adidas Rebuilds the FREERIDER and they look stunning

The new FREERIDER family brings BOA dials, and the first-ever clipless FREERIDER to adidas’ bike lineup, with a Spring 2027 release.

It’s been a while since adidas made this much noise in cycling footwear, and we’re into it.

Today adidas unveiled a redesigned FREERIDER mountain bike shoe range that includes four models spanning both flat and clipless pedals.

Leading the lineup are the FREERIDER PRO BOA and the FREERIDER PRO BOA Clipless.

The Look

Honestly, the press photos are stunning.

The colors and light, ripstop-style uppers are nice and the bold 3-Stripes in dark panels make it pop. Add in twin BOA dials and you realize that these are pretty serious shoes. The Five Ten branding is still on the tongue and heel but it looks clean and purposeful.

For the first time, these are the first models to carry both the 3-Stripes and the Five Ten logo, a clear sign adidas wants Five Ten closer to the heart of the brand and for people to know Five Ten and adidas are one in the same

What’s Actually New

Merging two icons. FREERIDER’s grip and off-the-bike style meet HELLCAT’s clip-in performance. Both are 2009-era franchises, and this is the first time they’ve been brought together under one redesign.
STEALTH rubber, tuned by pedal type. The flat-pedal PRO BOA uses STEALTH rubber throughout, while the Clipless uses STEALTH Marathon, a harder-wearing compound built for clip-in riding.
More cleat adjustability. The Clipless gets a redesigned cleat slot with 5mm of extra adjustability, so you can set cleats further back.
More protection. A five-layer toe box with PORON impact resistance, asymmetric construction for side-impact defense, and an integrated debris shield.
Dialed fit. A double Li2 BOA on the Clipless, a single Li2 BOA on the PRO BOA, plus an asymmetric PERFORMFIT WRAP.

Who Helped Build Them

The lineup was developed with athletes including Danny MacAskill, Brendan Fairclough, and Vero Sandler on the flat-pedal side. On the clipless side, adidas worked with Norco adidas Race Division riders including Greg Minnaar, Vali Höll, and Dakotah Norton. The Clipless debuted on the feet of the Norco adidas Race Division at the Whistler World Cup.

adidas’ Luke Hontz says the team “took a step back and reimagined what FREERIDER could be” rather than making incremental updates.