Adidas Predator Absolados review and football shoe buying advice and guide

First and foremost, I mentioned that there were three versions of shoes in a previous post. There is the full blown top of the line expensive shoes that are used by Premier League Players. These shoes use the finest materials and technology by the manufacturers. Next is the middle tier shoes which use good quality materials and some of the up to date technology. Finally we have the economy versions which use cheaper materials and very limited amounts of shoe technology.

I've recently had the opportunity to examine each of the shoes in general and can now give a quick guide so i can pass on the information to interested buyers. This advice can apply to any type of shoe as most manufacturers follow the lower, middle, and upper tier version of shoes.

Here is a picture of the top of the line Predator power swerve series:

Predator Power Swerve

These are the shoes that David Beckham and Steven Gerrard wear when they play their games. It's easy to tell the difference. The shoe material kangaroo leather is extremely soft and top of the line. Almost like tissue paper. The plate underneath the shoe is very extravagant. The studs are also extravagant. Some will have metal tips like this one or will be transparent. The cheaper shoes are usually solid plastic and look generic.

Also the price will be insane, somewhere in the range of RM500-700 or 150 USD. Honestly, I think these are way too much for the average person. I for one know that soccer shoes will fall apart quite quickly compared to other sports. I played basketball and the shoe never fell apart, compared to my football ones.

My last pair of shoes had the sole come out from the shoe. A big piece of mud was stuck inbetween the bottom plate and my shoe. Soccer shoes can't be built to last and have fantastic feel, unlike other sports. So dispel any notion that more expensive shoes wil last longer in football. All people in this line care about feel and control, hardly anything about durability. Anyways, it's not that they don't care, but it's impossible to have it both ways.

Moving on, here is the Predator Absolutes, Absolion, or ABS, the middle tier versions:

Predator ABS/Absolutes

These shoes may be worth it. They cost generally about RM 100-150 more than the cheapest versions. I would have gotten these but they didn't have my size. Size is very important with football shoes. You can tell the middle tiers because they are more complexly built compared the lower tier versions. The material used is mid-tier calf skin leather or microfiber. Microfiber is a synthetic leather that was developed for better feel of the ball. It has pretty good feel, but not as good as the top tier shoes.

The base of this particular shoe has two plastic plates at the heel and forefoot and a carbon-fibre plate running underneath the arch of the foot connecting the two parts. The cheapest version has one full plate covering the entire foot. These shoes probably will last slightly longer than the lowest tier shoes due to the higher quality design of the shoe. The leather also feels quite strong, not like the tissue type leather of the high end shoes. You also get a decent feel for the ball compared to the lowest tier shoes.

Here are the Predator Absolados, the lowest tier shoe of the family:

Predator Absolados

These shoes are the cheapest versions of the predator series. They are simply constructed and look quite generic compared to the more extravagant designs of the ABS and powerswerves. They use synthetic or full grain leather. Actually the synthetic leathers these days provide quite decent feel. Also for weather in Malaysia, they are ideal as they absorb less water than real leathers.

I'm not too convinced that the shoes will last though. This particular synthetic leather they use seems quite a bit thinner than the nike's synthetic leather. The ball does slide off the shoe a bit when kicking, meaning you will have to kick the ball with little spin or the ball will fly off in a different direction. The top has very little grip. I took a look at the ABS versions of the shoe and concluded the grip on the top of the shoes were suffice to put spin on the ball. The top of the Absolados have almost no grip at all.

There you have it, I think the middle tier shoes may be absolutely worth it compared to the cheaper end of the shoes. Personally I love the predators, they fit my feet well and I can play decently with even the cheaper aboslados. I just have to adjust and try to kick straight on instead of putting any spin on the ball at all. My game doesn't really depend on technologies as I developed my skills from playing in cheap shoes. I'd recommend the second tier for the fact that quality looks much better than the absolados and is only a hundred more ringgit or so. The cheap ones cost around RM200 while the second tiers will be around RM300.