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| Nike Mercurial Superfly II Pink Cherry |
This is a full review regarding lightweight soccer cleats, in this review I'll be comparing the Nike Mercurial Superfly II, Adidas F50 Adizero,Puma V1.10 SL, along with the Umbro GT Pro. If you're interested in winning a free pair of Nike Mercurial Superfly II's, Soccer Cleats 101 is having a competition to win a pair of Nike Mercurial Cherry Superfly II's! And now, onto the review!
Nike Mercurial Superfly II
Nike have released probably the flashiest cleats I have ever seen, their Mercurial Superfly II's are designed to look like pure speed. Whether it's the Cactus Green, the Mach Purple, or the Pink Cherry, Nike always release some of the coolest colorways I've seen for cleats.
Nike's state of the art Mercurial Superfly II cleats (priced around 400 dollars!) are what hundreds of professionals use because of their lightweight quality. They weigh an impressive 210 grams (or about 7.8 ounces) thanks to the FlyWire technology that runs along the inside and outside of the boot.
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A picture of the Adaptive studs |
The boot also features a Pressure-Activated Adaptive Traction System on the front two studs of the cleat. What all those big words mean is that the circular part in the middle of the stud actually extends when you put pressure on the cleat, allowing you to swivel/change direction quickly.
If you're interested in reading a great review of the cleats, you can visit this Nike Mercurial Cherry Superfly II's review over at Soccer Cleats 101.
Adidas F50 Adizero
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| The grip on the synthetic Adizero |
Although Nike has included all these cool technologies, they still haven't managed to make the lightest cleat in the soccer boot market. Before the World Cup, Adidas released their lightweight cleat, the Adidas F50 Adizero which pushed the boundaries of lightweight. Messi, Forlan, and David Villa all wear this cleat, because of it's comfort and extremely light weight which is just 164 grams (or 5.8 ounces) for the synthetic version!
The Adidas F50 Adizero's come in two different formats, the leather version, and the synthetic version. The leather version is more comfortable, with a better touch on the ball as it moulds to your foot, while the synthetic version is for those who want pure speed. Although about 90% of the players who wear the Adizero opt for the leather version, the synthetic version has it's features.
For example it has the grip on the upper, which is very similar to the Jabulani ball. It's not really grip, but it's more like bumps in a pattern which are supposed to help when hitting the ball. Although I'd certainly prefer the leather version, if you're looking for pure speed, go with the synthetic version.
Adidas's cleat right now costs about 150-200 dollars, much less compared to Nike's cleat, so if you're looking for a lighter, and cheaper cleat, you might want to think about the Adidas F50 Adizero.
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The top stud fell off playing on an artificial surface |
But there's a small thing I should mention, the Adizero's have a little bit of a stud problem. Many have reported that playing on artificial surfaces, their studs have fallen off, like in the link above. So if you're a big player on artificial/turf surfaces, be careful, because these might not be the right choice for you!
If you're interested in a review of the F50 Adizero's from Soccer Cleats 101, you can click here.
Puma V1.10 SL
And finally, when you speak of lightweight cleats, you have to mention the king of speed, the Puma V1.10 SL's. Puma recently surprised everyone releasing this cleat, right when everyone thought that Adidas had created the impossible, Puma took it a step further and made their cleat which weighs only 150 grams (or about 5.3 ounces)!
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Three wicked diamonds in the heel |
There's two versions of this cleat, and while they both weigh and perform the same, they have different appearances. The first is the Yellow/Green version which Inter Milan's Samuel Eto'o wears, and then there's the less flashy white/blue version. Now the reason that the Yellow/Green version costs so much more than the white/blue version is because the Yellow/Green cleats have diamonds studded into the heel of the boot! Talk about flashy.
Now you might be asking, "How much will the lightest soccer cleat in the world cost? If the Nike's Superfly II's cost 400 dollars, then these must be 1000 dollars!" Well, no, Puma have made these super light, super comfortable cleats, and the white/blue version only costs about 200 dollars! While that's still quite a sum of money, it's a great deal compared to Nike's high priced cleats, and Adidas's which might have a stud fall off on you.
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The white/blue version of the V1.10 SL |
If you want to read a great review of the Puma V1.10 SL's at Soccer Cleats 101, click here.
Overall
So if you're looking for a new pair of cleats, and you're interested in the lightweight options, please take into consideration what I've said above. Think about the surfaces you'll be playing on, whether you want to be flashy with the Pink Cherry, or whether you just want pure lightweight speed by Puma.
I found a couple of great comparison pictures from Soccerlens which compare's cleat weight (in grams), and then cleat price (in British pounds). Here they are below, they compare the Nike Mercurial Superfly II's, Adidas F50 Adizero's (synthetic version), Puma V1.10 SL's, and the Umbro GT Pro.
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The top cleats ranked by weight |
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The top cleats ranked by cost |
I hope you've enjoyed this overall review of lightweight cleats, and remember to enter in Soccer Cleats 101's Nike Mercurial Superfly II Cherry competition!
