The Running Warehouse blog is a great spot to get the latest news on upcoming lines of shoes from the various big-name manufacturers. In the most recent post, Joe Rubio recounts his experience at the Asics Gold Account Meeting held recently outside of Austin, Texas. Among other things, Rubio reports that it was clear that “Asics, like many other brands, is taking the trend toward minimal-type footwear seriously and planning future footwear to respond to the trend.“
So what does Asics have up its sleeve? Details (and pictures) are scanty at this point, but here are a few shoes to keep an eye out for (all quotes are from the Running Warehouse Blog post by Joe Rubio):
Asics Gel-DS Sky Speed – this shoe is “a neutral DS trainer based on the DS Trainer 15 tooling.”
Asics Gel-Noosa Tri 6 – this is “a model brought over from Australia designed for the Tri market. It’s based on the tooling from the DS Trainer 14 and the colors are pretty out there. Think of your 3 year old putting different colored pieces of Play-doh on your shoe and leaving it out in the sun to dry. Definitely an eye catcher.” Below is a picture of the Gel Noosa Tri 5 (the previous model) – he’s not kidding:
Apparently the shoe to watch for is the newly remodeled Asics Gel-Speedstar 5. It supposedly has a unique upper that will come in several color combos and is reported to be “super light.” Wonder if this is Asics answer to the Saucony Kinvara?
It’s hard to know at this point what any of these shoes will be like, but it’s good to see another one of the big players in the shoe industry taking minimalist running seriously. My hope is that even if the first round of shoes from these companies fail to satisfy, competition will breed innovation, and we’ll see more and more interesting designs appear on the market somewhere down the road.
You might also like:
Saucony Virrata Zero Drop Running Shoe Review
Merrell Barefoot Road Glove Running Shoe Review and Giveaway
The State of the Running Shoe Market: Minimalism on the Rise
Brooks Running Pure Project: Brooks to Introduce a New Line of Minimalist Shoes
Nike Sneakerboat II: Potential Minimalist Running Shoe from Nike?
About Peter Larson
I have been running in the Speedstars for years – they are hands-down one of the best minimalist shoes out there. No frills, no crazy features – just a quality shoe. I hope they don’t change them too much with the new, light upper. If you like the Speedstars, the DS-Trainers are also really good. Similar, but a bit softer I think.
Great preview, thanks! – Fitz.
I was wondering when when they would get on the train. That shoe looks pretty bad ass too.
Fitz, thanks for the positive post on the Speedstars. I just BQ’d in the Speedstar 4 this past weekend, but told myself I probably wouldn’t bring hem along on a marathon again. Actually, I nearly didn’t put them on as I brought both them and my Cumulus 11’s to the starting line. Having not run more than 18 miles in my Speedstars, I was a little nervous about going the full 26.2. I felt a little easier as I saw a couple other runners begin the race in the 3:10 pace group. I don’t know where those folks finished, but I do know that everything turned out quite well for me.
I’ll have to rethink my use of them as I slowly get back into running in the next couple of months.
Hi Peter, I read your blog since a few weeks and this post is one of the most interesting I’ve seen on it. I’ve just published some information about noosa tri 6 in my blog. If you want to get the photos, feel free to do so. Please link me! hehe.
Cheers!
Bests Regards!