ASICS - Fuji Lite 4

My personal thoughts about the three. I am far from being an expert and these are just my impressions :-) - Fuji Lite 4: my favourite when it comes to shorter runs. Snappy, light and fun shoe, with great feeling on the foot. I think their limit is probably (for me) around 15/20k runs. - Trabuco 12: It's the shoes that "convinced" me to move from Hoka to Asics. Light, very well-rounded shoe, with the right amount of cushioning. However, it lacked in my opinion a bit of stability (especially on the arches) and is quite "flat". Often I ended up hoping it would give me some more energy in return. I absolutely loved the sole. The drop, in my opinion, is right on point. - Trabuco 13: Honestly, it feels like a brand new shoe rather than an evolution of the 12. I feel the whole geometry of the shoe has changed, while keeping the same drop. It is a glove, with a more comfortable toe box, great feeling on the foot overall and tremendous improvement on the two things that I felt the 12 missed the most, stability and energy return. All this while keeping a great cushioning. They also changed the geometry of the sole, making it slightly more flat at the center. Very impressed with them. Overall, I am very satisfied of all three and they are in my rotation. As someone said in the comments, I am absolutely impressed by the durability overall: coming from Hokas, where the sole was gone super quickly (disappointingly), it is a huge improvement. I ran the entire summer of 2024 in the Trabuco 12 and the lugs are still in great conditions. I am a fan of Vibram soles, and probably the Asics' is the only proprietary sole at the same level but (at least in my experience) with a much much better durability. I also tried the Trabuco Max 2 and hated them to the guts (😅) but I am planning to try the new Trabuco Max 4 at some point. However, I think the Trabuco 13 are the sweet spot between comfort and performance.

I've been going back-and-forth a bit, but lately I genuinely enjoy the Trabuco 12. The Lite are great as well. I also like Hoka, but I guess the Challenger are simply not my shoes -- this is why trying several is (imho) quite important.

I moved from the Peregrine to the Fuji lite 4 and won’t go back any time soon. The grip and feel are similar, but the mid sole of the Asics are nicer and the comfort unmatched. I couldn’t be happy with the Fuji Lite.

I really like the asics Metafuji trail. They also aren’t the most stable shoes. I feel like these are the most road-super shoe like trail shoes out there. They hold up pretty good and are light, comfortable and very energetic. As a non plated option maybe take a look at the Hoka mafate speed 4. Very responsive and comfortable shoes that can go the distance but also have some pace in them and are more suited to rugged terrain as opposed to the metafuji trail.

Hello people of Reddit. I wanted to share my thoughts on the Metafuji Trail from Asics as I have not seen it that much in this subreddit. I have ran a little over 480km in mud, gravel, snow, rocks and forest with this shoe. Runs ranged from 8km to 50km. Upper: It feels pretty stripped down but not uncomfortable. The heel and midfoot are secure and the forefoot has surprisingly much room. They fit true to size. I had some problems initially with achilles irritation and lace bite on longer runs but after figuring out the lacing of the shoes it worked great and the issues never came back. I really like the breathability of the material and that it doesn’t hold water that much/ drains somewhat quickly. The overlays work great to give some structure and help prevent injury but are not as durable as I would have hoped. The lace garage is very handy and I like the nubby laces. The upper material itself is very durable and somewhat stiff. Midsole: The midsole is HIGH. That’s the first thing you notice, especially for a trail shoe. It’s a very nice and bouncy running experience. The midsole is not necessarily soft but feels comfortable to run on. You have absolutely no ground feel but immense energy return. The best way to describe the midsole feel for me is bouncy and dense. The pretty extreme rocker and the carbon plate give you the ability to really push the pace in easy terrain. However due to the big stack and a narrow heel it is a fairly unstable shoe. It wasn’t as bad as I expected but on tired legs and faster downhills or very difficult terrain I really had to concentrate to not break something. The midsole had that special bounce up to 300-350km and then started to slowly deteriorate but I still enjoy running in them with nearly 500km in the shoes. The carbon plate is not as stiff as in many road shoes and works great for me on easy runnable terrain. The shoe feels at home between HM and marathon pace for me. Outsole: The outsole works really great for what it is. The lugs are somewhat shallow at around 3,5mm but aside from deep mud they gripped well in every underfoot condition. Wet rocks and roots, creek crossings, sand, gravel, snow and pavement worked just fine. Even after nearly 500km the outsole probably has another 500km in it. So great job on the durability part. Final thoughts: If you can get past the high price point (which seems to be the norm in the segment) I believe you get a phenomenal trail shoe for a niche market and a good trail shoe overall. The shoe excels in what I would call gravel racing. Stuff like hard packed trails, gravel or forest roads with maybe some more challenging terrain or even road sections from now and then. They work over any distance when you want to push your limits or just have fun and feel fast. However if you expect to run a lot in very technical terrain or deep mud this shoe is definitely not for you. If you want to run an ultramarathon in them and expect to walk/ hike a lot I might also look at different shoes since I find them a little awkward for walking. Over the time that I have used them they became one of my favourite pair of trail shoes and when they are done I will definitely get a second pair. Trail shoes I also liked: Hoka Mafate speed 4, Scarpa Spin Race, Hoka Zinal, Salomon S/lab Genesis Trail shoes I did not like: Asics trabuco max 2, Nike Pegasus trail 3, Hoka torrent 3, Asics trabuco 12

