The Shoe Philes – adidas gripmore

Written By: Tony Covey

If you’re a golf shoe manufacturer there are plenty of niche markets you need to flood fill with product. Premium tour, lightweight, classic, spikeless, mesh, and dirt cheap with our logo (just to name a few); most manufacuters feel compelled to offer something for everyone.

For golfers like us it’s almost too much, but within what is arguably an over-abundance of product, every manufacturer has its signature piece of footwear. It’s the one shoe from every lineup that you need to pay attention to.

For 2014, FootJoy has its DNA, PUMA has its Biofusion, Nike has…it’s probably the Lunar Control, but you could make a case for Clayton or Tiger Woods, and adidas has the gripmore.

It may seem strange that in a year when adidas has arguably the best tour shoe they’ve ever created (pure 360), a casual styled shoe with an unusual sole design would take top billing. That’s exactly what’s happening with gripmore, and that should tell you exactly how excited the guys at adidas golf are about the gripmore’s new spikes.

Key Features

The major talking point for the adidas gripmore are its non-traditional…maybe even innovative, PU spikes. Instead of relying on a housing structure – like that found in traditional designs – to secure the spike to the shoe, the gripmore’s spikes are injection molded. The literally squirt the spike directly onto the sole.

They’re spikes, except they’re not.

The gripmore is designed to perform like a traditional golf shoe, while still offering the casual styling and comfort of a modern spikeless design.

Call it a hybrid, call it a new category…adidas is calling it groundbreaking.

Tour Validation

Chances are most of you are less concerned with what footwear is being worn on tour than you are what drivers guys have in their bags, but it’s worth mentioning that gripmore is having a solid year on the PGA Tour.

Martin Kaymer and Justin Rose have each won twice (including Kaymer’s US Open) while wearing gripmore. Mike Weir, Matt Kuchar, and Jim Furyk have also worn gripmore at one time or another this season.

But enough about those guys…how will the gripmore perform for the average golfer? Let’s get to it.

Comfort

Once upon a time I believed that adidas golf’s prevailing philosophy was that a shoe can never be too narrow. It’s the primary reason why I avoided the brand. Within the last couple of years, however, the golf line has steadily widened to the point that in most cases my slightly chubby foot doesn’t warrant stepping out to a wide.

Such is the case with the gripmore, which despite its clear Samba-inspired styling, doesn’t share the original boot’s penchant for binding the forefight. gripmore is built on a wider last, and that along with some well-placed cushioning, has led to an insanely comfortable shoe that requires zero break-in time.

Straight out of the box over hilly terrain I had absolutely no issues walking my first 18 holes, and haven’t had the slightest comfort issue in the 150 or so holes I’ve walked since. 100% blister free, as it should be.

For comfort alone, the gripmore is the shoe I find myself pulling off the rack most often this season.

Durability

I think each of us has our own expectations when it comes to golf shoe durability. Conservatively, $100 ought to buy you at least one season. At $130 the gripmore should get you through two seasons with reasonable use.

Admittedly it’s too early to say that the gripmore will last that long, but after half a season of use, the gripmore is showing only minimal signs of wear.

Seams are intact, and despite ocassional use over blacktop and concrete, the spikes show only the slightest amount of wear with no shearing.

The liner looks new, but I have lost part of the adidas logo on the insole to heel rub. That’s not so bad. It might actually be good.

I am aware that some of you are obsessive about creases in the toebox. It’s seriously nothing I ever concern myself with, but for those of you who do, yes…I’m afraid the gripmores do show pronounced wrinkling and creasing in the toebox area.

That might be a deal-breaker for some.

Performance

Realistically, golf shoe performance is probably 50% comfort. It’s hard enough to play good golf. It’s next to impossible in uncofortable shoes. Curt Schilling couldn’t break par with a bloody sock. Curt Schilling probably can’t break par anyway, but you get the point.

The rest…it’s mostly traction and stability, and that’s where, under the wrong conditions, gripmore can fall short.

Let’s start with the good.

The adidas gripmore is an outstanding performer in dry conditions. While I won’t mislead and suggest that we have some sophisticated traction measuring system, I don’t notice any less traction or more slipping than I do with the more-traditional spiked designs that I wear.

The gripmore performs exactly as it should…when it’s dry. Toss in the unquestionable comfort, and well, gripmore is one hell of a good golf shoe. Again…when it’s dry.

gripless in Seattle

When conditions are damp…even slightly so, traction becomes an issue. It’s not that the PU spikes themselves can’t handle wet ground. The issue is that as dirt becomes mud, the sole of the gripmore becomes caked to the point that all but the tiniest bit of the gripmore spike’s tip is submurged.

The spikes almost literally disappear. You can imagine how that works out on the golf course.

I’m not a shoe designer, but I believe the issue results from the combination of the gripmore spikes being placed too close together, along with the additional little microspikes that line the sole. The appear to help bind debris to the shoe, which isn’t a good thing.

It’s a design flaw.

In even slightly damp conditions, the mud collects in the narrow gaps between spikes, and because of that narrow spacing and additional texture that helps the mud bind to the sole, conventional on-course cleaning methods (tees, and the occasional ball washer-mounted brush) aren’t effective in degunking the spikes.

The above photo shows the gripmore after 9 holes played several hours after a thunderstorm…and believe me, it’s worse when the shoe is still wet. These have had 2 days for the gunk to dry and fall off.

The end result is an outstanding dry weather golf shoe that quite simply isn’t suitable for play in damp conditions.

gripmore is the low bounce wedge of golf shoes.

Final Thoughts

I love the gripmore. It’s comfortable, reasonably stylish (some would say cool), and it performs admirably in dry conditions. I’ve got a solid handful of 2014 shoes here and the gripmore has logged nearly twice the rounds of anything else.

It’s my favorite shoe of 2014 thus far, but I’d never wear it in the rain.

If you’ve got wet weather shoes already, and are willing to drop $130 on a shoe with the knowledge that you’ll probably only wear them when it’s dry, you could do plenty worse than gripmore.

It’s a great shoe, but it’s limited.

If you’re only going to purchase one pair of golf shoes this season, and that pair needs to be versatile enough to perform under both dry and wet conditions, as much as I love the gripmore, my honest recommendation is that you look elswhere.

Colorways and Pricing

The adidas gripmore currently retails for aound $130. It’s available in 3 colorways; Aluminum/White/Scarlet (shown), Black/White/Scarlet, and White/White/Scarlet.