Does the Adidas Samba OG run true to size? Should you size up?
We checked, on 16,874 real feet. We worked out the inside measurements of the Adidas Samba OG in the standard width: the length, the width, and the forefoot volume (ball girth). Then we virtually fitted 16,874 real feet from our earlier in-store 3D foot scanners, the way someone shopping online would: Adidas's size chart, ordering the usual size as Adidas recommends for the Samba OG.
Adidas size guide score
38/100
Adidas's size guidance online gave the right size for 38% of 16,874 feet.
Does the Adidas Samba OG run true to size?
For fewer than 4 in 10 feet. If you follow Adidas's size guidance online, the Samba OG fits true to size for 38% of feet. Here, true to size means the size Adidas's online guidance gives you is less than a full size away from the size that fits best, with enough toe room and enough forefoot volume.
Adidas's guidance gets the length right. Adidas's page for the Samba OG says the shoe is true to size and recommends ordering your usual size, and with Adidas's size chart, every foot in our fittings had enough room in front of the toes. The guidance falls short on forefoot volume, because the Samba OG comes in one width, so a different size is the only way to change the forefoot volume.
Should you size up or down in the Adidas Samba OG?
Here is where every foot landed in the Samba OG when we followed Adidas's size chart and ordered the usual size, as Adidas recommends.
Following Adidas's size guidance online
- Right size from the size chart38%
- Sized up for more forefoot volume25%
- Sized up for toe room only0%
- Sized down for less forefoot volume37%
Share of 16,874 feet. Each foot is counted once.
- Right size from the size chart: 38% of feet got a size that fit both their foot length and their forefoot volume. Adidas's size guidance worked well for this group in the Samba OG.
- Sized up for more forefoot volume: For 25% of feet, the Samba OG had too little forefoot volume at the size the chart gave. The Samba OG has no wide version, so going up a size was the only way to get more forefoot volume, and the bigger size also adds length in front of the toes.
- Sized up for toe room only: No feet landed here: 0 of 16,874. Adidas's size chart leaves every foot enough room in front of the toes in the Samba OG.
- Sized down for less forefoot volume: For 37% of feet, the Samba OG had too much forefoot volume at the size the chart gave. The Samba OG has no narrow version, so a smaller size was the only way to get less forefoot volume, with less room in front of the toes.
How we measured
We measured the standard width of the Samba OG and virtually fitted 16,874 real feet from our earlier in-store 3D foot scanners. Out of 17,311 foot scans, those 16,874 feet fall in the size range of the Samba OG (US men's 4 to 13.5). For every foot, we followed Adidas's size guidance online: the length chart, ordering the usual size as Adidas recommends, in the standard width. A difference of a full size or more between Adidas's size and the size that fits best counts as a miss. These numbers show how the Samba OG fits a large group of feet, not how the shoe feels on your feet.