The Adidas Hyperboost Edge Is Your New Super Trainer

Some running shoes swagger into town, stirring up hype, making big promises. Like the Nike Vaporfly or the Puma Fast-R Nitro 3 Elite, the Adidas Hyperboost Edge ($200) promises to usher in “a new era of road running,” with brand-new supershoe DNA—a giant stack of new super foam, lightweight uppers, and a bold new design.

It certainly looks a lot different than the shoes we might have laced up just a few years back. But what’s really different about these so-called super trainers like the Hyperboost Edge? Here, I'll break down what's going on inside the new wave of high-performance running shoes and if they'll really make you faster.

What Is a Super Trainer?

The Adidas Hyperboost Edge joins a growing lineup of running shoes that attempt to translate the high tech of racing “super shoes” into “super trainers,” delivering some of the speed and feel of a race shoe into a more usable everyday package.

The super trainer recipe often pairs a big stack of high-energy, lightweight super foam with a nylon or carbon plate and weight-saving race-style uppers. There’s also a growing trend for plate-free super trainers in response to fears that racking up too many miles in carbon-plated shoes raises your injury risk.

The Hyperboost Edge is Adidas’ first non-plated super trainer and follows in the max-stack footsteps of shoes like the Asics Megablast and the Saucony Endorphin Azura—surprisingly versatile all-round running shoes that can cover most of your weekly miles.

The Midsole Magic

Carbon plates often grab the headlines, but the midsole foam really creates the super shoe magic. When I started running in 2009, the main midsole material was still ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA), which has been used since the late 1970s and is still used today. EVA is cushioned (to a point), stable, durable, and cheap. But foam technology has bounded on. Gas-infused, supercritical foams, like the polyether block amide (PEBA) Hyperboost Pro in the Edge, are now all the buzz.

Supercritical foams are made by injecting a gas, like CO₂ or nitrogen, under high pressure into the midsole while it's forming in the mold. In a supercritical state, the gas is not liquid, nor gas, but both at once. When the pressure is reduced, the gas expands inside the foam to create bubbles or cells that give the foam its lighter, bouncier properties.

These gas-injected, supercritical super foams allow shoe designers to stack more foam underfoot for better cushioning, more protection, and higher energy return, and crucially without adding weight. Bigger-stacked running shoes even come in lighter than traditional EVA shoes.

Shoes like the Adidas Hyperboost Edge’s put a whopping 45 mm stack of expanded, beaded, PEBA-based Hyperboost Pro foam under the heel and 39 mm under the forefoot, while staying under 9 ounces in a US men's 9.5.

Sole Searching

While shoemakers stamp midsoles with the branded foam names like ZoomX (Nike), Lightstrike Pro (Adidas) or PWRRUN PB (Saucony), very few brands reveal exactly what’s in their branded foam. To make things more complicated, brands often tweak the foam formula from shoe to shoe.

Some shoes also feature what’s called a carrier foam, where only a section of the midsole is made from the top-tier foam and another (often cheaper) foam is used for the bulk of the midsole. That can bring advantages, enhancing stability and durability.

Should You Have a Carbon Plate?

Some super trainers, like the Hoka Mach X3 ($190), have carbon plates. Others, like the Saucony Endorphin Speed 5, have nylon plates. Some, like the Hyperboost Edge, forego the plate. The consensus is that the plate-foam combination produces efficiency benefits.

The plate adds a stiffening element to the midsole and engages more of the midsole foam. There is broad agreement that running in a plated shoe affects your running biomechanics. For example, a carbon plate changes how pressure and stress are spread across the front of your foot and toes.

There's also a rising tide of noise on social media suggesting that running too often in carbon-plate shoes is a fast ticket to injury. Currently, there’s no research to back this up. However, switching running shoes changes the load you’re putting through your joints, tendons, and muscles, giving you better odds of being out there enjoying the miles.

Your Guide to Modern Midsole Foams

PEBA (polyether block amide): Very light and bouncy. This foam really comes to life at faster paces with a ride that's soft but springy with high energy return.

ATPU (aliphatic thermoplastic polyurethane): This is a slightly firmer, tougher, more stable alternative to PEBA. ATPU is bouncy, durable, and offers more control.

TPEE (thermoplastic polyester elastomer): A member of the TPE family, TPEE is known for being more durable than many super foams while still offering extreme softness.

ETPEE (expanded thermoplastic polyester elastomer): This newer foam compound sits somewhere between TPU and PEBA. It's lighter than the former and more stable than the latter.

EVA (ethylene-vinyl acetate): This is the OG foam found in running shoes for decades. EVA is moderately soft, not very bouncy, and good for stability.