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We Cut The Asics Gel Kayano 30 Running Shoes In Half

by Sportitude

Ever want to know exactly what the Asics Gel Kayano 30 running shoes are made of? Sportitude Running shoe expert Josh Willoughby gives you a literal look inside.

We’ve cut the Asics Gel Kayano 30 running shoes in half vertically and horizontally (please don’t try this at home!) to see how this popular stability shoe sets itself apart from the pack.

In this Asics Gel Kayano 30 review, the midsole technologies are put front and centre – being the new 4D Guidance System to support overpronators, FlyteFoam Blast Plus cushioning and PureGEL technology.

We break down the midsole into these individual parts to provide you with insight on how it all works to give you a smooth, soft and stable ride from heel-to-toe.

Enjoy FREE express shipping & FREE Balega Enduro running socks with every Asics Gel Kayano 30 purchase.

Check out the video with full transcript below.

Hey guys, Josh here from Sportitude Running and today we're going to be taking a deep dive into the midsole performance of the Asics Gel Kayano 30.

I've done a couple of reviews on this shoe including the Asics Gel Kayano 30 vs 29 comparison running shoe review that gives you a breakdown of what Asics have done from its previous version to what we have in front of us today. I've also done another review on the Asics Gel Kayano 30 after 100km.

Today is about what Asics have done with the midsole, because there's been a significant amount of change with this running shoe. We wanted to break it down for you the running community at home to let you know that Asics are on the right track.

We’ll discuss how they've not only kept the Asics Gel Kayano 30 support stable and smooth, but also how they’ve executed their very well-known cushioning system which is Gel technology which has been strategically placed in the heel.

Today is going to be a bit of an unusual review but I'm looking forward to it. Make yourself a cup tea or a coffee and let's get stuck in.

Why Cut The Asics Gel Kayano 30 In Half?

Why do this review? I have been a fan of the Asics Gel Kayano franchise for a number of years. I've liked what that running shoe has represented here in Australia. It's a very popular running shoe all over the world, but down here in Australia it's a very iconic brand.

The Asics Gel Kayano name has a lot of following and a huge amount of trust has been put into that brand.

After a few runs in the Asics Gel Kayano 30, I really wanted to know exactly what they have done with this midsole. I was struggling to understand how the running shoe was comfortable and smooth with that arch support not being intrusive.

I felt very stable, but it was so vastly different from what we've experienced with DuoMax to the LiteTruss, and now to the 4D Guidance System.

Our staff at Sportitude Running were trying to wrap our head around it. Oli Callahan and Nathan Pope are podiatrists. Together we workshopped what the Asics Gel Kayano 30 is all about and we tried to understand exactly how Asics have executed this new arch support.

Asics Gel Kayano 30 Arch Support: 4D Guidance System

Let's get stuck into today's review and talk all things midsole. I have the forefoot and I have the heel part of the Asics Gel Kayano 30 that we had cut in half.

You can see the different shades of colour (above). The grey section is the 4D Guidance System and the white section is their FlyteFoam Blast Plus cushioning system.

The vertical cutouts on the arch support system reduce the weight and allow the cushioning system to compress a little bit more throughout the whole transition of the gait cycle.

With this 4D Guidance System, we have found that because it's significantly softer than the FlyteFoam Blast Plus cushioning system, it is almost contradictory to what Asics are trying to achieve with offering arch support on the medial side.

You may think, and probably rightly so, that having soft foam underneath your arch is going to be less stable. Fair enough for thinking that, but it doesn't work like that.

This soft foam actually splays out a lot more across the X-axis and Y-axis. By splaying out further, the running shoe itself increases its surface area through midstance.

The person running in this shoe is often is going to be coming from heel to forefoot. If you think about that person landing in a shoe coming through to their midstance phase, when you press down on the midsole the 4D Guidance System kicks out a little bit more to the medial side.

You get a flared support structure so the running shoe itself increases its surface area on that medial side, which then offers a little bit more surface area for your arch support.

We've talked about the X-axis and the Y-axis. By having a softer foam through the Z-axis which runs from heel to forefoot, it's really resilient and very responsive.

Not only do you get increased surface area, you get a bit of pop back with this arch support. It provides an element of response which is talking to that 4D Guidance System, 4D being short for fourth dimension.

The fourth dimension is time, so we’re trying to reduce the amount of time we are in midstance which has been validated to reduce the amount of stress and load on the arch when you're going through midstance for your mild overpronators.

That's given you a bit of a breakdown of how this arch support works. It's very unique and it's extremely progressive in my opinion. I think they've absolutely nailed it regarding the objective outcome of offering arch support for overponators.

Asics Gel Kayano 30 Cushioning: FlyteFoam Blast Plus & PureGEL Technology

Let's talk all FlyteFoam Blast Plus and PureGEL technology within the Asics Gel Kayano 30. We sawed the left shoe in half and we cut along the horizontal plane of the midsole in the right shoe.

