Asics Gel Kayano 26 vs 25 Running Shoe Comparison Review
Josh
shares his personal experience and expertise on how the new Asics Gel Kayano 26
running shoes compare against the previous model, the Asics Gel Kayano 25.
Engineered
for overpronation control, it falls neatly into the stability running shoe
category - smoothly managing the inward rolling of your foot or collapsing of
the arch during the gait cycle.
The
Asics Kayano 26 provides road warriors with comfort for high mileage running, with standout features including an airy jacquard mesh upper to allow your feet to breathe and a slightly deeper forefoot area to allow your feet to expand
naturally on longer runs without feeling suffocated or restricted.
Responsive FlyteFoam Propel cushioning delivers a springier toe-off
and energy-returning ride without compromise to stability, while the Dynamic
DuoMax system provides arch support without being overly weighty.
Check out the full review with transcript below.
Hey
guys, Josh from Sportitude here and it's shoe review time. We are doing it
on the new and improved Asics Gel Kayano 26.
Now
it's a little bit dirty. No surprises here, I’ve done some running in this
shoe. I’ve had it for roughly for about three weeks now in the pre-release
Kayano 26, which is coming 1st of June 2019. There
is a lot to talk about with this shoe in comparison to where it’s come from in
the Kayano 25.
With all my reviews as you know I like to start from the
ground, go midsole, then talk all things upper and hopefully give you enough
information at home on whether the Kayano 26 is a shoe you’ll consider.
Without
further ado, let's get stuck in.
Foot Type
With
the outsole, midsole and upper there is considerable changes from the 25 to the
26. Please get a pen and paper and take note… just kidding.
What this shoe is engineered for and designed
for is an overpronator - the runner that comes down on the heel and as they go
through to midstance before toe-off, we’ll see some tibial rotation or medial
collapse in the arch.
This
shoe is designed to cater for the runner that does roll in over their arches.
That is important to know because the outsole, midsole and upper all have
components engineered in this shoe to minimise that impact on the running
cycle.
Outsole
Getting
to the outsole. What we’ve got in the 25 is the Asics Guidance Line. You can
see my finger follow it all the way through this Trusstic beam through to that
forefoot.
The
Guidance Line has been engineered by Asics and used for a number of years to
provide a smooth transition - almost like a map for the foot to follow from the
heel to toe-off phase.
We’ve
almost done away with it on the 26. We’ve got a sort of Guidance Line that
comes through and almost goes further to the lateral side. You can see the
outsole is encapsulated through here.
In
the 25, lateral and medial sides are split with the Guidance Line running
straight down the middle.
With
the 26, the Guidance Line or guidance ‘philosophy’ stops there, then you've got
the outsole that sits across the medial to lateral side all the way through
that forefoot.
Why
Asics have done that is to provide a slightly more stable toe-off through the
gait cycle because a lot of the change in this outsole has a lot to do with the
midsole, which I’ll get to in two ticks.
The
heel is split from the forefoot with this thermoplastic beam which sits across
the middle of the arch. The heel outsole and cushioning system is all
technology back through here.
For
midstance support you can jump to the Dynamic DuoMax. That Trusstic beam
provides a stable setup when you’re going from heel to midstance. It plays a really critical roll keeping that foot nice and stable.
As
you come through the forefoot as we touched on before, the forefoot stability
of the outsole that goes the whole way across provides a slightly more stable,
but a nice flexible toe-off as well.
Midsole
Let’s
dive into the midsole with this shoe. Now there’s a couple of take backs to a
few years from now. I’m looking at the 25. You can see the lateral or the
exposed Gel cushioning system is relatively flat and seamless, and it ties in
quite well with how the midsole is constructed. It’s hardly noticeable but
visually you can see it.
Enter
the Kayano 26. We’ve got almost like a three-dimensional concept of that Gel
pod.
If
you go back to catalogues a number years past and look at the Kayano 17, you'll see they took this
exposed Gel construction and re-engineered it into the 26.
I
can’t tell you why they’ve done that and to be honest with you it hasn’t made
any difference in regard to the feel underneath the foot. From
the 25 to the 26, I wouldn’t say one is softer in the heel unit because of that
Gel pod.
Where
the magic happens in this shoe is the white foam setup - that’s your FlyteFoam
cushioning system. FlyteFoam is the lightest foam Asics have used.
Then
the blue line through here and blue to grey fade through there and on the
medial side that top layer midsole, that’s FlyteFoam Propel. Quite a mouthful!
But
the Propel system as its name suggests is a very responsive cushioning system.
The reason they’ve got through predominately that forefoot is to provide a
nice, snappy forefoot toe-off.
As you can see, we touched on before with the
additional flexibility through that forefoot, with the horizontal grooves.
Having a more responsive forefoot in conjunction with that setup will provide
that very similar ride to the 25, so you’re not losing stability or feel. You
just get a more responsive, snappier gait cycle as you go through that toe-off
phase.
