SCORE: 8/10

Weight: 9.5 oz

Heel Drop: 10mm

Shoe Type: Cushioning

Surface: Road

Pros

• Breathable
• Comfortable
• Responsive
• Versatile

Cons

• It has a lot of space in the upper, especially around the toe box, thus a poor fit for narrow footed runners.
• Quite unstable when doing turns or running down the slopes

Take Away

It features a Flytefoam blast on the midsole, which gives superb cushioning under the foot. The Flytefoam is bouncy with excellent energy return. Its economic feature perfectly fits a long-distance runner since it makes running easy and comfortable. Despite the high stack, the Novablast is very lightweight and a very breathable running shoe. It is an enticing shoe, mainly because of the dynamic experience the Flytefoam blast offers. It is squashy, bouncy, comfortable, soft, and elastic. Hence, the Novablast offers an exciting running experience.

Asics Novablast Instant Impression

It is a simple shoe where the upper part has been put together nicely without a lot of frills. The upper part combines with the FLyteFoam Blast material in the midsole to make one great shoe that is soft, bouncy, and comfortable.

The outsole designs are out of this world. The heel geometry and the placement of the abrasive rubber are appealing to the eye and fulfill the intended purpose of improving performance.

My first trial was not instantly motivating since the initial fitting was quite uncomfortable. However, my opinion about the Novablast changed as I clock mile after mile, and my feet got used to the shoe. The seamless heel-to-toe transition and the soft cushioning under the foot were excellent.

Overall, it felt comfortable running in the NovaBlast regardless of the distance. I think that the Flytefoam blast is a major, shoe technological breakthrough by Asics. It should consider retaining the Flytefoam blast midsole in its upcoming shoe models.

Asics Novablast Sole Component

 I have done many miles with the Novablast, and the most memorable thing is the bouncy and excellent toe-off. Novablast has a fantastic midsole that uses the high-rebound lightweight FlyteFoam Blast.

It may feel uncomfortable during the first few miles, but you get used to the shoe afterward. You get accustomed to the squishy and comfortable experience.

The energy return of the Novablast is excellent and switching from midfoot to the forefoot is a seamless transition. The forefoot of the shoe is very flexible and squashy. Hence, it is easy to rack up more miles with the Novablast since the feet do not tire quickly. It is an excellent shoe for recovery runs.

The FlyteFoam Blast picks up the pace faster than the EVE foam in Hoka Clifton 7. Hence, it is quite a versatile shoe. It carries the 9.5oz with ease. Thus, you will not feel the weight.

The downside is that the squashy and soft midsole compromise the speed. It isn't easy to do a high-speed run with the Novablast because of the foot sinking at the midfoot, affecting propulsion.

The midsole flares outwards to enhance stability. However, I noticed a wobbly feeling when doing some turnings, especially at the midfoot. The reason is that when doing the turning, the midsole squeezes towards the load, creating an imbalance in the foot.  

The design of the heel is meant to fit heel strikers. The heel has a 10mm drop. Therefore, the shoe slants forward to help a runner generate sufficient propulsion. Still, the tilting inward of the heel somehow interferes with a heel striker's natural gait, but it is less of a problem because you will get used to running with it.

The outsole of the Novablast is breathtaking. It is straight from the future. In the outsole, a high abrasion rubber AA+ forms a ring-like design. It runs around the edge of the outsole while the Flytefoam guideline runs through the middle. There is also minimal abrasion rubber trimmed neatly at the forefoot area.

Asics was not too generous with the abrasion rubber at the midsole because it needed to maintain the flexibility and squishiness of the midsole. The abrasion rubber is for enhancing traction and stability. Even after several miles, the FlyteFoam rubber still holds up the outsole. It does not break in easily.

The sole component of the NovaBlast is the excellent feature of this show, and it compensates for the upper's limitations or undoing.

Asics Novablast Upper Component

 The upper of the Novablast is somehow abrasive and not streamlined. It is quite busy because of the composition of the engineered mesh, overlays around the toes, patterns, and reflective materials at midfoot. Still, it is pretty good on the eyes.

The upper part utilizes an engineered mesh material. It comfortably covers the foot. However, I noticed an abundance of material in the upper, which creates a significant spacing around the foot. Perhaps Asics wants the Novablast to fit runners with various foot types. Still, I wish Asics could have scaled down the material. The sizing is somehow off if you are narrow footed but excellent if you have a wide foot. The toe box is roomy to allow the natural splaying of the toes.

I still feel that there is no cause for concern with the upper because Asics upper is highly breathable and can hold up comfortably when running on different terrain. The upper part also cradles the foot very well.

The heel collar and the interior layer of the heel counter have sufficient padding to provide adequate cushioning. The heel counter, padded collar, and lacing system combine well to give a snug fit. However, the heel counter is not strong enough to compensate for the 10mm heel drop. With this kind of heel drop, the foot slants forward when running downhill, causing stability problems. On the other hand, this won't be a problem if you are running a leveled ground.  

The laces are strangely thin, creating a mismatch with the upper. The good thing is that the Asics added more lacing holes for someone who wants extra fitting or an enhanced snug fit.

  Conclusion

The designers of the Novablast missed some design aspects. They forgo a hard heel cup to compensate for the highly stacked up heel. It is for this reason that the Novablast is relatively unstable when running downhill or when making turns. Therefore, the 10mm heel drop is a significant stack that requires a little bit of reinforcement. It is very unstable to a heel striker. That does not mean that the Novablast is not solid at all.

Overall, the NovaBlast offers an exciting experience since it is very comfortable, soft, and bouncy. The midsole is also flexible enough. Therefore, it is a shoe for someone who wants something comfortable and smooth for a long-distance run, and he or she is not concerned with other details like frills. Furthermore, it is a go for cushioning shoe for someone who loves maximalist shoes. 

Written by: Tom Adams, a seasonal trainer.