Today, I will walk you through my review of the Asics Novablast 4. First, we’ll start with the stack height: 41.5mm on the rearfoot and 33.5mm on the forefoot, giving you a heel drop of 8mm. This is a really excellent shoe if you’re a big-heel striker. As you can see, there’s a lot of padding and stack underneath the heel, which facilitates a nice heel-toe strike.
On the top, we’ve got woven mesh, which is nice, breathable, and has a thin tongue. The lace locks down nicely, and you have good padding in the heel.
It’s nicely complemented with a nice heel bevel, so you can see the curve at the back, which ensures a smooth transition from the back to the front of the shoe. It’s also got quite a lot of stack underneath the forefoot, so if you’ve got any irritation under the big toe joint or symptoms like metatarsalgia, it gives you lots of protection underneath. So, it’s nice, comfortable, smooth throughout.
In terms of performance, it has a posterior lateral heel bevel that helps you facilitate when you hit the ground to ensure a smooth transition from out to inward. It has a relatively aggressive forefoot rocker, so it helps propel the foot but doesn’t hold your toes in hyperextension.
During the first few runs with the Novablast 4, we felt that it is a nice cushioned shoe, so it’s pretty responsive; it has resilient foam.
It’s not as firm as some other racing shoes like the Hoka Mach 6 or as soft as the Gel-Nimbus 26, but its soft, bouncy cushioning provides a good bit of bounce and feedback. I enjoyed the nice Heel-to-Toe transition, and in my opinion, it is an excellent shoe for your faster daily runs.
Stability
It’s got some sidewalls built up on the heel towards the midfoot that help to cradle the foot and reduce the amount of the foot moving side to side—sort of like having rails up in a bowling alley. It has some sole flare, so the sole comes out a little bit wider than where your foot sits, and that helps to give extra stability.
I found it to be a true-to-size fit, and the toe box is a little bit roomy, so there is plenty of space in there if you’ve got normal to wide feet. You might need the wider version if you have an extra wide foot. In terms of weight, the men’s size 9 US comes in at 258g while the women’s comes in at 224g for women size 8 US.
Overall, this is an excellent shoe. I really enjoyed it. It’s nice and bouncy, and there’s some great feedback. There’s plenty of room in the toe box. It has a nice, secure upper feel and is a really nice uptempo, faster-running shoe. If you have any questions about the shoe, please leave them in the comment section.
We have many reviews on the latest Asics Stability range and premium cushioned daily shoes in our Asics Shoes category.
