Asics Gel Cumulus 20 vs 19 Comparison Shoe Review

Josh shares his insight on the new Asics Gel Cumulus 20 running shoe and compares it with the Asics Gel Cumulus 19 to determine their suitability for your running style. 

Ideal for a neutral, supinated or slightly pronated foot type, the Cumulus 20 fits into the new 'stable neutral' running shoe category to a T, and is able to tackle both high mileage runs and pick up the pace on shorter runs.

It's updated with a roomier toe box, new FlyteFoam midsole for responsive cushioning, deeper heel counter and full contact zone in the outsole.

Check out the full review with transcript below. 

Hi guys, Josh from Sportitude here today coming at you with a shoe review on the Asics Gel Cumulus 20. 

This little guy here is a new shoe for 2018 landing in the middle of the year. There’s quite a bit that has changed in this shoe from the previous Cumulus 19. There’s a new outsole, new midsole and a fair bit going on in the upper as well, so there’s a lot to get through. 

It has some exciting features which I like, but without further ado let’s get cracking. 

Foot Type

Let’s talk about the foot type that can run inside the Cumulus 20. In years gone by with the Cumulus 19, 18, 17, and 16 we’re talking a neutral foot type, a foot type that has a slightly higher arch or a supinated foot type, where a lot of the pressure is on the lateral side of the shoe with a visibly higher pitched navicular region, where the arch sits up a bit higher. Now that’s with Cumulus in the past. 

With the new Cumulus 20, you can still run in this shoe if you are a neutral to supinated foot type. However, it falls into a new category called stable neutral. 

I’m going to speak out loud and probably speak on behalf of a lot of speciality running stores out there, that there’s no specific label category in the market called ‘stable neutral’. We just identified this new category as being stable neutral. 

If you are a slight pronator, and I say slight because I’m referring to a very mild pronator, you can run inside the Cumulus 20 with initial comfort. It’s an important distinction because if you’re a traditional pronated foot type you wont enjoy this shoe at all. 

It’s for those runners out there that don’t like the medial assistance in shoes, whether it’s dual density, a Guide Rail, Mizuno Wave Plate etc. It’s for those runners that pronate but don’t like that support system, it restricts them. 

Stable neutral has been a great category for us to introduce into that range to make the running shoe nice and comfortable. Neutral, supinated and slightly pronated foot types can enjoy the Cumulus 20. 

Outsole

With all shoe reviews I like to start from the ground and work my way up, so let’s talk all things outsole.

Flicking the Cumulus 20 up, underneath you can see that we’ve got rubber from the heel right the way through to the forefoot. That is different in comparison in the Cumulus 19. 

With the Cumulus 19 we’ve got a Trusstic System on the lateral side and the medial side. That played a key role in the shoe when you’re going through midstance phase or what we call breaking phase in your gait cycle. That structure in integrity gave the shoe a lot more strength through that loading phase. 

The Cumulus 20 doesn’t have it. The reason that I believe Asics have done this is because when we’re talking about the versatility of the Cumulus 20, what’s it targeting? It’s almost like the GT-2000 for a neutral foot type. 

We want someone to go for longer, slower runs and get the crash bag cushioning you’re going to get through the back. However, if you want to speed things up, run a little quicker and get up onto that midfoot-forefoot, we’re going to have a point of contact with the ground when the foot comes down. 

Therefore, it gives you more surface area when your foot hits the deck. I like that feature change, they’re by no means the first brand that have done it. A few other brands have adopted this full contact zone for a couple of years now. 

I’ll just throw a few other shoes out there. Brooks have done it roughly about the Brooks Glycerin 12 or 13, and the Ghost from Brooks as well. There are a few brands out there that have adjusted this full contact zone. 

Asics were a little slow on the uptake however it doesn’t matter. I do like what they’ve done with the Cumulus 20 in relation to the outsole. 

That’s talking about the rubber, let’s talk about the flex grooves. Like all good mileage shoes from Asics, they have the Guidance Line, the vertical slit that comes up through the shoe. 

