50 Words or Less
The adidas CODECHAOS Primeblue doesn’t look like the typical golf shoe – by design. Great combination of comfort and performance with the added bonus of being made of upcycled plastic waste.
Introduction
One of our headlines from the 2020 PGA Merchandise Show was the increased focus on sustainability [full recap HERE]. It’s been a feature element of many of the products we’ve reviewed this year. The adidas CODECHAOS Primeblue golf shoe can now be added to that list. The name Primeblue reflects adidas’ collaboration with Parley Ocean Plastic, a wonderful organization that brings together brilliant minds to raise awareness and upcycle the estimated 8 million metric tons of plastic waste found on the beaches and shorelines of our oceans each year.
Learn about the latest CODECHAOS – the 22 – HERE
Looks
When you get a “those are super groovy” from your wife while walking the family room runway, you know the adidas CODECHAOS Primeblue are style winners. The abstract lineal blue and yellow threads in the woven upper give the shoe a modern look. But the true star of the show is the wave of color on the outsole that playfully wraps around the outer edge. The exposed Boost foam of the midsole signals lightweight construction.
CODECHAOS also come in white, white/yellow, and grey colorways, but these models are not made of recycled materials and the uppers have a much different look.
Comfort
Stretch across the opening at the tongue made slipping on the Primeblue easy, and after snugging up the laces I didn’t want to take the shoes off. From the supportive arch in the cushioned insole to the padding around my ankle, these are some of the most comfortable golf shoes I’ve worn.
Although the uppers are form fitting, the stretch in the fabric kept the fit adaptive instead of restrictive. I went with my standard shoe size, and the sizing was spot on. The Boost midsole lives up to its name, giving a little bounce to my step. I particularly love the responsive cushioning in the heel.
Performance
With such high marks in both looks and comfort, did adidas pull off the trifecta with performance? Yes indeed. Masun Denison, Global Director of Golf Footwear, and his team didn’t just rely on their wealth of design knowledge developing the CODECHAOS, they performed swing studies utilizing heat mapping to analyze the way golfers distribute weight throughout their swing. They also focused their attention on what lug shapes and sizes provided the best traction. The end result is what adidas calls Twistgrip.
Testing the Primeblue, I was impressed with the traction on the golf course, yet also appreciated the outsole being conducive for walking on solid surfaces. Overall I’d classify the Primeblue as a mobility shoe, but there was plenty of structure in a few key areas that made my footwork seem powerful. In the heel, the rigidity of the outsole material that wraps up the sides created a stable base. Bridging the heel with the front of the sole, the Torsion X stability bar (the grey piece at the adidas logo in the photo above) harnessed and directed flex in a very fluid manner.
Conclusion
The modern looks of the woven uppers may not suit every golfer’s eye, but it’s hard to deny that the colorful outsole of the adidas CODECHAOS Primeblue is pretty cool. Lightweight and super comfortable, these are shoes that I hope to be wearing when the day extends into extra holes and then stretches into bonus camaraderie. And at the end of the day, it’s nice to know your choice in footwear also benefits the environment.
Matt Meeker
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Great review!
Just picked up a pair of these in black. I’m very impressed by the fit and comfort…. getting on course to test them out for the first time in a couple days!
Very comfortable shoe on the feet; however, I’m disappointed on the traction provided. On firm conditions the “spikes” are too close together and to chunky in my opinion and in my experience do not grab into the ground, leading to slippage. Went back to Pro S/L or Tour X and couldn’t be happier.
I can’t remember who, but in the tournament last weekend someone walked across a cart path and you could clearly hear that he was wearing metal spikes. One of the commentators said that about 25% of tour players still wear them. Why do we never hear anything about nails anymore, and can you guys do a comparison?
Since true spikes are only available to select pros, there’s no way PIG can address that Brandon. We are mere mortals.
– Meeks
These are great until it rains. They provided zero support with my feet moving inside the shoes. The wetter it got the more my feet moved around. In the dry they are brilliant.
I received alot of “I love those new kickers” …. that said, I have to agree with Houglum in the traction department…
it’s horrible in wet bunkers and even worse with the walk up to elevated greens — I had to switch back to my Callaways at the turn.
Might be the ugliest shoes made by Addidas and I have 5 pairs of the 360 shoes.
I purchased a pair of Codechaos based on My Golf Spy reviews and immediately put them at the top of the list for comfort as soon as I played in them.
I agree Matt, the midsoles do have a nice bounce to them, that I really like, however sometimes those types of midsoles tend to compress over time so we will see how well they stand up over the season. Walking 18 and carrying my bag, wearing shoes straight out of the box is generally not a good idea, but they proved to be excellent – and I was fortunate to be able to find them in a wide size so no pressure points at all. They have enough flexibility without being floppy and unsupportive, and enough stability without feeling like over corrective boards. Usually by the end of a round I can hardly wait to get my shoes off, but not with these.
I have played on some dewy wet courses and they seem alright, but haven’t played them in the rain. From what I gather, they don’t seem to perform in those rainy conditions so I won’t tempt the fates and I’ll stick with my other shoes with cleats for wet weather.
The biggest test for shoe grip is hitting tee shots off hardened tee box surfaces and traversing across steep grass hills with a bag on my back and even more critical while using a push cart, where slippage can be catastrophic – so far, I haven’t experienced any grip problems.
I liked them so much that I bought a second color. I have at least a half dozen rounds between the two pairs and haven’t even considered wearing any other shoes in my myriad collection since I got these. Now that I see these new ones, they’ll be next on the list if they make them in wide.
As I said at the beginning, I have yet to find another pair of golf shoes that are as comfortable as these – I had Skechers at the top for the last two years or so. Great to see that golf shoe companies are not just sticking with the same old formula. So often it seemed many of them were simply putting cleats on running shoes, saddle shoes or tennis shoes, designating them golf shoes and charging a premium for decades. Companies like Skechers and Ecco really put the challenge to the golf shoe industry and we all benefit from those innovations. No doubt finding that nexus of function, performance, durability, comfort and style takes some real effort, so great work Adidas.