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ASICS Novablast 5 Review with A/B Run Comparison to Novablast 4
Nov 17, 2024
In the video I test the Dec 1 releasing ASICS Novablast 5 00:00 Intro and Details 07:17 Fit, 08:50 Ride, 13:10 A/B Run Comparison (Fit and Ride) to Novablast 4, 16:10 Conclusions The Fun is amplified and the Nova is refined in fit and ride. Written Novablast 5 review with 5 Comparisons https://www.roadtrailrun.com/2024/11/asics-novablast-5-iniital-review-fun.html Preorder now at our partner Running Warehouse US here: https://www.runningwarehouse.com/search-mens.html?start=0&count=30&prevsearch=Novablast+4&searchtext=Novablast+5&from=rtr Sample provided at no cost by @ASICSGlobal #soundmindsoundbody #asics #asicsrunning #asicsnovablast5
View Video Transcript
0:00
in the video we're going to take a look
0:01
at the Nova blast 5 from as6 it gets a
0:06
new flight foam uh blast Max uh foam a
0:10
new outsole design and a new jacard mesh
0:14
upper uh it is H somewhat different than
0:17
the uh four which we're going to compare
0:19
on an AB run I've taken them out for two
0:22
runs so far seven and a half on the rail
0:24
trail and about six along the coast of
0:28
New Hampshire we're going to get into
0:29
all the comparisons and details stay
0:32
tuned okay let's take a look at the Nova
0:35
blast 5 just some details and I'm going
0:38
to take them out for two runs uh
0:41
relatively uptempo for me that's what
0:43
this shoe is designed for to be light
0:46
and fast so it is as6
0:50
lightest uh trainer uh uh the only the
0:54
super blast uh is lighter and higher
0:57
stack but considerably more expensive at
0:59
200 because we have
1:01
$140 super Speedster here there's no
1:05
plate but let's first talk about um the
1:09
uh Mido so we have a new flight foam
1:14
blast which is called Max uh and it is I
1:18
found it and you'll see the commentary
1:20
during my runs uh a little more reactive
1:24
a little uh
1:25
bouncier than what we had before in the
1:28
four which was Eco flight foam blast Eco
1:32
plus and here's the four we're going to
1:35
compare uh throughout here uh to the
1:38
four uh we do not have a change in stack
1:41
heite we remain at 41 A2 at the heel and
1:46
um
1:47
33 uh and a half at the 4 foot no change
1:51
there but we do see a change in the
1:54
platform width as uh I measure 5 mm
1:59
narrower at at the
2:01
heel and 5 mm narrow at the 4ot and what
2:05
does that do well if we compare our uh
2:09
prior Nova blast the four
2:14
here uh you will see uh that it is yes a
2:17
bit wider but also we have a different
2:20
outsole Arrangement here the strips are
2:22
narrower this is still the ahr low uh
2:27
but we have narrower strips and as a
2:29
result we have more flex and let me try
2:31
to show you that because the four was a
2:34
rigid rocker type of shoe here we do
2:38
have some Flex after about 14 miles
2:41
whereas here I think I have at least 30
2:44
no flex at all so rigid rocker before
2:47
now some Flex narrower front platform so
2:51
we have a more agile feeling shoe I
2:53
could really feel that on the run in the
2:55
ab run test which I'll um also share
2:59
with uh
3:00
let's move on uh to the
3:03
upper the upper is now an engineered
3:07
jaquard mesh very soft and you'll think
3:10
oh wow very unstructured yes quite
3:13
unstructured um and you'll see the
3:16
comparison on the run to the four but
3:19
now we have this lace this kind of uh
3:22
corded lacing Arrangement which gives a
3:25
better hold here at at the at the sort
3:28
of the back of the 4 foot with this soft
3:32
soft very thin mesh and you can see we
3:35
have a decent toe bumper whereas in the
3:38
four we had a woven mesh it is
3:41
considerably
3:42
thicker um and uh I found a bit sloppy
3:47
through here not locking me down as well
3:49
as what I experience here with this very
3:52
soft mesh moving to the
3:55
midfoot and the lacing we have a really
3:58
nice lacing Arrangement and a very nice
4:02
tongue here with some moderate padding
4:04
um there is a gusset I think the gusset
4:07
could be a bit more extensive because we
4:09
really have an unstructured upper here
4:12
uh not a major concern but um this is a
4:15
shoe where you want to be forward uh
4:20
it's not the best shoe for slower
4:22
running in in as6 you might look over to
4:25
the um to the Nimbus or the cumulus for
4:28
somewhat slower p baced running here we
4:31
want to be forward uh so I found Paces
4:34
for me moderate Tempo in the uh 920s
4:39
down into the 830s is where this per
4:41
mile this is where the shoe really
4:44
shined um there's a decent heel counter
4:47
