Discontinued · road · Tempo / Daily · $160
Adidas Adizero Boston 12: 37 mm heel stack, 6 mm drop, 261 g — specs from independent lab testing.
Built for tempo, daily, at a target pace of 6:30–8:30 /mi on road.
This model is no longer in production. The closest shoe you can buy today is Adidas Adizero Boston 13.
Adidas tuned this midsole balanced (3/5 on our cushioning scale). Energy return is above average: the midsole rebounds well without feeling unstable. 37 mm of heel stack is the modern daily-trainer sweet spot — enough foam for long miles without losing contact with the road. Combined, the ride reads as lively at 3/5 responsiveness.
There is no plate here. The midsole does all the work, so the shoe flexes naturally and stays versatile across paces — easier on the feet day to day, but without the snap of a plated shoe when you want to roll.
A 6 mm drop is the mainstream middle — familiar to almost anyone coming from a standard trainer. The rocker is aggressive: the sole is curved and stiff enough to tip you into the next stride on its own, which saves the calf on long runs but feels strange when you slow right down. Forefoot flex is middle of the road. It is a neutral platform with no built-in correction.
The toe-box is standard width — comfortable for most feet without swimming. It runs a touch large; consider a half size down. Expect roughly 400 miles from the outsole, about $0.40 per mile at $160.
For the foams and plates Adidas uses across its line, read the Adidas brand guide.
Measured against the 542 currently-available shoes in the catalog. The bar shows where this shoe sits in that range.
Weight
261 g / 9.2 oz
14 g lighter than the catalog median of 275 g
Heel stack
37 mm
1 mm taller than the catalog median of 36 mm
Drop
6 mm
Level with the catalog median of 6 mm
Price
$160
Level with the catalog median of 160
Responsiveness
3 / 5
Catalog median 3 / 5
Cushioning
3 / 5
Catalog median 4 / 5
Energy return
4 / 5
Catalog median 3 / 5
Durability
~400 mi
Catalog median ~400 mi
Within the Adidas line it is lighter than the brand's median (278 g / 9.8 oz) and sits taller than its median stack (35 mm).
Current shoes with the nearest combination of weight, stack, drop, foam feel and plate.
On Cloudmonster 3 Hyper
263 g / 9.3 oz · 37 mm · 6 mm drop · — · $230
On Cloudmonster 3 Hyper: 37 mm heel stack, 6 mm drop, 264 g — specs from independent lab testing.
On Cloudsurfer Next
266 g / 9.4 oz · 37 mm · 6 mm drop · — · $150
Smooth-rolling daily with CloudTec Phase cushioning.
Hoka Mach 6(2024)
235 g / 8.3 oz · 37 mm · 5 mm drop · — · $140
Snappy supercritical foam without a plate — the honest tempo shoe.
Brooks Ghost Amp
255 g / 9.0 oz · 36 mm · 6 mm drop · — · $160
Ghost DNA with a bouncier nitrogen midsole for a livelier easy-day feel.