That gives the shoe a balance line through the gait cycle, when the foot hits the ground, goes through midstance and toe-off. The Guidance Line is exactly that, it guides the foot through the gait cycle. 

When we talk about the flex grooves, we’ve got the horizontal platform with the three flex grooves. For flex groove one, that’s a slit medial to lateral side the whole way through the horizontal platform. 

As you’re coming through to the second horizontal flex groove, we’ve got an encapsulated piece of rubber stopping the flex groove from going the whole way through. Therefore, when we’re talking about the last flex groove it’s the same sort of setup, on half the lateral side. 

The Guidance Line finishes around the top to make it a really flexible shoe on that last phase of your gait cycle after that toe-off point. The flex grooves play a critical roll through the forefoot. 

Looking at the crash pad zone you’ve got a relatively large surface area through that heel strike zone. Essentially, plotting a pod right there does not do much for a runner and I say that because when runners heel strike we don’t strike on the central part of our heel, we strike on the lateral part of the heel. 

Therefore, this little guy over here, is almost a bit dynamic. When you start putting a body weight force through that it will possibly give a little bit which is OK, it’s going to cradle depending on the amount of force through that part of the foot. 

In relation to the wearing side of things it’s going to wear a little harder than the rest of the rubber as well, because that’s designed to take more load on heel strike. As we come through to comparing to the 19, I’ll like to show you again what’s going on. 

I talked about the Trusstic System before, however if you look at the heel strike zone in the 19 they had slightly larger or thicker outsole configuration to the 20. As you come through to the forefoot there is more flex grooves through the forefoot or more horizontal flex grooves in the 19. 

It has three flex grooves, however the second flex grooves you can see goes from the medial to the lateral side the whole way through and therefore it gives you a slightly more flexible outsole setup.   

Midsole

I’m going to touch on the midsole because this all ties in together. The midsole has changed. In the 19 we had Gel heel and Gel forefoot, and nothing different for the 20. However, we’re talking about a midsole foam, that was FluidRide. 

For those Asics runners out there that understand the cushioning systems and we’re they’ve come over the last six years, FluidRide has been a pretty responsive cushioning system. Therefore, what Asics would have done with the outsole, to go back back one step, is try and make it a little more flexible through the toe-off phase by having an extra horizontal slit for the second flex groove through the forefoot. 

If they didn’t have it and had the same set up on the Cumulus 20 this shoe would have been pretty stiff on toe-off. That was an adjustment they made to compensate for how responsive the midsole is in the Cumulus 19. 

We pick up the Cumulus 20 and we’ve got FlyteFoam. That cushioning or midsole system is now starting to roll out in all Asics premium shoes. 

We’ve got a FlyteFoam white EVA setup and then as we come through the top layer, this blue setup is FlyteFoam Propel. That is the responsive layer which sits just on top of the cushioning layer. Therefore, they’re still targeting the shoe to be a mixture of both cushioning and response. 

It’s going to cater for someone who is a neutral foot type who is going for a longer run, and it’s also going to cater for someone who wants to pick things up and run a little bit faster, get more force through the foot and get more response. That’s where the FlyteFoam Propel plays a key role in this shoe.

 As you can see through here like all Asics shoes you get a visible Gel setup out the back with the Gel pod to help assist on that cradling cushioning system when the foot comes down on heel strike. They also have a twist Gel through the forefoot as well, they just don’t visibly expose on the lateral side. 

Don’t be alarmed at home, there is Gel through the forefoot, they just don’t show need to off with the lateral Gel pod like they’ve done on the Cumulus 19 and Cumulus in the past. 

You’ve got a lighter midsole in comparison to the Cumulus 20 to the Cumulus 19. That reduces the weight. 

Upper

Let's talk about the upper of the new Cumulus 20. There’s not a lot to talk about in comparison to the 19. 

Of course there’s a few different setups in relation to seam lines etc. However, Asics have done the jacquard mesh configuration. Essentially, that’s a fancy way of saying we’ve got a strong breathable upper. Every brand has a strong, breathable upper. 

