ASICS Novablast 6
2026An all-rounder for easy and moderate pace.
stack, mm41.5/33.5
drop, mm8
weight, g242 (lab 249)
plateno
+Bouncy, light for its height, durable.
-Less stable than v5, and the toe box narrows. May not suit heel strikers.
What to wear every day, for tempo runs, on race day and on trails. Models from 2025-2026.
Your main pair for most of your mileage: easy and moderate pace, long runs.
An all-rounder for easy and moderate pace.
A workhorse with a roomy toe box.
Soft heel landings. A classic.
Lively PWRRUN+ (eTPU) foam and a wide platform.
One review measured 38/30, the brand figure is 36/28.
Light and flexible, with a natural feel underfoot.
An example of Chinese value: PEBA-based foam at a budget price.
One lab measured 39/33 and a drop of 6, another review gives a drop of 5.
Soft and thick: for recovery runs, long slow runs, and for anyone who wants extra protection for their legs.
Soft, high, and stable for its height.
ZoomX on top, ReactX below. For recovery runs and heel strikers.
One review also gives 46/36.
Supercritical EVA and a rocker. Good for walking too.
Soft and light, bends fairly well.
The lab drop is much higher than the brand figure.
New supercritical Infinion foam, 30-40 g lighter than v14.
Decathlon's budget max-cushion shoe.
Modern stability isn't a hard wedge. It's a wide platform, high sidewalls and firmer foam on the inner side.
Soft and secure. FluidSupport replaced 4D Guidance.
A light daily stability shoe that handles pickups too.
The most popular stability shoe.
GTS 26 goes on sale on 1 November 2026: same stack, drop, GuideRails and price, reworked DNA Loft v3 foam, new tongue. For GTS 25 one source lists a 12 mm drop, another says 10.
Soft, light support.
Softer and wider than the last version.
Stable and firm.
For tempo runs, long runs with pickups and marathon pace. Often with springy race foam, sometimes with a plate.
New FF Leap (A-TPU) foam on top. One pair for long runs, tempo and marathon pace.
New PWRRUN PBX foam, 2 mm more stack and 6 g lighter than v5.
Endorphin Speed 5 (36/28, drop 8, about 238 g) is still on sale and is now a good-value alternative.
Lightstrike Pro race foam with no plate, at a fair price.
A carbon trainer to pair with your race shoe.
Maximum cushioning and rebound with no plate.
Specs taken from roundup reviews.
A soft, springy Chinese super trainer on PEBA.
One lab measured 47/42 and a drop of 5, another 46/37 and a drop of 9.
PEBA or A-TPU foam plus a stiff plate. For races and key workouts.
The lightest Vaporfly. Best from 5K to half marathon.
The benchmark for the marathon.
An EnergyRim instead of rods. It feels more natural, without an aggressive push.
One review lists 6.1 oz in the spec box and 164 g in the text, another says 175 g.
FF Leap foam. Sky is for runners with a long stride, Edge for runners with a high cadence.
Nitro Elite (A-TPU) foam, a lot lighter than before.
Brand data says 40/32, one review measured 38/30.
Chinese carbon at the level of the top shoes, but cheaper.
Decathlon's budget carbon marathon shoe with 100% PEBAX.
Grip, protection and stability off-road. In this section the last spec shows the lugs instead of the plate.
An all-rounder for mixed terrain and long distances.
Most sources give a 5 mm drop, one says 4 mm. The GTX version was tested on the Tour du Mont Blanc.
Grippy and protective, for technical trails.
A stable tank, now with Vibram for the first time.
One review lists a drop of 4 in one spot.
Door to trail: road plus easy trails.
One retailer lists the GTX version at 34/26.
A soft max-cushion trail shoe.
For mud and snow.
I didn't find a newer version than the 6, and I didn't check the lug depth.
Road GTX: Brooks Ghost 18 GTX (36/26 or 37/27 depending on the source, drop 10, about 318-320 g) and Nike Vomero 18 GTX (lab 42/31.5, 306 g, 1 source).
When you need GTX: cold, slush, snow, puddles. In summer it's hot. If water gets in over the top, the membrane keeps it inside. For deep water use gaiters, or a regular mesh shoe that dries fast.
Super shoes save energy, but the gain is different for everyone, and the risks are poorly studied.
What we know about size, replacing shoes, rotation, pronation and drop, and how much you can trust it.
Leave about half to a full thumb's width between your longest toe and the end of the shoe. This is expert advice, not research: one well-known review site openly calls it "not research-based".
Measure in the evening. Your feet swell by evening and during a run. For a marathon and for downhills you need extra length. Foot size changes over the years, so check it again.
The usual 500-800 km (300-500 miles) is a convention, not a proven limit. There's no research linking a specific mileage to injuries.
What to look for: the foam feels dead, a new pain shows up, the outsole is worn through to the foam, the shoe is warped. Race foams don't last as long.
Runners who ran in several pairs had a lower injury risk: HR 0.61, about 39% lower (a study of 264 runners). It's an observational study, so cause and effect aren't proven. The variety of load probably helps.
Pick the pair that feels the most comfortable when you try it on and on a run. It's a sensible strategy, though the link to injuries here is only assumed.
In 927 beginners running in neutral shoes, moderate pronation didn't raise injury risk.
In the US Army, choosing shoes by foot shape didn't reduce injuries (more than 9,000 soldiers). Choose a stability shoe by feel, not by a "diagnosis" in the store.
In a randomized study (553 runners, drops of 0, 6 and 10 mm), drop overall didn't affect injury risk. For occasional runners a low drop lowered the risk, for regular runners it raised it.
The takeaway: don't change drop sharply.
Specs checked against at least two sources, except those tagged "1 source". Budget tiers are approximate, based on prices when each model came out. Data as of 15 October 2026.
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Book a free consultationIgor Potseluev · running coach · 10 years coaching, 500+ races finished by my athletes · @runnigor on Instagram