Picking Your Next adidas Pair, Sport by Sport
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Start with how you move, not what looks good
The fastest way to shortlist a pair is to name the activity first. The adidas US online store splits men’s footwear into clear subcategories: sneakers, running shoes, walking shoes, slides and sandals, soccer cleats, basketball shoes, workout and gym shoes, and golf shoes. Decide which of those describes your week and you have already cut the catalogue down to one shelf.
If you log miles on pavement, running is its own collection on the site, alongside football and training. If most of your movement happens indoors — circuits, weights, classes — the workout and gym category is built for that. Pitch players go to soccer cleats; court players go to basketball shoes. More broadly, shoe categories on the site cover training, sport and casual lifestyle footwear. Styles carried on the store include UltraBoost and NMD.
Pick the category before the colourway and the rest of the decision gets much simpler.
Get the size right the first time
Nothing ruins a new pair faster than half a size out. adidas publishes size charts and fit guidance on its site, and for men’s shoes the instruction is specific: trace your foot on a sheet of paper, measure heel to toe in inches, then use the adidas size chart to match that length to a US size.
It takes two minutes and a pen, and it beats guessing from the size you wore five years ago. Do it on both feet, and write the measurement down somewhere you can find it next time you order.
For kids, adidas organises its categories by age group rather than leaving you to work it out — Children covers 4 to 8 years, and Youth & Teens covers 8 to 16 years. That makes buying for a growing child less of a guess, because you are browsing a range already filtered to the right stage.
If you would rather try a pair on, adidas also operates physical retail stores, and the US site includes a store finder for locating them.
The casual pair: Originals, Adicolor and the collaboration lines
Plenty of readers are not buying for a sport at all. They want something to wear every day. adidas Originals is one of the collections carried on the US store, sitting alongside running, football and training.
On the apparel side, the site’s collections include Sportswear and Adicolor, which makes it straightforward to match a top or a pair of pants to the shoes rather than hunting across unrelated pages. Men’s, women’s and kids’ apparel all sit on the same store, covering tops, pants, shorts and more.
If you want something less common, the US site lists collaboration and partner lines including adidas Originals by JENNIE, Liberty London, Pharrell, adidas x Pokémon, Song for the Mute, Sporty & Rich, Wales Bonner and Y-3. There is also the CONFIRMED app, which carries a selection of Originals products and limited releases from adidas partnerships, so the rarer drops have their own front door.
Join adiClub before you check out
Do this bit before you pay, not after. adidas runs a free membership program called adiClub, and the benefits listed on the adidas US help pages include free shipping on orders, early access to sales and special offers, exclusive members-only products, and access to hype drops on the CONFIRMED app.
You can join either on the website or in the adidas app. There are four membership levels, each unlocked by accumulating a certain number of points. For purchases made at adidas.com or in the adidas app, adiClub points are allocated after the order has been confirmed and shipped — so placing your order as a member is how the points start counting towards those levels.
The sequence is simple: measure your foot, pick your category, join adiClub, then order. Membership costs nothing to join, which is a short step to take before a purchase you were making anyway.
A first order you can send back
The last hesitation is usually the fit. adidas gives you 30 days: purchases from the adidas online shop can be returned within 30 days from the date of order delivery, if they qualify under the returns policy.
The admin is handled in one place. You log in to your adidas account or use the Order Tracker — which needs an order number and your email address — to track an order, start a return, and check the status of a refund. You get an order confirmation email when the order goes through successfully, then shipping and order delivered emails after it.
That is the whole case for ordering tonight. Trace your foot, match the length to the size chart, choose the category that matches how you move — running, gym, pitch, court or everyday — and let the 30-day return window cover the rest. Join adiClub while you are there, since it is free, then place the order from the official adidas online store.
