (seen above) all bring the upper closer to the foot for a great snug fit.
While the Thrillrahna isn’t one of the best shoes of the season, it’s a real solid choice for players looking for some durability and dependability from their shoes, as well as a ton of value out of a modest price point. The most impressive aspect of the shoe is definitely the use of adiWear through the midfoot, as the shoe’s fit can be optimized precisely while lacing the shoe up. It might not be ideal for bigs who are looking for a higher cut, but burly center Kevin Love rocked it for most of the beginning of the NBA season, and the firm cushioning and stable base make it an attractive option. Point guards, combo guards and wings looking for a light and breathable shoe that stresses fit sans frills are definitely who the Thrillrahna was intended for, and at $80, you’ll be hard-pressed to find a better value in a long-term sneaker investment that sure to hold up well over time. If your wallet is willing to go a few brackets up, you can find better performers in the $100 range that will offer more cushioning.
Who’s Worn It?
Mike Conley Jr. (Memphis Grizzlies), John Salmons (Sacramento Kings), Kevin Love (Minnesota Timberwolves), Andre Miller (Philadelphia 76ers), Tony Allen (Boston Celtics), Mike Dunleavy Jr. (Indiana Pacers), Sergio Rodriguez (Portland Trail Blazers), Antonio Daniels (New Orleans Hornets) and many others
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Really wish adidas would develop a responsive cushioning system.
They do, they just install it in a way to maintain stability, so you might not feel it, but it’s there, and the adiPRENE+ is just as responsive as Zoom.
Does the Thrillrahna have Adiprene? I thought it just had an EVA midsole. Also, there is a difference between Adiprene and Adiprene +, right? I would say that Adiprene + is already the responsive cushioning LOVEtheXIV is hoping for
You’re right the Thrillrahana’s don’t have adiPRENE, or adiPRENE+, only EVA.
adiPRENE is the blue heel cushioning, that’s only there for pure impact protection, and adiPRENE+ is the yellow fore-foot cushioning, that is just as responsive as Zoom Air, the only difference is, that adidas installs it away from the footbed, to increase stability, and with that, increase performance.
So it’s as responsive, you just don’t feel it as clearly.
pls bring back d feet you wear tech
bcj — Indeed they just have an EVA midsole. Compared to Zoom Air, adiprene+ is unfortunately no where close in terms of responsiveness, for me at least. I’d rank it around Lunar Foam, but it’s more durable.
Eddie — Totally agree. People might complain about adi’s looks, but responsive cushioning is the only thing holding them back for me. Traction and durability has been a staple for their past 3 seasons.
Nick- I totally agree with everything you said, adidas shoes for the most part are also light but I just don’t understand how they cannot seem to develop a better cushioning system. That is the only reason I exclusively buy nikes when playing basketball
I’m a bit heavier, and I gotta say I’m very happy with the adiPRENE, and adiPRENE+ cushioning(I need at least 3 pairs of the bigs shoes(so the last couple of years the Commander-line), to prevent turf-toe), and maybe it’s my weight, but the adiPRENE+ cushioning works exactly the same way, my Jordan XIV, and most of the Jordans with the IPS cushioning works, so I’m surprised everybody’s so down on it.
Also, you guys use response as a “feel” not as a performance attribute, which as a baller is fundamentally wrong, because when you feel the cushioning too much, you loose stability, and loss of stability = loss of performance.
That’s also why Kobe’s got the Lunar now, because it has better response-time(it takes less time to stabilize after impact), and recovers quicker, and more stable, allowing your foot to react right away, and not have to wait for the bounce.
Nene — I don’t know man…I guess I just REALLY need to find out which adiprene+ models you’ve been playing in…cause it’s still worlds apart for me and most people I know.
Like I said, it could be the weight, and the fact I move like a bulldozer.
There’s probably some psychology in there too, most guys are just looking for that bouncy feel, not the actual performance. Because between most shoes with Zoom, there’s big differences in feel, and performance, yet nobody seems to really care, which raises some questions of course.
Great review Nick!
Reading the comments and taking into consideration that I am a cushioning elitist, about the responsiveness, I had been rocking the hell out of my T-Mac V’s and I surely had no complains about the cushioning(Adiprene and Adiprene+ on the forefoot if I remember well). It provides you just what you need to perform nothing more or less. I personally prefer Nike by all means(cushioning,padding,lockdown,lacing systems etc) since they are always many steps ahead. And definitely prefer Zoom Air more than any cushioning tech on the market, even Lunar over any Adidas tech. I agree with Nene33 on the Lunar tech analysis, it’s just as you described it.
Good work Adidas, you always build stable and strong shoes but you need to do a lot more to excite us. Just make a simple comparison(tech wise): Hyperdunk/Hyperize/Kobe IV/LeBron VII and older models to any Adidas basketball sneaker! Take in mind that they are still on the EVA foam tech when it comes to creating high performance shoes, Formotion is nice but nothing special. The only thing that impressed me is the Clima cool tech evolution.
Just my thoughts, thanks for reading!
I’m gonna stand behind Nene on this one (even though the last Nike’s I played in were the Air Ballistic Force, so–gasp–I have never worn zoom!) just on principle. Amidst all the Nike love, somebody has to rep the Three Stripes!
Although after this discussion I am thinking about picking up a cheap zoom pair (KD1s, maybe) so I can do a comparison test…
I understand the difference between responsiveness in terms of performance vs. responsiveness in terms of feel. Maybe it’s just a mental thing, but the bouncy feel of Zoom Air gives me the feeling that my joints aren’t taking as much force from my steps and jumps (even though it’s likely that the joint alignment is being sacrificed to some degree due to the lesser stability). I guess it’s just a personal preference. It’s a shame though, because really I appreciate the aesthetics of Adidas shoes… they just simply don’t feel as good as Nike shoes.
Absolutely, and everyone will have a preference, which one they like better, usually older guys gravitate more to the firmer more supportive feel, and younger players will want the freest lightest feel, but there can also be physical issues making you prefer one over the other(like your joints hurting in adidas, and me developing turf-toe in Nike).
Thing is though, when you measure the energy return from a Zoom Air unit, and a comparable adiPRENE+ unit, it comes out pretty much identical, so as a performance attribute, responsiveness is the same.
Cushioning hasn’t been the same since React Juice left the building.
I’ll join the adidas side in this discussion, though. Zoom, Zoom is for car commercials. . .
PS: Can someone find me a better performing shoe than the adidas a3 Decade I?
I miss the days of Grandma, KJ, and the All-Star 2000’s
And a good replacement for the a3 Decade is difficult, because the Bounce really changed the use of the a3.
feet you wear pls…
mizz d feet you wear
Look for the 2nd wave of the Creator this season, it’ll be an updated Feet You Wear shoe :up:
i have got more wonderful models from SAVEGEAR