Soccer Cleats 101 Soccer Cleats News and Reviews
With Adidas releasing their new Mercury Pack for the upcoming Copa America Centenario and European Championships, we wanted to give you the skinny on the full range of boots contained within. We’ve covered the Ace silo (due to its earlier release date) with expert opinion shared on both the Ace 16+ PURECONTROL and the Ace 16.1 Primeknit boots.
So, we’re going to start this off by covering the 2016 edition of a boot that is dedicated to the best player in the world today, the Argentinian maestro that is Lionel Messi. Side note, this also happens to be my favorite silo of the collection.
Adidas Messi 16+ PUREAGILITY
PUREAGILITY, this marks Adidas’ first official move into the ‘agility’ fray and what player better to represent it than the magician himself who does things which don’t seem possible? It’s also the first boot in the Messi line to feature the enhanced collar, which now means all barring 1 boot among the Big Two’s feature silo’s sport a form of collar. The SprintFrame soleplate replaces the Gambetrax system from the Messi 15.1 to bring the Messi in line with both the X and the Ace. The upper is the party piece for me however, which is dubbed Agilityknit and is a knitted synthetic which has a honeycombesque design pattern to it. It’s an upper designed to have near instantaneous break in time and give you a barefoot feel on the ball. The PUREAGILITY also includes the PureCut sock which sits over the laces giving you a smooth strike when you decide to give it the laces.
Upper: Agilityknit
Weight: 6.8oz
With a name like PUREAGILITY you know precisely what boot this is designed to go head to head with, and the boot of the maestro also happens to be far and away my favourite release of 2016. You can find the PUREAGILITY at soccer.com retailing at $299.99 unless you’re a Goal Club member where the price drops to $269.99.
Adidas Messi 16.1
So if the collar and PureCut sock isn’t your thing you can always go for the spiritual successor to the original Messi 15.1. With the same Agilityknit upper as the PUREAGILITY you’re going to get the same barefoot feel on the ball, however you’re also going to get a tongue which only opens on the lateral side of the boot; which is something that might not mesh with all players when on foot. However the unique tongue does give way to an off centered lacing system which allows the boot to have a larger strike zone and a cleaner medial side to shield passes with. The soleplate is the same SprintFrame as the PUREAGILITY meaning that you get the same traction and touch as the boot “the man” will be wearing.
Upper: Agilityknit
Weight: 6.8oz
The Messi 16.1 retail for $199.99, however Goal Club members will get themselves a better deal.
Adidas Messi 16.2
Don’t let the nomenclature fool you, we’re now onto the “third” tier of Messi boots for the 2016 calendar, and it’s where you will find a noticeable change in the construction of the boots. The Agilityknit upper still remains, however it has been paired down to the forefoot, the remainder of the boot is constructed of a synthetic material. The soleplate also changes with the 16.2, making use of the Messi 15 series’ Gambetrax soleplate which was one of the hightlights of the Messi 15.1.
Upper: Agilityknit forefoot teamed with Synthetic
Weight: 9.0oz
You can expect to see the Messi 16.2 on the feet of players who are semi-serious recreational players, or perhaps those more serious players looking for a practice boot. It’s boot which hits with a price tag of $129.99.
Adidas Messi 16.3
We come to the final boot in our skinny summary of the Messi silo offerings, the Messi 16.3. Right off the hop the Messi 16.3 is a boot which offers only styling similarities to the materials contained on the other boots. The upper is exclusively synthetic, although the forefoot does a slightly different styling to the rest of the upper dubbed “Agility surface”, one can expect that it is there solely for decorative purposes. The boot keeps a form of the Gambetrax soleplate although one can assume it is not to the level of the 16.2 boot. As is usual with take down models there will be a greater durability due to the materials used.
Upper: Synthetic
Weight: 8.8oz
The Messi 16.3 is a boot which is tailored to the very recreational player; the weekend warrior who wears the “sporting good store special” if you will. The boot has a retail of $79.99.
This brings us to a close on our break down of what went into each boot in the Messi 16 series. If you’re interested in any of the Messi boots or perhaps other boots in the Mercury series you’ll find them available right now at soccer.com.
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