In production · road · Tempo / Race day · $170
Half-price super shoe: carbon plate, less foam, more everyday usability.
Built for tempo, race day, at a target pace of 6:00–8:00 /mi on road.
The midsole is FF Blast, tuned balanced (3/5 on our cushioning scale). Energy return is above average: the midsole rebounds well without feeling unstable. At 44 mm of heel stack this sits in max-cushion territory; legs stay fresher on long efforts, but the platform is tall. Combined, the ride reads as explosive at 5/5 responsiveness.
A full-length carbon plate stiffens the forefoot and works with the foam as a lever: it smooths the transition off the toes and cuts the effort of holding fast paces. It also asks for speed — at easy paces a carbon plate feels stiff and does little for you, and it is the main reason super-shoes wear out sooner than trainers.
A 8 mm drop is the mainstream middle — familiar to almost anyone coming from a standard trainer. The rocker is aggressive: the sole is curved and stiff enough to tip you into the next stride on its own, which saves the calf on long runs but feels strange when you slow right down. 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 300 miles from the outsole, about $0.57 per mile at $170.
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
242 g / 8.5 oz
33 g lighter than the catalog median of 275 g
Heel stack
44 mm
8 mm taller than the catalog median of 36 mm
Drop
8 mm
2 mm higher than the catalog median of 6 mm
Price
$170
10 pricier than the catalog median of 160
Responsiveness
5 / 5
Catalog median 3 / 5
Cushioning
3 / 5
Catalog median 4 / 5
Energy return
4 / 5
Catalog median 3 / 5
Durability
~300 mi
Catalog median ~400 mi
Within the Asics line it is lighter than the brand's median (268 g / 9.5 oz) and sits taller than its median stack (38 mm).
Current shoes with the nearest combination of weight, stack, drop, foam feel and plate.
Nike Zoom Fly 6(2024)
244 g / 8.6 oz · 40 mm · 8 mm drop · Carbon · $190
Carbon-plated super trainer: race geometry with trainer-grade durability.
Saucony Kinvara Pro
269 g / 9.5 oz · 42 mm · 8 mm drop · Carbon · $180
A tall, plated long-run shoe carrying the Kinvara name into the super-trainer era.
Salomon S/Lab Spectur
232 g / 8.2 oz · 38 mm · 8 mm drop · Carbon · $220
Stability-minded carbon super shoe aimed at 3:30-and-up marathoners.
Asics S4+ Yogiri
235 g / 8.3 oz · 40 mm · 6 mm drop · Carbon · $210
Asics S4+ Yogiri: 40 mm heel stack, 6 mm drop, 235 g — specs from independent lab testing.