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ASICS Novablast 4 Review with A/B Comparison Run to Novablast 3
May 23, 2024
We review the ASICS Novablast 4: 00:00 Details, Pros & Cons, Conclusions, 09:43 from the Run Impressions Novablast 4 and 11:08 Novablast 4 to Novablast 3 fs.
Still $145 with a new partially bio based foam, new geometry front and back (same stack height) and woven material upper.
The Novablast 4 releases in limited quantities at ASICS NYC Marathon booth and more generally December 1, 2023.
Multi Tester Written Review with 8 Comparisons: https://www.roadtrailrun.com/2023/10/asics-novablast-4-mulit-tester-review-8.html
Samples were provided at no charge for testing purposes. The opinions herein are entirely the author's
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0:00
Today we're taking a look at the Nova Blast 4. I'm going to change it up a
0:04
bit. I'm going to review the shoe in its entirety and then I'm going to take you
0:10
out on a run with the Nova Blast 3 and compare it closely as well as
0:18
my impressions from the run in the 4. Hello everybody, Sam from Road Trail Run
0:22
Today we're going to talk about the Nova Blast 4. $140 releasing
0:28
December 1st, 2023. So the Nova Blast 1, 2, and 3 all were kind of special shoes
0:36
A bit of a surprise for Asics that they did so well but here at Road Trail Run
0:41
we thought that their lightweight kind of arrow-like ride would be very popular
0:47
with runners and they were. So here we are at version 4 which sees some
0:54
pretty significant changes. We think all for the positive. So first we'll focus
1:01
underfoot here a little bit. We get a wider heel by 5 millimeters and we get a
1:08
wider forefoot by 5 millimeters. And to go with this wider platform we have a
1:16
new geometry with an outrigger kind of shape, a less stiff heel counter, and
1:23
we're going to compare closely to the number 3 on the run later in the video
1:28
And we get a new foam. We get a new flavor of Flight Foam Blast Plus called
1:35
Eco and it has 20% bio-based material. And I'm finding it a bit softer, a bit more
1:43
energetic than regular Flight Foam Blast Plus. We also, while we're on
1:49
sustainability because that's important and important to Asics, we have 75% of
1:55
the content of the upper recycled materials. And for the first time at Asics
2:00
and I'm not sure others have done this yet, we have the carbon footprint of the
2:06
entire shoe called out and marked on the sock liner. So in terms of the upper here
2:14
instead of an engineered mesh as we had here, we have a woven material and I like
2:22
woven uppers. They tend to have a bit of stretch but not so much that they're
2:28
sloppy like a knit. We also have a pretty significant change to the tongue, a
2:35
little hard to see. We'll bring the other one up next to it with a kind of
2:41
neoprene-y material with little pads, ventilation holes down lower, a little harder to see but we have ventilation holes. Whereas here we had just a very
2:50
thin perforated tongue. As we put them up on the deck here on the railing and
2:56
you'll see from my run comparison, we have a slightly wider roomier toe box. We
3:02
also see, and let me get the right shoe here lined up, we also get a different
3:14
implementation of the Achilles collar. You can see it's higher, the heel
3:19
counter is not as stiff, it's a more comfortable hold. In terms of your fit
3:26
true to size, I think wides will be available and somewhat roomier I think
3:32
than version 3. But there's more. Let's talk a bit more about weight and
3:38
geometry here. So in terms of weight, because we have that wider platform
3:43
we're about 17 grams heavier at 9.1 ounces, 258 grams in a US 9. It's
3:52
still very light for what is a really big stack height unchanged, 41.5 at
3:58
the heel, 33.5 at the front. So this is in max cushion territory at 9
4:07
ounces and only $140. So what Asics also calls out is the toe spring, which is
4:16
this angle to which the shoe is kind of brought up, which with that big 33.5
4:23
millimeter forefoot, you need something to get you forward. When I think of say
4:28
the Nimbus 25, I find its toe off more awkward. Even the the Fantastic Super
4:33
Blast, higher stacked, lighter, and $60 more. It's hard when you have this
4:40
kind of stack height to get a nice roll. Now if we look at the flex, and this is
4:45
after about four shorter runs, we do start to get some flex. It's
4:52
further back. And what I found was because we're five millimeters broader
4:58
at the front here at 115, we're not quite as kind of agile feeling as in our
5:07
number three up on the front. And I'll show you the flex there. You can see it
5:12
has more flex further forward. So but that that's a bit of a minus, but the big
5:19
plus is, and you'll see in the in the AB video, we have I think softer, more
5:26
forgiving forefoot cushion. Maybe a bit, maybe not what you would call soft soft
5:33
but this new foam is very energetic. It's not a super critical foam, and we're at
5:40
$140. So we really get kind of a super critical ride on a budget here. A few
5:49
other notes. Let's look a bit at the outsole as well. It is, as you can see
5:54
more pattern. Maybe might expect a bit more grip. I haven't, it's wet out today
6:01
I haven't been out, but it's been warm and and dry. But you can see the the
6:07
deeper decoupling grooves at the front, more patterning of the outsole, and Asics
6:13