As you come through the forefoot you have a really nice stable hold through the whole midstance to toe-off range. It feels good on the foot, it feels nice and snug. You’ve got a little bit of wriggle room through the toe box which I like. However, where you need that support through the midstance phase you’ve got a nice strong hold. 

What I do like to consider when I’m talking about mesh uppers is what is the shoe going to be used for. Obviously it’s a running shoe, however what sort of versatility do we need to have in an upper when we’re talking about the client that’s going to run in the shoe? 

When we’re talking about a heel striker, what do we need in an upper? We need a nice stable heel counter, so we’ve got an internal heel counter here from the Cumulus 20 which is nice and deep. 

To be honest I thought the 19 was deep, however I haven’t pulled out a ruler and measured them.  My heel sits a bit more inside the shoe in the Cumulus 20, which is an absolute plus from me. It’s a plus because if you need an orthotic to go into this neutral shoe, you have a little more depth to play with which is really handy. 

The internal heel counter is nice, deep and structured. When the foot comes down on heel strike the heel counter does a great job. 

When we are coming through to potentially look at a midfoot striker, generally speaking the foot is going to be hitting the ground with a little more force, so we really need a nice, stable navicular region. 

To the naked eye I couldn’t see any straps or configurations from the midsole to the upper. However, there’s a welded mesh setup that comes in line with the Asics logo. As I flip it around to the medial side on top of the jacquard mesh there’s a lot going on in relation to slapping on that logo which naturally gives the foot a little more support. 

There’s a cosmetic and a structured feature to that welded setup on top of the shoe. It gives a good hold when that foot comes down through that midstance strike zone. It also plays a key role when we’re talking about heel strike to midstance, slowing down that rate of movement through that braking phase of the gait cycle. 

As we come through to toe-off phase we’ve got a nice spacious forefoot. The good thing about the Cumulus is we’re talking two widths. We’ve got your D and 2E for men and B and D in the ladies’ category as well, which is really handy. 

I’ve been for a run in the D width. Again, I would like to talk about toe room because I’ve done it in videos in the past. I initially liked the shoe to be quite snug in the toe box and to feel that my foot is really secure in the shoe. 

I don’t know what it is or if change is a good thing, but I woke up one morning and said, “You know what, I don’t want my foot to be so tight this year, I want a little more toe space, a little more wiggle room,” and I must admit I really enjoyed the extra wiggle room I get in the Cumulus 20. 

It has a deeper toe box, and a slightly wider setup through the forefoot as well, having more room for my foot to splay out as I go through that toe-off phase. 

That’s all the things up at Cumulus 20. Just a quick comparison to the Cumulus 19. Realistically as I said before there’s not much that’s changed in the heel counter. The Cumulus 19 is slightly shallower, just a little bit so my foot sat a bit deeper into the Cumulus 20. 

As you come through to the breaking phase of the midstance cycle, they’ve got a very similar setup in relation to what they were trying to achieve for that welded configuration, with the logo on the lateral side. 

However, if I flip the 19 around you don’t have a logo on the medial side. That line through there is the only welded setup that is going to hold that foot in that position in the midstance phase. 

However, when you pick up the 20 you’ve got more going on with the logo and a few more straps etc. The medial hold in the upper in the Cumulus 20 is a little bit better than the 19, so it’s an absolute tick.  

As you come through the forefoot I’ve touched on that the Cumulus 20 is a little bit boxier. It’s hard to tell to the naked eye, however I found the 19 that it came to a little too much to a point. 

I didn’t mind the comfort of them and contradict myself when I’m saying I still like a slightly tighter, firmer toe box. However, I never ran miles in the 19, I just tried them on a few jogs on the treadmill. I never put Ks into the 19 myself, so I couldn’t tell you how the forefoot performed. 

So far after about 150km in the Cumulus 20 I really enjoyed that amount of space in the forefoot.  

There you have it guys, the new Asics Gel Cumulus 20. Cracking new shoe and I’m hoping you enjoyed this shoe review. There is obviously a bit to go through the outsole, the midsole and upper. 

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