The adidas Ultra Boost franchise is in need of change. While the running silhouette has been a staple in the brand’s arsenal for over three years now, sneakerheads are calling for something a little different- and its finally coming in 2019.


The adidas Ultra Boost is long overdue for a change. Originally launched in 2015, the silhouette broke barriers for adidas in the United States, helping them become the footwear powerhouse we love today and driving the burst in popularity of the then relatively new Boost midsoles. Now, the Ultra Boost is largely considered one of the best sneakers in the past five years, as well as one of the most important Three Stripes silhouettes to ever hit retail.

Since its debut, the Ultra Boost has gone through a small handful of changes to bring us to the current 4.0 design. So far, these changes have merely been in the construction of the knit upper, and the way that it is put together. However, after several years of fans calling out for a more radical change in the design, it is finally happening. While the rumor mill has been churning for months now, it has finally been revealed that the mysterious Ultra Boost cousin that has been floating around the internet is, in fact, the Ultra Boost 2019. However, this is not the only Ultra Boost silhouette debuting in 2019. The reason that this pair is not referred to as the UB 5.0 is that the regular line will continue as normal, albeit with slight changes more akin to those of the past three years. This pair has not yet been revealed by leak accounts or the brand, so, for now, let’s take a more detailed look at the UB19.

The first thing you’ll probably notice about the new adidas Ultra Boost is that it is radically different from any previous designs. To start, the typical UB tooling has been swapped out for the adidas Speedfactory AM4’s tooling, another sleek running shoe from the brand that is made in their quick manufacturing facilities, which brings us to the next big point: the Ultra Boost 2019 will be exclusively manufactured in Speedfactories. With locations already housed on 3 continents, adidas is continuing their expansion of the faster production facilities, making them much more viable for large-scale production. With this in mind, let’s take a closer look at the design.

The adidas Ultra Boost 2019 begins its radically redesigned upper with an all-new Primeknit construction. So far, the new knit is shown to be made from two colors of threads, splitting them evenly between the toe box and tongue of the shoe, with the secondary color taking over the lower sides and heel area. The supportive sidewall cage is still present on the new model, though it appears to have been made much sleeker, thinner, and features more aggressively-angled stripes. Finally, the old school Ultra Boost heel counter is now a thing of the past. In its place is a similar shaped supportive piece, though this time it appears as just an outline rather than a solid piece of plastic. It has been revealed that on the outer left heel this piece is embossed with the words ULTRA BOOST, which is how we are able to confirm that this model is a piece of the franchise.

The adidas Ultra Boost 2019 has not yet been officially announced by the brand, though the shoe is expected to release next year. Given the new look, construction, and manufacturing process, the next generation Ultra Boost is likely to retail with a price over the $180 norm. Check out the early images of ShawnLee1978‘s black and white pair below for a better idea of how the new sneaker looks on feet, and stay tuned to JustFreshKicks for more information on how to obtain a pair.

Words by Ben Serleth