calls this A-H-A-R or Asics high abrasion rubber low, L-O. For low weight, you can
6:21
see it is thicker than the firmer rubber that was on the number, the number three
6:31
What I really noticed, and the rubber may play a role, is side by side, this is
6:38
definitely more cushioned in the forefoot, more forgiving, and as often people say, the threes, twos have been kind of slappy. So what what do I see the
6:51
shoe for? Some of the pros and cons here. Well, we have an excellent X in weight to
6:57
max cushion stack height of near super foam, no question. The more pronounced toe
7:02
spring gets me forward. I'd like to see it even a bit more flexible when the
7:07
flex points start further forward. The the foam is more energetic and softer, to
7:16
me anyway, than the original Flight Foam Blast Plus. More important, more
7:22
important, as important now, whereas our versions one through three, although they
7:28
increasingly got more stable, now we have a more stable platform. This is a neutral
7:32
shoe. Asics has plenty of other stable neutral shoes, the Nimbus 25, the Cumulus
7:39
25, almost to a fault they're stable. So it's more stable. We sit well down in. We
7:45
have the wider platform, so it becomes a much more of an option in their lineup
7:50
as a daily trainer, as opposed to maybe a more up-tempo daily trainer as the
7:58
earlier versions were. So I think more runners should try this as their daily
8:03
trainer, especially if you're an Asics fan and you find the Cumulus and the
8:10
Cumulus and the latest Nimbus a bit too much, because those are considerably
8:14
broader at the heel, very kind of blocky, especially the Nimbus. So this is a much
8:19
more agile shoe. The other big pro for me is the sustainability here. The CO2
8:27
footprint and the recycled content and the midsole being 20% bio-based. In terms
8:35
of cons, I think the 5 millimeter additional width could be trimmed down
8:41
In fact, the Cumulus, which has a wider, much wider heel and midfoot has a
8:45
narrower platform forefoot, I think that would give it a bit more agility. It's a
8:51
little broad feeling up front. And of course I mentioned a bit more
8:56
flexibility further forward to go with this really cool toe spring. Let me show
9:01
you that toe spring compared to the number three here. You can see it, much
9:08
more pronounced, steeper angle. And then, so those are the pros and cons
9:16
Now, I've taken them out for several runs, including an A-B run here in New
9:21
Hampshire. So I'm going to share that with you now with some scenery and a
9:27
bit of history. Stay tuned. I'll even give you a short history of a battle of our
9:33
War of 1812 where, and pardon to our English-British friends, where the
9:38
British were repulsed as they were trying to get supplies at the harbor
9:43
So I got them on our brand new rail trail here. Goes for about 10-12 miles, basically from
9:50
Maine to Massachusetts. All brand new, just built. So, our Noble Glass 4 on this surface, perfectly fine
10:01
Noble Glass 1 was kind of unstable. Here we're plenty stable enough. It's not, you know, a
10:08
trail shoe. I wouldn't call the grip kind of wet trail worthy, but there's a lot of
10:16
nice bounce and energy on this surface. Even more, maybe, than the road
10:25
Gonna keep going. So I'm going around 9-10 mile here, home stretch. I'm getting, the
10:37
rocker is really good, getting a little warm in the front of the toes. I think
10:42
maybe relatively soft foam and a rigid platform. May take a bit more breaking in
10:50
Uphills, downhills, very steady, very smooth. Definitely more refined than E3, which I'll describe for you
11:00
Get some nice leaves, not too many, coming to the end of the leaf season
11:07
So I said the 4 is not quite as aero-like as the 3. However, it's new, more pronounced
11:15
toe spring and rocker, give it a considerably smoother toe off and a softer one
11:23
The heel feels a teeny bit softer, but the forefoot definitely feels more forgiving without
11:30
it being bushy in any way. So there's a lot of kind of return from this new
11:38
Flight Foam Blast plus Eco Foam. Much more return than in the 3. Although
11:46
they are still kind of wider in platform in the front. So I'm going to keep going here
11:53
I'm usually warm day here in Rye. Beach was packed. So in terms of the comparative fit, you can see clearly the
12:05
number 4 is a little wider, broader involving foot than number 3. And the tip is a little more
12:13
rounded, but they're both true to size. I think very narrow feet may still be happy with the 3
12:22
Wider feet with the 4, there is some kind of hold, stretch, give
12:28
The other thing I note is the higher collar of our 4 is both more comfortable and more secure
12:36
without as much of a rigid heel counter as the 3 had. And we've got our big outrigger
12:42
that helps with stability. I am noticing, and I'll talk a bit more, that the 4 is a little
12:48
less arrow-like. I always called the 3 and earlier ones arrow-like, but we now have that
12:53
wider platform. So the heel feels about the same, but the forefoot feels a little bit more
13:02
awkward. Not much, because it's still a fast shoe. Thank you very much for watching. Please
13:07
check out our full multi-tester review over at www.roadtrailrun.com. And also, please consider
13:12
picking up one of our matching colors custom Fractal Road Trail Run buckets or caps
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