Discontinued · road · Tempo / Race day · $95
Early budget racer — light and simple.
Built for tempo, race day, at a target pace of 5:45–7:45 /mi on road.
This model is no longer in production. The closest shoe you can buy today is Asics Hyper Speed 4.
Asics tuned this midsole balanced (3/5 on our cushioning scale). Energy return is above average: the midsole rebounds well without feeling unstable. 30 mm of heel stack keeps you low and connected, with more ground feel than most current trainers. Combined, the ride reads as snappy at 4/5 responsiveness.
There is no plate here. The midsole does all the work, so the shoe flexes naturally and stays versatile across paces — easier on the feet day to day, but without the snap of a plated shoe when you want to roll.
A 7 mm drop is the mainstream middle — familiar to almost anyone coming from a standard trainer. The rocker is moderate — enough curve to smooth the roll-through without dictating your footstrike. The forefoot is stiff, so it rolls rather than bends — a lever, not a slipper. It is a neutral platform with no built-in correction.
The toe-box is standard width — comfortable for most feet without swimming. It fits true to size. Expect roughly 250 miles from the outsole, about $0.38 per mile at $95.
For the foams and plates Asics uses across its line, read the Asics brand guide.
Measured against the 542 currently-available shoes in the catalog. The bar shows where this shoe sits in that range.
Weight
215 g / 7.6 oz
60 g lighter than the catalog median of 275 g
Heel stack
30 mm
6 mm lower than the catalog median of 36 mm
Drop
7 mm
1 mm higher than the catalog median of 6 mm
Price
$95
65 cheaper than the catalog median of 160
Responsiveness
4 / 5
Catalog median 3 / 5
Cushioning
3 / 5
Catalog median 4 / 5
Energy return
4 / 5
Catalog median 3 / 5
Durability
~250 mi
Catalog median ~400 mi
Within the Asics line it is lighter than the brand's median (268 g / 9.5 oz) and sits lower than its median stack (38 mm).
Current shoes with the nearest combination of weight, stack, drop, foam feel and plate.
New Balance FuelCell Rebel v4(2024)
218 g / 7.7 oz · 30 mm · 6 mm drop · — · $140
Featherweight, plateless and playful — an uptempo trainer that never feels heavy.
Asics Hyper Speed 4
210 g / 7.4 oz · 32 mm · 7 mm drop · — · $100
Budget racer: light, simple and fast enough for 5Ks on a dime.
Asics Noosa Tri 17
215 g / 7.6 oz · 32 mm · 5 mm drop · — · $145
Loud, light triathlon-friendly speed trainer with quick-entry upload.
Brooks Hyperion 2(2024)
201 g / 7.1 oz · 32 mm · 8 mm drop · — · $140
Light, firm and fast — a plateless racer for shorter distances.