adidas Samba Climbing Shoe: The Inescapable Shoe Gets a STEALTH Rubber Sole

The adidas Samba is everywhere. You cannot walk through a city without seeing a pair. It has been the shoe of 2025 and 2026. So what does adidas do when a shoe is this popular? They spin it off into something nobody expected. The adidas Samba Climbing Shoe drops October 6, 2026, and it is exactly what it sounds like.

adidas took the Samba upper and swapped the flat gum sole for Five Ten STEALTH rubber. If you know climbing shoes, you know STEALTH rubber. It is the gold standard for grip, originally developed for approach shoes and climbing. The Samba Climbing is not a technical climbing shoe, but it borrows the rubber for an approach style hybrid that works as an everyday walker with serious traction.

The colorway is Black, White, and Orange. Black leather upper, white Three Stripes, orange accents on the heel and sole stitching. The orange is what sells it. Without the orange, this would just be a black Samba with a weird sole. With it, the shoe has a technical, outdoor inspired look that separates it from every other Samba on the market.

Retail is $120. That is $30 more than a standard Samba, which makes sense given the STEALTH rubber sole is a more expensive material than gum rubber. The shoe releases via adidas.com and select retailers.

What I like about this spinoff is that it actually makes sense. The Sama was originally designed as a soccer training shoe in 1950. Adapting it for approach hiking and climbing is just another evolution of the same concept. A shoe built for grip on a variety of surfaces. The STEALTH rubber takes that to a different level.

If you are tired of seeing the same Samba colorways on everyone’s feet, the Climbing version is the antidote. Same upper, completely different sole, and an orange accent that makes it clear you are not wearing the standard issue.

October 6. $120. adidas.com.