here but in combination with the midfoot
4:49
I'd like to see a little more uh
4:52
compared to our four the heel counter
4:55
Sim I think the the four had a bit more
4:58
uh a bit more rigidity to the heel
5:01
counter and the upper was thicker um but
5:04
the rest of the upper especially the
5:06
front because here we don't have much
5:10
stretch whereas here we have a maybe a
5:13
bit lower volume but we have a stretch
5:15
that'll fit I think a wider variety of
5:18
feet uh just back briefly to the out
5:21
soole grip has been good uh as6 always
5:25
is really good with without Souls we do
5:27
see somewhat of a change
5:30
in the design as I said with the rubber
5:33
being a bit narrower at the front giving
5:36
us more flex but also we have what they
5:39
call more of a a trampoline effect here
5:42
off this low density plug in the front
5:45
and that is also felt along with the
5:48
flex this is a more agile shoe that
5:51
reminds me much more of the original U
5:55
Nova blast and here's a picture of uh
5:57
that shoe
6:01
which was a much narrower platform even
6:04
though it was a lower stack really
6:07
required really well aligned form
6:10
whereas here we have a bit more
6:12
forgiving so
6:14
um I'll get into the fit comparative fit
6:17
to the four and uh from the run here on
6:21
the rail trail and along the coast but
6:25
overall the Nova blast takes a step
6:28
towards being more
6:30
refined in being as6 sort of fun fast
6:35
trainer um it's a really solid choice at
6:39
that 8 um 5 O 242 G for the
6:45
4133 stack heite you got a lot of shoe
6:48
for $140 here it's a lot of fun to run
6:53
is it the best shoe for a heavier Runner
6:55
or somebody who may pronate a bit no uh
6:59
there are other choices that would be
7:00
better for that but for your fast fun
7:03
runs and if you're you have a pretty
7:06
good align form it is a great option so
7:10
let's take them out on the run and I
7:13
will do an AB run with the
7:15
four so let's talk about the the fit of
7:19
our over blast
7:21
5 and I'm also have a short segment uh
7:26
compared to the four coming up but but
7:29
we get a stretchy
7:33
stretchier engineered mesh here plenty
7:38
of toebox room and more than in the
7:41
four we now have a ladder lace system
7:45
here of uh cords which really holds the
7:48
foot really well better than the
7:51
four midfoot uh we do have a gusset
7:54
tongue I think it could use a touch more
7:57
heel hold is excellent
8:00
rigid heel counter but not too too
8:02
long uh again given the 41 and a half
8:07
heel um
8:09
332 4T of relatively soft foam I think
8:12
we could have a bit more heel counter
8:15
but overall it's really quite quite good
8:20
um this is a really refined refined
8:22
upper thinner materials bit of stretch
8:26
to accommodate different feet the light
8:29
light lace kind of ladder lock lacing
8:32
with the
8:33
cords decent heel counter plenty of
8:36
padding not overdone I thought the floor
8:38
was a bit overdone just could use maybe
8:40
a bit more uh medial
8:44
support I'm going to keep going here
8:46
give you some comments on the ride
8:50
beautiful late afternoon here in Ry New
8:52
Hampshire okay some first comments about
8:54
the ride oh yes a couple days ago the
8:58
leaf trees was full of leaf we had a lot
9:00
of wind anyway our ride is
9:04
soft there's a lot of cushion here and
9:09
as6 has done a really good job managing
9:12
it because there's no plate here um if
9:16
you want plate in a speed trainer from
9:19
A6 definitely look at the magic speed 4
9:22
but here no
9:24
plate the uh outsole design is slightly
9:28
changed for a more trampoline like
9:33
effect uh than before but also the
9:37
platform up front is narrowed by 5 mm
9:40
same at the heel and what I'm feeling is
9:44
a more agile kind of
9:47
shoe than the
9:50
four reminding me a bit more of the
9:53
number one which had a much narrower
9:56
platform and was really quite stable
9:59
unless you're really well
10:02
aligned this one definitely splits the
10:07
difference I'm going let's see 930 Pace
10:11
935 a little faster and I'm managing to
10:15
fine no heal
10:19
instability
10:20
although this is not a stability shoe
10:24
this is a very neutral shoe the foam the
10:28
new light foam
10:30
blast uh
10:32
Max is a little
10:36
bouncier and at the same time I think a
10:39
teeny touch
10:42
softer than uh what we had before reacts
10:46
a little quick I'm going to keep going
10:49
in the middle of political season here
10:52
lots of signs out for all the
10:57
candidates so I put
11:01
uh are no blast in sort of the category
11:05
of funo it was originally kind of
11:07
