Adidas Harden Vol 5 V5 Review
Written by schwollo
No need to drag out a long review. If you follow my IG, my initial impressions out of the box pretty much matched the on court impressions and all in all it’s a pretty sorry shoe in all aspects. However, my curiosity got me experimenting to see the whys which is where a lot of reviewers fall short.
Pros: traction when clean, stability, containment
Cons: everything else
Sizing advice : these run long so it depends on preference: if you like a certain length but tight fit in the toe box go down half a size . If you need more space stay true to size.
Buying advice: don’t
Weight
Errr this is 19 ounces for a low top. Wasn’t light strike supposed to be light ? The shell alone weighs14.5 ounces which is heavier than the Curry 8 by an ounce .
I’m not a big weight guy but Adidas outdid itself this time. You realize that ONE V5 weighs almost the same as a pair of crazy lights. 👀
Traction
Traction is good on clean floors or freshly wiped but doesn’t do the best job brushing away dirt. A solid outsole should help but really zero point to buy this shoe. I’m about to stop writi…..
Cushioning
*this is where the majority of the V5 issues comes from so I’ll cover it all right here*
I can’t recall a drop in insole for any company other than Nike so the swoosh can consider the V5 as the sincerest form of flattery even if it’s a really poor effort.
The drop in is really thick and is mostlly with a layer of Boost on the top. I’m not sure who implied that Boost needs space to expand but there is no space for Boost to expand in this insole. As I have often stated Boost needs volume to feel like Boost and it’s why I don’t really use these replacement insoles.
Because of how dense the insole is it takes a bit to break in but it still feels packed and dense with a little feedback and bounce particularly in the heel. It feels NOTHING like the Boost on the V3 or the Lightstrike on the V4 or Dame 6/7 or bounce for that matter. It’s just there.Sound boring enough ? Read on
If you take a look at the heel, you’ll see how sloped it is. I never wrote a review on the Kobe VII but the VII had a similar issue but not to this extent. (You could actually just the little piece in the heel to make it fit better). The slope in the heel basically doesn’t allow your heel to sit all the way down as intended since the heel is pushed forward and up thus you get some major heel slippage. A traditional cushioning set up would have fixed this issue but hey Adidss had to show off its imitation innovation.
Now the heel shape added some heel slip but this super long super stiff shank is the real LVP of this insole. Even after break in it just wants to stay super in it’s original form because of how stiff it is I accordion’d the sht out of it and it helped a lot with the three F’s: feel, fit, and flexiblility but not to the point that the shoe felt like I wasn’t wearing a shoe .
EXPERIMENTS
Well since I could interchange the insoles I decided to mess around and put my Kobe IX Insoles and instantly the shoe got more flexible felt better underfoot and fit better since it isn’t as thick aND IT doesn’t have that slope in the heel nor the shank. Addition by subtraction is amazing
Just for kicks (get it) I threw one of these zoom insoles off Amazon w an extra insole on top and it made the shoe feel like.. well a … Nike
Now can you put LeBron drop ins or Kobe’s seamlessly ? No, because the shell of the shoe is much bigger than the typical stated size to accommodate the thick insole . ..Segway please
Fit
The V5 is much large than a regular size 11. If you see my pic of the V3 v V5 it’s close to a centimeter larger. If you like to feel nimble big ass shoes like this might not be for you.
One positive about the Harden V5 fit is the lack of deadspace in the forefoot and no movement side to side. Having an extra thick insole will do that I guess.
Heel slip is an issue due everything stated in the cushioning section.
The heel pillows help but not enough due to the poor insole design.
Btw I went true to size. You can go down half a size but that would be too tight for my wide feet. Overall the fit is good in the forefoot and poor in the heel.
Materials
Future natural upper is what Adidas calls it and it is a one piece upper (Kobe NXT anyone?). But it really feels like a throwback to 2010 maybe 2012. It does not feel premium to the touch at all. No issues with pinching or hot spots but I’m not a big stickler for materials. The stiffness and clunkiness comes from the insole as stated earlier. If you like to DJ you may enjoy scratching these .
Support and stability
No issues with support and stability.
Sorry nothing to really state here but hey it’s a positive at least!
Containment
No issues here. That fake lightstrike texture runs all the way around the shoe and is made of a stiffish TPU. Good for containment
Conclusion
As I stated earlier, the V5 is proof that it ain’t the shoes. Sure, the Beard got off to a slow start and overweight but hey Treasures and Ricks food isn’t exactly healthy. But now that the Beard got his trade he is crushing it in Brooklyn (maybe it’s the sorry strip clubs in NY 🤷🏻♂️ ) . I even saw Kyle Lowry wearing these but of course as a 3 stripes guy he kinda has to. But regardless of how badly this shoe rates among reviewers, it makes no difference to a players actual output or performance. Not really a big whoop but I’ll drop the “performance” out of the title starting today because it makes no actual difference on court as I’ve said this for years. Shoes don’t get buckets simple as that.
