Umbro have been serving the football community for the best part of 90 years and are considered to be the masters of luxury leather boots and quality apparel. However, 2015 sees the Double Diamond brand step away from their traditional roots to compete with the speedsters of the market with an ultra-lightweight football boot.
Last month we spoke to Umbro’s Footwear & Equipment Product Manager Simon Bowsher who insisted that 2 years ago there was an ‘awful lot of ground to make up,’ on the rest of their competitors. Well it looks like the British brand has done the necessary leg work because the company have designed and manufactured a football boot which looks to take the competition to the brand leaders in the speed race – enter the Umbro Velocita Pro.
The major feature of this brand new silo from Umbro is its weight. It was important that Umbro got this aspect of the design spot on, re-entering the speed market against the giants that are Nike and adidas needs strong intent and at 165g the Velocita Pro definitely makes a statement. Matched by only one other boot, (the adidas 2014 adizero) the Velocita Pro is one of the lightest on the market to date, which is fairly impressive considering that previous models from Umbro have weighed far more.
Taking the boot out of the box you can immediately feel its lightness and the synthetic upper feels smooth to the touch, generally this looks and feels like a fantastic boot. However, though this silo looks and feels great there are definitely people who believe that the Velocita Pro is a boot which is pretending to be something that it isn’t – an adidas F50 adizero.
You will tend to hear that the Velocita Pro is very similar to its adidas counterpart in regards to the aesthetics and also the design features and to be honest it is very hard not to argue with such claims when it comes to a visual comparison.
When you take a closer examination of the Velocita Pro it seems that there are a few aspects which do resemble an F50; the overall profile of the boot along with the one piece plastic soleplate and heel counter combination look like the ‘sprintframe’ that you would find on the F50 adizero range from 2010 through to 2014.
However, the point of the Velocita Pro is to be as lightweight as possible and there are only a few ways from a design standpoint that you will be able to make this happen. The upper has to be smooth, thin and lightweight, the soleplate has to be made of plastic. So while yes, from a visual point of view there are many comparisons you can make to the adizero range, there are key aspects to the design that Umbro have incorporated to make the Velocita their own.
Firstly the upper, a smooth, thin and highly flexible microfiber material which provides the boots with an overall lightweight feel, it's slightly thinner than that of the Hyperfeel, which you'll find on the adizero but a bit thicker than the Tejin synthetic that on the Mercurial X.
The upper has a dimple texture similar to that found on previous Nike Mercurial Vapor models but not as distinctive. Now with the upper being so thin and lightweight it was important that it received the right reinforcement. The A-Frame is a design feature which has appeared on other Umbro boots and is what holds the Velocita together.
This feature is a piece of synthetic plastic which runs on both the lateral and medial sides, it also runs across the front of the toe-box and what it effectively does is provide a cradle for the foot whilst inside & allows the silo to stretch naturally without compromising the shape.
The signature feature also receives an upgrade from the designers at Umbro as an additional piece of synthetic has been attached to either side of the model to sure up the structure in terms of rigidity, it is also part of the lacing system to complete the cradle like feel by allowing the wearer to tighten the boot to a desired comfort level and provide a locked down sensation to the heel and rest of the foot.
Keeping with the comfort aspect of the boot Umbro have realised that when designing a speed boot the materials used are stripped down in order to provide that lightweight feel, meaning that some aspects of comfort are sacrificed however, Umbro have done a great job in ensuring that there's just enough comfort in the right places on the Velocita.
The heel counter is slightly higher than those of its competitors giving the heel more security, coupled with an embossed memory foam in the collar to give the boot a sculpted feel thus helping with the overall fit and preventing the heel from rubbing against the back off the boot. Inside the boot there's a smooth suede-like lining which also adds to the general comfort.
The Velocita allows much more flex in comparison to the adizeros. The amount of flexion in the forefoot of the boot is brought further forward with the inclusion of the flex grooves, which run across the base of the boot, designed to aid the foot in making more natural movements. The second piece of plastic which makes up the heel counter is of a harder more ridged plastic and it would need to be as it provides the support of the whole boot and also the player.
We were particularly impressed with the A-Frame on the Velocita Pro, this feature allows the wearer to feel fully secured within the boot whist the rest of the Velocita gives the foot freedom and space to feel comfortable doing whatever is necessary.
The upper performs brilliantly, break in time is next to nothing and also the thinness makes touches of the ball very personal. We'd say that these boots are true to size as the material is not likely to expand further than when you first try them on. The soleplate also delivers on Umbros promise with it providing traction at all the right moments during game play aiding all speedsters, our only reservation on the soleplate is whether it may be too thin because you are likely to feel stud pressure through the foot on harder surfaces.
One other point to cover is protection, as with all speed boots we'd suggest that players who like to get involved in making strong tackles should probably stay away from the Velocita and any other kind of speed boot. The material's so thin any kind of abrasive contact will definitely lead to undesired results. The Velocita Pro is strictly for the quick, sharp and the nimble.
Overall Umbro have produced a boot which will definitely rival the big names in the speed game and with a RRP of £130 we wouldn't be surprised if consumers begin to consider the Double Diamond’s Velocita Pro as one of their first choices.
