Adidas Just Dropped What Could Be Its Most Disruptive Trainer of the Year. It’s Not a Super Shoe

The Three Stripes brand filled a major gap in the sneaker industry with the world’s first shoe designed for this overlooked running style.

The image shows the soles of a pair of light blue athletic shoes with a unique geometric cutout design. The soles have multiple rectangular and trapezoidal openings, providing a distinctive and modern look. The shoes appear to be suspended or held up against a plain, light-colored background.

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By Sean Tirman

Published September 3, 2025

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The running sneaker industry is inundated with options, not just in available options but also in exercise-specific styles and venues. There are sneakers for running on the street and on the trails, daily trainers, marathoner super shoes, sprinters and so on.

Yet, there’s one major venue no brand has ever tackled … until now. The Adidas Treadflow is the world’s first running shoe designed specifically for how millions of people train. And once you find out what that means, you’ll probably be shocked that no brand has done it before.

Regardless of your thoughts on its purpose, you have to admit these sneakers look fantastic.

Adidas

Where others fear to tread

Millions of people go to the gym regularly every year, especially during the colder months. And a huge portion of those folks will do their cardio on a treadmill.

Yet, the Adidas Treadflow is the first-ever shoe explicitly designed for this type of running. You might think that any running shoe could handle treadmill running, right? Well, yes, but also it’s not so simple.

The sole of a light blue sneaker with a geometric cutout pattern, worn with a light blue sock, against a dark background. — The unique, skeletonized, lightweight outsole is specially designed for the steady consistency of treadmills.

The vast majority of running shoes are designed for outdoor usage. That means they need to handle heavy impacts on hard, often uneven terrain and have to be resistant to outdoor weather.

Treadmills, by contrast, offer a softer landing and more consistent terrain, nullifying the benefit of extra cushioning, and they are indoors, requiring no weatherproofing. The Treadflow takes this into account, offering a lighterweight, more breathable option that’s more treadmill-friendly than any shoe to come before it.

Light blue athletic shoes with a mesh upper and matching laces, worn with light blue socks, shown mid-air against a neutral background. — Because these are designed for the indoors and don’t need weatherproofing, Adidas has maximized their breathability.

Running up that (artificial) hill

So, what does that mean in practice? Let’s start with the outsole. Called “Lighttraxion,” the outsole is specifically formulated to interact with treadmill belts, offering less traction than road-going shoes and, in exchange, cutting down significantly on weight (hence the skeletonized cutouts).

But that’s not all. The midsole has also been adjusted. It features dual-cushioning Lightstrike and Lightstrike Pro foam tech pulled from the brand’s record-breaking Adizero line. It’s formulated to interact with treadmill surfaces to offer the ideal energy return and fast, engaging transition.

The Treadflow sneakers are available in both men’s and women’s sizes with different color options.

Adidas

Even the upper has been revamped for indoor running purposes. These shoes are not made for the outdoors, so they require less durability and weatherproofing.

Instead, they have Climacool upper tech to offer the utmost breathability while maintaining support and structure. Per the brand, the upper “acts like built-in air conditioning” and the outsole cutouts offer “optimal airflow and thermoregulation as the foot hits the belt.”

How no other brand has attempted this yet is beyond me, but it makes perfect sense now that Adidas is capitalizing on it.

Two people running on treadmills in a modern indoor setting with a concrete wall and sheer white curtains in the background. The person in the foreground is wearing a blue shirt, black shorts, and light blue running shoes, while the person behind is wearing a black sleeveless top, dark shorts, and matching light blue running shoes. — Shockingly, nobody had made treadmill-specific sneakers before now.

Available now (sort of)

The Adidas Treadflow running shoes have already launched on international sites, including the UK, where they’re priced at £110 (about $150). However, they’re not yet available in the United States. Keep your eye on the brand’s site for more info on when they’ll hit our shores.