adidas Velosamba Made With Nature 'Cloud White Black'
Colorway: Cloud White/Core Black/Off White · Style code: IE7024 · Release date: December 14, 2021 · Price: $100 · Availability: Available now
More colorways: adidas Velosamba Made With Nature 'Charcoal Spark' (IG5947) · Adidas Velosamba Made With Nature 'Silver Green' (IH5211) · adidas Velosamba Made With Nature 'Black White' (IE0232) · adidas Velosamba Made With Nature 'White Black' (IE0231) · Adidas Velosamba Made With Nature 'White Lucid Blue Scarlet' (IE0230)
Cycling, not football, is the brief here. The Velosamba takes the Samba's outline and rebuilds the bottom unit around a stiff plate that accepts two-bolt cleats, so the shoe clips into a pedal and still walks like a trainer once the rider is off the bike. The upper on this Made With Nature release is textile rather than leather or suede, and adidas lists the colours as Cloud White, Core Black and Off White. Everything above the sole stays close to the original, which is exactly the point: commuters wanted footwear that did not announce itself as cycling kit.
It released on 14 December 2021 at 150 dollars in the United States, a clear premium over a standard Samba, and the extra money goes into the sole unit rather than the upper. That makes it an unusual buy. Riders get one pair that locks into a pedal and then walks into an office without a change of shoes, while anyone drawn to it purely on looks ends up with a Samba that is considerably more rigid underfoot than it appears. The Made With Nature name belongs to the materials programme adidas ran across several ranges at the time. Within the family, the Velosamba is the clearest case of how far the brand has pushed a football last into jobs it was never drawn for.