Check out the video below:

After the much anticipated launch of the F50 AdiZero football boots last week, adidas has come up with an intelligent concept linking the lightest and fastest boots ever made with the fastest machine on four wheels, the F1 car. At the global launch of the F50 Lionel Messi and David Villa participated in a photo-shoot with custom made adidas F1 helmets and cars branded in F50 designs.

adidas South Africa has decided to follow this racing concept by promoting the F50 locally through the branded Scalextric race track and cars. These tracks will be set up at malls in Cape Town , Johannesburg and Durban from the 1^st to the 7^th June. The branding and colours of the F1 cars are symbolic of the yellow F50 boot which David Villa wears and the chameleon boot which Lionel Messi will play in at the 2010 Fifa World Cup™.

Racing and football enthusiasts are encouraged to come down to the Scalextric venues and try out the cars on the 4m x 4m track, and of course appreciate these celebrated boots. Although the cars may be somewhat different as they are actually in the shape of both AdiZero F50 boots, they are still as fast as any other car on a Scalextric truck. “The Scalextric racing concept is a way for adidas to showcase these incredible football boots to the public through its colourful designs and phenomenal uniqueness” said Zobuzwe Ngobese – adidas PR Manager.

Lionel Messi will be the first and only player to wear the distinctive chameleon purple, white and electricity colourway at his final La Liga game at Camp Nou and during the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The FIFA World Player of the Year says “I am amazed at how light the new F50 is; I can barely feel them on my feet. Speed on the pitch is a really important part of my game and wearing the world’s lightest boot will hopefully make me faster and enhance my performance during the most important games of the year!”

adidas Launches their Lightest Ever Football Boot

F50 adiZero – the Lightest, Fastest adidas Boot in History

adidas proudly presents the lightest football boot it ever produced, the F50 adiZero. The revolutionary new boot weighs an astonishing 165 grams* and features industry-leading technologies, making it the lightest and fastest adidas football boot ever made.

The need for speed in modern football has never been greater, where millimetres or a fraction of a second can make the difference between winning and losing. adidas has responded to this athlete request by reinventing the rules of speed and turning the iconic F50 boot into the lightest adidas boot ever made.

Aubrey Dolan, Senior Product Manager for adidas Football comments “Players like Lionel Messi consistently told us they wanted boots that would enable them to be faster. Players wanted to be first to the ball, so we decided that the best way forward was to make a lightweight product which could be used at the highest level.”

The F50 adiZero will be worn by players during the 2010 FIFA World Cup™. The chameleon purple, white and electricity boot will be worn exclusively by Lionel Messi with Steven Pienaar (South Africa), Jozy Altidore (U.S.A), Shunsake Nakamura (Japan), Salomon Kalou (Ivory Coast), Arjen Robben (Holland) and Lukas Podolski (Germany) wearing the sun, black and collegiate gold colourway and David Villa (Spain), Samir Nasri (France), Jermain Defoe (England) and Johan Vonlanthen (Switzerland) wearing the black and sun version. The boot will hit retail on May 24^th 2010 in all adidas Sport Performance stores, as well as at leading e-retailers and selected sports retailers around the world.

HOW IT WORKS / THE SCIENCE

The F50 adiZero has been revolutionised, incorporating the industry’s lightest fabrics and leading technologies to reach the ultimate weight of 165 grams*. To achieve the target weight, the boot has been developed on a lightweight last which offers a wider footbed and heel to distribute forces optimally throughout the boot – which is critical in a lightweight product.

*165 grams at UK size 8.5

The sleek new SprintSkin upper has been created using an innovative single layer microfibre Polyurethane (PU) synthetic to reduce the overall weight and to ensure the shoe fits like a second skin increasing the comfort of the boot. The F50 adiZero uses asymmetric parallel lacing which creates a large, clean kicking surface for optimal ball contact while a perforated Ultra Light insole has been developed to reduce weight and increase speed.

