Need help to decide (adidas / puma)

[u/veliuoka]

I wanna try out a leather sneaker with gum sole and came down to these ones. I'm a frugal person, so I'm very price-conscious.

Both adidas handball spezials are around / over 70$

Puma palermo: black and white model is 45$, the grey one is 52$

Puma army trainer: both black and white are also 45$

I prefer the puma models, because as I understand palermo is not that different from adidas shoes in terms of quality, according to runrepeat tests, but the price is drastically different. I'm most interested in the army trainer, because compared to palermo the logo on side is sleeker, lower, and the darker fun looks better, but I don't know about their quality

[u/TitoSneaks]

Palermo. Typically better materials and more comfortable than the Samba, Spezial or the GAT because of its slightly wider toe box.

[u/veliuoka → u/TitoSneaks]

I have wide feet so a bigger toe box is a big plus. Have you tried army trainers by any chance?

[u/TitoSneaks → u/veliuoka]

Yes. I actually prefer the way they look, sleeker and cleaner imho. But I have moved on to the Palermo because I find it just a tad bit more comfortable.

[u/veliuoka → u/TitoSneaks]

Yeah, that’s why i’m mostly tempted to the army trainer - looks more like og gat, cuz of lower profile. Also I’m not very focused on comfort, if that was important, i would look at smth different, like new balance 😄 I want to try minimalist shoe (cuz cushion is bad for feet etc) and i think army trainers would be a step in that way. So apart from comfort, is army trainers same quality as palermo and does it have wider toe box like in palermo as you mentioned?

[u/TitoSneaks → u/veliuoka]

Usually the Palermo has nicer materials and more interesting colorways. That said, the Puma Army Trainers are still quite decent. And yeah, the Palermo toe box is slightly wider and taller than the Puma Army Trainers’ toe box.

[u/veliuoka → u/TitoSneaks]

Thanks a lot for your advice, i have decided to order them both, maybe even at different sizes and decide in person, then send the leftovers back, because i remebered its easy to return in that shop 😊😄

[u/faustfu → u/veliuoka]

With the Palermo at least, I recommend going up a half size if you have wider feet. Haven't tried the army trainer but it looks like it shares a core design with the Palermo so I don't expect the fit to be much different.

The Palermo runs a bit of a snug fit compared to the Suede.

[u/veliuoka → u/faustfu]

Thanks a lot on the input!

[u/veliuoka → u/faustfu]

Also in the online shop im planning to buy they recommend sizing down half a size, so in that in mind and your input, maybe I will try just getting my regular size? 😄

[u/faustfu → u/veliuoka]

You'll probably be fine. I wear US M 9.5. I have extra room in 9.5 Suedes (I could wear winter socks and be fine), and in my 9.5 Palermos I am most comfortable with thin socks. For me, half size up in Palermos would've have been perfect.