The V5 is truly an exercise in nomenclature and using “new tech” for the sake of using “new tech”. The funny thing is this is almost an identical idea to the Kobe 360 NXT but executed way way way worse. Better fit, cushioning, traction, far lighter..doesn’t feel like a shoe (of course I do need the support and stability but just saying).
At $130 it isn’t super expensive and you literally get a lot of shoe for the money. (For the ones who don’t get the joke I’m referring to the size of the shoe and how heavy it is). As with all things Harden and Adidas, don’t buy these at retail unless you’re a real diehard Harden fan..actually even if you are just wait because these aren’t going anywhere and have no appreciable value. Normally I’d say fair is about $100 but that’s too generous so I’m going to say $80-70 is fair bottoming out around $50-60. Who knows maybe the big Apple will help sell some shoes 😬
All in all the Harden V5 does nothing better than its predecessors and that’s being generous.
schwollo.com 
Schwollo’s most hated shoes all time? On paper it sound pretty ok but I’m sooo over with Boost being in ball shoes, it just doesn’t work (for me at least), the more you pack them in the midsole the stiffer, the less you put the more mushy and the faster it bottoms out, even for casual wear they’re not the best ever for me (have gone through UB, Crazy BYW, OG Pureboost, EQT Support 93/17… and none of the Boost on them blew me away, comfortable of course but not out of this world like the others have said). It is just me? Or it’s just not my cup of tea? Anyways for balling, Zoom Air still king! Sucks and kinda funny to read about how much you dislike them lol.
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Zoom is indeed king even after 20 plus years. This might by my least fav shoe in some time. At least traction wasn’t horrendous but I can’t get on very dusty floors right now. Boost was done well in the harden v3..not to soft or hard . I’m pretty sure adidas in general is shifting all their boost into running and putting lightstrike into their weaker segments so say so long to boost soon in hoops shoes.
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Gosh, I literally have only seen one positive review (Sneaker Highway from HK) of these from reviewers I actually care about…everyone else (NW, Nelly Chan, RichieKim, Sole Brothers, and you) have SLAUTHERED this shoe 😑 damn Adidas, u guys really dropped the ball on these…
I love how the shoe looks, and when pics first dropped I made up my mind that I will pay retail for these, cos these look like they were gonna be BANGERS, but if it performs this bad, hell naw 😢
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*Slaughtered*
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They did. Over engineered for the sake of marketing
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I was gonna criticize it like I usually do to all gimmicky shoes, then realized I don’t even care about it enough to do so…
As far as midsole materials go, I think high rubber content EVA (aka “ground contact foam”), PEBAX foams, and supercritical gas foams are the current trend. Too bad basketball shoes are usually 2 generations behind new midsole tech, and bball shoe market everywhere except China/Japan is basically 90% nike + 10% adidas+ UA, so there’s no real competition for companies to care… Nike could have easily made some denser full-react midsoles for basketball, but why should they when people are buying cheap EVA+plastic shoes like Kyrie 7?
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$$$$
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Thanks for another insightful review. Glad to see you’re still at it.
I’m no Harden fan. I respect his talent, but I don’t like him, how he played at times in Houston, and how he’s behaved off court. That said, I’ve really liked his adidas line up to now. The Vol 1-3s are some of my favorite shoes of the last few 5ish years. The Vol 4s are pretty good too, but I don’t love the Lightstrike. It isn’t as bouncy as Boost and bottoms out too quick for me. It sounds like 5s are pretty terrible across the board and I will skip them. Sometimes shoes are less than the sum of their parts/tech and the 5s sound like one of those shoes. Good thing we have other great options to play in.
Hope you and the fam stay safe and sane.
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Hope all is well for you as well across the pond!
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si3n4! Wow a blast from the past! 😀 If my memory serves me right you were active on SC’s Adidas forum for awhile, great to hear from you 👍
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I think Lowry was wearing the takedown version that looks almost the same (Stepback 2s) before going all the way back to some ’17 shoes. IIRC there was some rookie who was wearing the 5s, but it seems that most NBA players wisely noped the fuck out.
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Ha ha no Lowry was wearing the V5 a few games ago. Who knows what insole goes in pros shoes. All it need is an insole swap . Shiet if adidas paid me I’d wear them too 😂
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Speaking of Adidas offerings, have you tried the Dame 7 @schwollo? if you, what are your thoughts so far?
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No I have not. Very limited hoop time so I’m just picking and choosing
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Good to see you making a post again, but it’s unfortunate how the Harden line has gone. 1-3 were really amazing shoes. The 4s were alright, but the 5 sounds almost unplayable.
I’ve been playing some other sports in the meantime just to make it easier to keep socially distant so I’m not in the market for hoop shoes at the moment but still sad to see what’s generally been a reliably good line go really bad.
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I’m not playing any pickup or anything either just running through my normal drills alone. Thanks for playing it smart !
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Well, how’s the zoom insoles u bought off Amazon? Worth it?
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They are well worth it. I put them
In some dead ultraboosts and voila! The Boost insoles (thinner ones) don’t do anything I gave mine to a friend.