As
you come through the medial side, you’ve got the Dynamic DuoMax system. You can
see the white foam how it slightly grades away through that midstance phase.
Dynamic DuoMax, as I touched on before, provides a little extra support
stability for that foot that does roll into that arch.
It’s
not as heavy as it used to be with the dual density systems of the years gone
by. I’m not talking 25, I’m talking back a number of years now to the Kayano 17s and
18s where the DuoMax system was a relatively weighted construction, which added
support but it added weight to the shoe.
Enter
Dynamic DuoMax which has been in the market for a couple of years now and the
Kayano 26 have followed suit using that technology for arch support.
Upper
As
we come through and talk all things upper, I’d like to touch on the heel
counter first. You’ve got that external heel counter construction, which was
introduced a few years ago in the Meta Clutch system which they used in the
MetaRun and then rolled over to the Kayano series.
We’ve
got the Asics Gel Kayano 25 and 26 and you can see there is a not a lot that
has changed. It almost has the same construction. A couple of little tweaks in
regard to adding a little bit more support through the middle of the calcaneus
or the back of the heel with that external
beam in comparison to the 25. A subtle change there.
Then
we talk about what we see inside the collar around the heel unit. It’s not
quite as thick as what I’ve experienced in the Kayano 25, but this was too
thick and too padded. There is a little bit more foam at the back of the 25
then what I experienced in the 26.
It’s probably a good thing. I don’t like to have too much foam that sits around
the back of my heel collar, but I found this to be certainly enough padding to
provide a plush feel on my foot. However, it didn’t feel like my heel was being
suffocated by additional oodles of foam. That’s all thing heel counter.
As
we are coming through to the midsection of this shoe, we’re talking about the
arch area. What Asics have done is their logo almost works as an overlay.
It
provides a bit of cosmetic support around that arch system, but nothing
that's going to be restrictive or provide any rubbing or irritations as you go
through to midstance. But compare it to the 25 and you can see underneath
this grey mesh almost an orange setup. It's hard to see but
you should hopefully get a bit of a glimpse of it.
That
underlay construction provides a bit of arch support in regard to the upper. It
provides a bit more grab on the medial side of the foot.
In regard to the 26, they haven’t used that
underlay system. They use more the cosmetic paint panelling as such on that
medial side to provide a very similar construction to the 25.
Coming
through to the forefoot. This is where the magic happens for me. The
reason being is if we talk all things forefoot in Kayano since the 23, 24, 25
and now the 26, guess what? From the 23 we went a little bit deeper than the
24, and then the 24 to the 25 we went a little deeper, and we did the same
thing in the 26 here.
Usually
on that scale you'd probably expect a really boxy feel in the toe box, however
it’s only been an incremental increase in every single Kayano over the last 4
years and that’s been the same thing here in the 26. A subtle increase in depth
in regard to the 25 to the 26, to the point where you wouldn’t notice it with
the naked eye.
But putting it on your foot and having a little more wriggle space for that toe is really nice. I like it because remember this shoe is designed for someone who is spending plenty of time out on the road, out on the pavement and pushing out some serious Ks.
When
you’re pushing long miles, you want a shoe that’s going to cater for a little
bit of swelling in that forefoot. A little bit of extra space for swelling
provides a nice, comfortable feel right through your miles to the end of your
longer runs.
They've
used an engineered jacquard mesh which they have done previously in the 25 as
well, but with a couple of subtle changes to it. It’s a nice, supportive
overlay system through that forefoot.
You won’t have any issues with your toe
busting through the end. Actually, we haven’t had that for a number of years with
Kayano.
The
shoe itself is nice, strong but a very light and breathable feeling upper. You
still get plenty of ventilation through the shoe which is vitally important. Whether you’re running in summer, spring, autumn or winter you still
want plenty of ventilation through your foot and that’s what the upper does for
you the runner.
A
little subtle change I will touch on is the laces. I do have here a pre-release
of the Kayano 26. The laces are a little bit thinner in comparison to the 25. Now,
not that this is going to make or break any of you at home, but I like the new
lace setup. It sounds crazy, it’s probably the cheapest part of the shoe.
I do like the fact that it is a fraction thinner because I can get a slightly
more customised feel in regards to the lacing construction in the foot. If
I need to loosen it and provide a little more depth in the midsection I can,
and obviously providing a nice customised fit around the back of my heel. When
I go for my runs, I do like to get that heel lock lace setup.
It’s
only a subtle change but I thought I’d make you aware at home because if you’ve
been using Kayanos for years, you probably want to know everything that has
changed and yes, the laces have slightly changed.
There
you have it guys, that’s my take on the new and improved Gel Kayano 26. If
you’ve got any comments on this video, please contact our Sportitude shoe
experts and if you haven’t subscribed already to the Sportitude YouTube channel
please do.
We
love to give as much information to runners all over the world to help with
your shoe selections to make you a better and more improved runner.
Until next time, happy running. We’ll see you soon.