The innovative new last is complemented by a new exclusive Sprint Frame outsole which is crafted using three-dimensional bridges to create stability and support in the midfoot. Taking inspiration from a running sprint spike, the outsole features a new revolutionary triangular stud configuration which provides maximum acceleration and optimum support for the critical lateral and medial movements. Football is not only about straight-line speed.

To add stability and to support the player, the upper features an internal network of Thermo Polyurethane (TPU) bands, as well as a single TPU bottom frame on the boot which offers stability and support in the lateral and medial movements and protects the upper against abrasion providing a sleek, stylish, iconic look.

Lionel Messi will be the first player to wear the distinctive chameleon purple, white and electricity colourway during the 2010 FIFA World Cup™.. The FIFA World Player of the Year says “I am amazed at how light the new F50 is; I can barely feel them on my feet. Speed on the pitch is a really important part of my game and wearing the world’s lightest boot will hopefully make me faster and enhance my performance during the most important games of the year!”

David Villa, who will wear the black and sun version, added “Speed is such an important part of my game and I am so excited about being even faster when I’m playing in South Africa against the best in the world in just a few weeks time.”

The need for speed in modern football has never been greater, where millimetres or a fraction of a second can make the difference between winning and losing. adidas has responded to this athlete request by reinventing the rules of speed and turning the iconic F50 boot into the lightest adidas boot ever made.

Aubrey Dolan, Senior Product Manager for adidas Football comments “Players like Lionel Messi and David Villa consistently told us they wanted boots that would enable them to be faster. Players wanted to be first to the ball, so we decided that the best way forward was to make a lightweight product which could be used at the highest level.”

The F50 adiZero will be worn by players during the 2010 FIFA World Cup™. The chameleon purple, white and electricity boot will be worn exclusively by Lionel Messi with Steven Pienaar (South Africa), Jozy Altidore (U.S.A), Shunsake Nakamura (Japan), Salomon Kalou (Ivory Coast), Arjen Robben (Holland) and Lukas Podolski (Germany) wearing the sun, black and collegiate gold colourway and David Villa (Spain), Samir Nasri (France), Jermain Defoe (England) and Johan Vonlanthen (Switzerland) wearing the black and sun version. The boot will hit retail on May 24^th 2010 in all adidas Sport Performance stores, as well as at leading e-retailers and selected sports retailers around the world.

What about boots? Has the perfect boot already been made?

Cars from the 60’s for me are the most beautiful. The main reason for this is that cars were drawn for beauty and not for performance. Introduce technology, wind tunnels, aerodynamics etc and the car is reinvented.

It begs the question; is beauty better than technology?

So what am I going on about?

I’ve been looking at some of the boots that have been released lately and I’ve had to wonder; has beauty been over taken by technology? Has the most beautiful boot already been made?

With the release of every new pair of boots there is some fancy material, a greater sweet spot, a something or the other to increase the player’s ability…

I don’t believe that technology in boots can increase the ability of a player.

I do however believe that a boot can help a player to produce the best of his ability in a performance, but to say that “a better boot makes you a better player” is nonsense.

So do we need all this technology? I’m not really sure.

If I wanted to ‘feel’ the ball and get a better touch why not go bare foot?

If I want more power, I think a pair of metal knight boots would work well…

I don’t know how boots are made these days. Do they punch some stuff in a computer and make what ever it spits out? It’s like the colour is the only thing left to design (hence some rather radical colours…).

I think the most beautiful boot has already been made. Some may disagree, but I think they are these:

The Adidas +F50.6 Tunit – in my opinion the most beautiful boot ever made.

So they where advanced at the time – it’s true. Now they are ‘old’, but still look brilliant! Colour, texture, style – they have it all! I mean they used Djibril Cisse to promote them… tells you something don’t it?

*I do apologize! I have just been told I am not allowed to say all this! The boss wants me to talk about how wonderful the new techno boots are! Well then… these are the best boots ever made…*