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Can you link the ones you got I saw others one but I wanna get the ones u have. Thanks
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Insoles for Men, Extremely Comfortable Arch Support Insole, Provide Excellent Cushioning to Reduce The Pain Caused by Plantar Fasciitis and Muscle Fatigue,Best Health Gift (Shoe Inserts Men 10-11) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07VTLM4N7/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glc_fabc_.9yeGbRH24P60?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
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Puma clyde all pro and Dame 7 review please
Regards bro 😉
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Very limited court time sorry
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I understand the problem., but I think you will find time;)
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Any chance you’re going to review the Pg 5. Looks like that have kobe 9 traction and good cushioning and support.
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I got a pair last week. Very good out of the box very stable good fit cushioning. Just no frills and works
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Buying advice: don’t – I’m dead! Thanks for another great review. So far I only have V1 and I’ve been meaning to get v2-v4 only for rock bottom prices. I don’t really consider aesthetics but not feeling the cloth patches on these, if they remove those the shoe will look decent and I don’t mind rocking them casually as these were not meant for the hardwoods :p of course again if the price is rock bottom!
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V3 best of the bunch if you add extra eyelets ..hope all is well !
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This seems like a case of them having a great idea, a drop in boost midsole, but then overthinking it and messing it up. You dont need that plastic on it, kobes proved that. And people want to feel the boost, quit advertising it if your gonna skimp on it, like with this and the pro boost. Keep it simple.
I wish adidas would just use what worked in their recent past and just make killer shoes. Use the nice full length boost setups with the soft strobels from the marquee boost and the tmac millenium, do the savage tractions from the crazylight 2016 and the drose 7, and a nice upper like the neoprene from the crazy explosive or the jaquard from the crazylight. Quit screwing around with lightstrike, that doesnt get people excited. Just nail the fundamentals and make a killer performer. They were onto something around 2016-17, then seemed to lose their way.
(btw, a nice little custom project could be to take out the plastic shank off the drop in, just to see how it feels).
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Ha nah going back to adidas. Already experimented with the Nike drop in . Yea adidas wanted to showcase tech but for no good reason.
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Hey dude, long time reader here. Appreciate the reviews you do. Would love if you started a YT channel, I would def subscribe.
I know the performance on these aren’t that great, but I just absolutely dig the way they look, so I’m thinking about getting a pair to use as gym shoes. With that said, hows the sizing on these compared to the marquee boost (I own a pair)? Would you mind sharing a picture of the 2 shoes side by side pretty please?
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No plans on a YouTube channel. No diff in information given. I already sent the hardens back but marquee boosts run much larger (outside size alone wouldn’t show you actual fit size anyways since the insole is so thick on the harden). .
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Any idea of whether or not swapping insoles on this could work? I know your review mentioned that it solved some of the stiffness, but was wondering if the weird sizing would require different insole sizes or if it would even work with the shoe at all. Like some other people I love the look, but the performance issues are so disappointing and am kinda hoping swapping insoles might make it actually feasible.
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Swapping the insole will solve almost all the issues aside from the weight and traction but you have to find the right size insole which is a pain. My size 11 Kobe insoles were way too small for size 11 hardens V5. My guess is you need at least a size to size and a half up in Nike to fit the V5.
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Waiting for your zoom freak 2 review
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I find this funny lol
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Lol awesome !!
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I’m looking for a shoe that’s really low to the ground and good traction. the shoe doesn’t have to have good cushion cause I just bought the air insole you were talking about. It’s GREAT. So now I need to get a shoe with damn near perfect traction and add the insole too.
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So many options .. sort of haha. You will have to go up in size Bc that insole is thick so I’d experiment with sizing to get an idea what size to actually get . I’d look at drop in Insole Kobe’s since it’s supposed to fit drop ins. Nxt’s or Kobe 8-9 11 would fit the bill.
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Hi ,are You planning to do a review od new Balance KAWHI or PUMA CLYDE ALL PRO ?
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No no places to play no reason to buy anything right now
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I recently tried on the Nike GT Cut, and they felt like Nike’s take on what the Harden V could’ve been because they reminded me of Harden IV but better. Curious to see if you will review that, and maybe even the entire series (Cut, Run and Jump). Also, will you ever review some Asics basketball shoes? I got a pair of Gelhoop and it’s a really refreshing take on what a basketball shoe can be. Super lightweight but just enough cushionion, excellent traction, solid support. Reminded me of Huarache 2K4, Jet Flight, Zoom BB…It’s like a Lotus among the Lambos and McLarens and Ferraris. Their other models also look promising.
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Not sure what or when I’m reviewing anything next. Good to know the Gt worked for you looks great from a tech standpoint !
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Hope things are good for you. I just wanted to say how much I enjoy your insights and similar observations in performance review of shoes. Looking forward to reading another one of your great reviews. Thank you.
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Thanks ! Sorry haven’t been checking comments too often lately !
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Sounds terrible. Also, could it be why Harden was wearing volume 2s during the 2021 playoffs? Maybe he had the same complaints as described here? Seems like a monumental fail.
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