designed for that and as6 thought it
11:09
might appeal to young people and that's
11:11
about it but lo and behold it appealed
11:13
to a lot of people uh and
11:17
here they've really refined it I found
11:21
when they went up in stack height they
11:24
didn't quite have that Arrow like uh
11:27
Drive
11:29
they weren't they were kind of
11:32
soft here we're much more an all-around
11:36
daily trainer if you like a light light
11:38
we're only 8.45 o 242 G for that 41 mm
11:44
heel and 8 mm drop so we're very light
11:47
two that's really light on actually
11:51
relatively broad
11:53
platform and by keeping it light I'm
11:57
feeling a really nice
11:59
quick turnover with bounce we have no
12:03
plate here but with the uh for foot at
12:09
33 we're not in Crazy Land
12:13
39 or so where things feel rigid that
12:18
new outsole design I think is also
12:21
really helping it'ss really Pleasant
12:24
deeply
12:25
cushioned great upper I think asex has
12:28
got a great one
12:30
here I'm going to keep going there's the
12:34
marsh just beautiful as the sun goes
12:38
down and our Harbor is over here and the
12:41
big rocks the protect it maybe from the
12:44
storms all this got washed away on the
12:47
sides of the road in January and taking
12:50
them out on the rail trail as
12:53
well just as
12:55
energetic
12:57
smooth could use a little more rear he
13:01
area stability given the soft foam but
13:05
one fun
13:07
ride so let's talk about the comparative
13:10
fit who we still have some leaves here
13:13
so both are clearly true to
13:16
size but this
13:18
new stretch slightly stretchy mesh upper
13:24
you can see the stretch a bit
13:26
here compared to for not as much stretch
13:32
what it does is it holds the front of
13:35
the foot better that's pretty clear uh
13:39
so
13:41
far um there's plenty of volume volume
13:44
similar but it kind of stretches more to
13:46
accommodate my foot it it looks narrower
13:50
but I don't think it really is you can
13:52
see where my toe is here it's actually a
13:54
little longer same size same true a bit
13:58
bit longer
13:59
um the other thing I really am noticing
14:03
this uh kind of corded lacing at the
14:07
bottom versus more conventional I'm
14:10
better held right there uh clearly uh
14:14
without it really sacrificing any
14:17
volume heel hold is also improved um I
14:21
felt the four was borderline kind of
14:25
unstable because of the heel hold um and
14:28
all the soft foam here we've got a a
14:33
little bit more streamlined heel hold
14:35
that just seems to kind of stabilize the
14:38
rear a bit better um lace up very easy
14:43
beautiful lacing system here uh some
14:45
ways similar but you can see more kind
14:48
of more
14:49
streamlined so I'm going to give you
14:51
some Impressions from the run so to go
14:54
with that more dialed in
14:57
Upper I think we all also have a
15:01
somewhat quicker reacting foam in this
15:05
flight foam blast plus
15:08
Max depressing it felt a bit softer but
15:11
or maybe quicker kind of rebounding
15:15
compressing and I'm feeling the same on
15:17
the run a little
15:20
snappier maybe even a little bit more
15:23
stable helped by the the
15:26
upper I think we're back
15:29
to where the NOA blast was originally
15:33
even though now we have more stack heite
15:36
also noticing we're 5 mm narrower in the
15:40
platform up front at the heel up front
15:45
that's translating into a more agile
15:49
feel can definitely feel that little bit
15:52
less weight at the heel a little more
15:57
kind of directed less thinking in I
16:01
think this is a definitely well
16:05
relatively minor this is an improved
16:09
Nova blast compared to the four and fit
16:13
and
16:15
ride okay a brief conclusion here I've
16:19
talked a lot uh so our Nova blast 5
16:23
remains true to the model's kind of
16:26
ethos of being fast fun and super light
16:29
8.45 o
16:32
242 G in a US 8.5 with a 41 33 stack
16:38
heite you've got a lot of
16:40
shoe um and it's light it's Lively it's
16:44
fast uh it's a a a daily trainer for
16:48
sure of the lighter variety it will best
16:51
suit those that don't need a lot of
16:53
pronation control due to its upper and
16:55
high platform and softer foam
16:59
but for your uptempo running those uh Mo
17:03
uh moderate to to uh halfway long runs
17:08
uh it feels like you really have nothing
17:10
on your feet and they're super fun so
17:13
they'll be available December 1st uh for
17:18
$140 it's a fine solid update to what is
17:22
becoming really a classic uh in the A6
17:26
line thank you very much for watching
17:29
have a great run
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