ASICS

NOVABLAST 5

ASICS NOVABLAST 5

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TL;DR: Versatile and comfortable, but midsole dies early, poor wet grip.

Overall

#9 in

Road Running Shoes

according to Reddit Icon Reddit

Sentiment score63% positive
460
96
180

Top Pros

Top Cons

Last updated: Jul 2, 2026

Reddit Reviews

Reddit Icon762x35supremacy
8 months ago

Literally any modern shoe you buy is probably going to feel like a Cadillac on your feet compared to Nike Frees. If you like that lower stack kinda ground feel I’d look at something like the Pegasus or the brooks hyperion. If you want something with a little bit more underfoot without being bulky I’d look at the asics Novablast 5, Vomero Plus, Saucony ride or Saucony Triumph.

Reddit Icon88Smilesz
about 1 month ago

For my first ever sub-4 hour marathon last month, I trained mostly in the ASICS Gel-Nimbus 27 and race day I used the ASICS Novablast 5. I’ve now retired the ASICS Gel-Nimbus 27 and I’ve done a few training runs in the ASICS Gel-Nimbus 28, so far so good!

Reddit Icon8bit_ai
11 months ago

I'm 6'1, 140 lbs and a forefoot striker and while our weights are different, I feel the road and have similar expectations and experiences to you. Personally, I rotate between the Novablast 5 for my high effort runs and use the Nimbus 27 for everything else, I find it works really well for me as a two shoe rotation.

11 months ago

Going yo have to agree with this! I think the Rebel or Novablast are much better shoes for beginners, I think I would lean more towards recommending the Rebel even though I started with the Novablast.

Reddit IconA1naruth
9 months ago

True. Recovery runs with tempo over 5min/km. With their low energy return they would make you tired a lot faster than lighter more snappy shoes like for example Novablast 5 (which are also softer than Nimbus 27)

Reddit IconAble-Donut1445
4 months ago

I've been running properly for the last year and a bit and looking to replace my Novablast 5s as my easy run shoe. They've been fine, nothing special, and are starting to feel flat and looking for something new/fun. In the middle of my first marathon training block with 2 easy runs a week between 8km-16km. Currently using Novablast 5 for easy run. Endorphin speed 4 for intervals and tempos. Boston 13 for long runs and Endorphin Pro 4 for race day 5'9", 165lbs, HM PB: 1:33:35, 10k PB: 40:28, 5k PB: 19:11. Any suggestion appreciated and welcomed!

4 months ago

Not looking for anything in particular in terms of specifics just some suggestions or recommendations of what other people like or have used. I'm open to anything as the Novablast was my first proper running shoe. It was a good shoe, not amazing but not awful. It was pretty bouncy for the first 100km but after that it became fairly ordinary

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