Let's take off the upper of the running shoe and talk to you about what they have done with this midsole technology. The PureGEL cushioning (above) actually sits inside the FlyteFoam Blast Plus cushioning system a lot closer to the foot.

The PureGEL cushioning system has a hexagonal structure. It's flat on one side and it will inadvertently be concave on the other. The flat side sits closer to your foot and the hexagonal concave setup sits closer to the ground.

When you stand or put pressure on it, it splays out and the little decoupled holes or the hollow points of that hexagonal shape offer a lot more cushioning in conjunction with the Gel technology. The PureGEL technology sits strategically underneath the heel of this shoe to provide heel strikers with the appropriate amount of cushioning.

There is ample amount of foam. You get not only the cushioning from the PureGEL, but you're getting a lot of good performing foam sitting underneath the heel. This is going to provide exactly the amount of cushioning you need.

To jump to that 4D Guidance System again, it doesn't cover a lot of surface area closer to the foot in reference to where we have cut the running shoe in a horizontal line.

However, when you flip the Asics Gel Kayano 30 upside-down, the 4D Guidance System does cover a significant amount of area regarding the ground contact point just under that outsole. The outsole is flared to provide an element of protection for that softer compound of foam, but also to provide some Trusstic support through midstance.

By having less closer to the foot, it's less intrusive. You don't notice it to be overly soft, which perplexed me when I was going for few runs in the Asics Gel Kayano 30. I actually thought that I would feel the support system, but it really feels like a neutral shoe underfoot.

However, I was pronating less and I've measured that using my RunScribe pods out the road. I was getting around 2.5 degrees less movement. The velocity from point A being contact to midstance was around 150 degrees. It was a second less than my Asics Nimbus 25, which is a significant number.

Whether it be the LiteTruss or the old DuoMax system, what we tend to find with the Asics Gel Kayano is that overtime this running shoe would have a really unusual wear pattern.

We'd see an element of inversion through midstance and the lateral side of the running shoe would collapse because that Trusstic or that arch support was quite hard. The outsole of the running shoe would wear out pretty quickly and after around 300km, 400km or 500km, we'd see a real bias towards that lateral side.

That's not going to be the case of the Asics Gel Kayano 30 because this is a softer density and there's more surface area underneath the arch. This means that we actually see it wear better as time goes on. With this running shoe you get a more consistent wear through kilometre 100, 200, 300, 400 and so on.

You get more consistency with the performance of the midsole. Therefore, you won't feel as statically pushed out as we did with other Asics Gel Kayano gone by in the past. You get a more consistent overall outcome of this performing midsole.

The Wrap Up

Thank you for tuning in to today's summary of the midsole of the Asics Gel Kayano 30. There is significant change. Asics really backed themselves and their engineering team and have executed what I think to be the best Asics Gel Kayano 30 to date.

It is the 30th release of this running shoe. With 3 decades in the game, Asics is doing something right over that time. For us, Asics have been one of the more consistent brands especially with this running shoe. With the DuoMax, LiteTruss and the Gel cushioning over the last decade, they have been a great performer for a lot of runners.

Especially here in Australia we know this running shoe is so popular. What we really wanted to do here at Sportitude Running was to give you a little bit more insight into how Asics have produced this Asics Gel Kayano 30.

It's really important for you to truly understand what brands are doing and how they're executing their support systems and their cushioning systems so that you can potentially enjoy this shoe, chase your PBs, get out on the road and just enjoy everything that running has to offer.

Asics are trying to progress like all brands in this space. They wanted to make the most comfortable, the best performing shoes for the right person and the right category for runners all over the world.

If you have any questions on this shoe review, please contact our Sportitude shoe experts and let us know what you think.

Hopefully we've answered some of those questions that you had in and around the Asics Gel Kayano 30 running shoe and how it performs.

Until next time stay safe, be kind to one another, happy running and we will see out on the road. Take care.

FEATURES

  • Support: Stability
  • Upper: Engineered Air Mesh
  • Midsole: Asics FlyteFoam Blast Plus Eco, Asics PureGEL

Men

  • Heel Height: 29mm
  • Forefoot Height: 19mm
  • Offset / Drop: 10mm
  • Weight: 300g / 10.6oz
  • Widths: D (standard), 2E (wide), 4E (extra wide)

Women

  • Heel Height: 28mm
  • Forefoot Height: 18mm
  • Offset / Drop: 10mm
  • Weight: 257g / 9.1oz
  • Widths: 2A (narrow), B (standard), D (wide)

For a in-depth shoe fitting experience, you can book a free 15 minute video chat in a Live Fit session or make an appointment to discover your RunDNA at Sportitude Running@Hindmarsh.

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Asics Gel Kayano 30 vs 29 Comparison Running Shoe Review

100km In: Are The Asics Gel Kayano 30 Running Shoes Worth It?




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