The agravic’s narrower last would have me concerned with your foot. The metafuji may be a better option, so long as you don’t regularly roll your ankles because of the high stack height. Out of the other super shoes on the market, I wonder if north face’s options would work? If I recall that has a more traditional, less abrasive upper than most of the current gen trail supers. I wonder if experimenting within hoka’s lineup might make more sense - something like the Mafate speed (even though it’s not a super shoe) might get you most of the way there with a more comfortable upper. Current super shoes really only improve running economy by about 1%, compared to 3-4% on road, so they’re not nearly as game-changing in terms of performance as it might seem (however I do have a few pairs of supers, so that might be hypocritical of me)

Keen to follow this one, did almost the same. 5 km and 20 ks road on the weekends. Then got in to a 26 k trail race. In desperation i bought the asics fuji lite 4 on discount. Reading up on it sounds like i did something wrong but it feels great. They where lighter than my road shoes at the time nimbus 26. Now I run magic speed 4s.

I've hit about 100 miles on these so far and I'm loving them!!! Love a minimalistic feeling shoe too

I really like my ASICS Fuji Lites but also my Saucony Peregrines! Though I find myself reaching for the ASICS first (if they are dry)

Hello. I come from the same issue. I had major issues with Plantar Fasciitis after running in the Speedcross and S/Lab Speed for many years. My first shoe was the Hoka Speedgoat Evo. That was an epic shoe, but sold out everywhere so quickly I only ever ran in one pair. Since then I’ve tried many similar shoes, looking for great grip, soft and bouncy ride, but good stability as I over-pronate, plus I recently developed osteoarthritisin my big toes. So, I really rate the following: - Hoka Mafate Speed 4. Good all rounder - Salomon S/lab genesis. A little narrow and unstable but speedy and shed mud quickly - La Sportiva Prodigeo Pro - great foam and good grip, lightweight. - Saucony Xodus Ultra - 1 and 3 are pretty good, ignore the 2. - Hoka Tecton X 3 - my go-to race shoe for hard packed trails and gravel I like the Speedgoat, Catamount, Fuji Lite, Ultra Glide too but they all have compromises that the shoes above don’t have in the same way.

Best cheap trail shoe I’ve run in was the ASICS Fujilite - great simple and fun, and I usually find a pair going for €75-90…

Torn the lip of my Asics Fujilites earlier this week and returned them under warranty, trying the Hoka's this time. So far so good, bit stiffer than the Asics but I like them. Look great too!

ASICS Fuji Lite, on the road I use support shoes but I really like that feel of these on the trails. Very minimal shoes.

I’ve tried on a few shoes with higher stacks while looking for a softer and foamier ride and it feels really unstable to me. I’ve been rocking the ASICS Fuji Lite Trails and Topo Mtn Racer 3s which have nice cushion but not the aggressive drop and I like that middle ground. I tried on the Salomon “GRVL” shoe recently (idk the model) and I’m feeling like this style is going to get more popular. The stack was massive. It was kinda fun but I only tested it out of the door on the road and can’t imagine it working for me. Even the two-track I regularly run is steeper and rockier than they feel stable on.

Hi. I live in Japan and I have big feet so my options are limited. My first ever shoes were the asics Fujilite. I bought them because they fitted the best for the limited options I could get (I fully agree with everyone’s opinion that the best shoes for you are the ones that fit the best). They worked well but after a while I started running further and I felt that I needed more cushioning so I went with the ASICS Gel Trabuco 12 and I loved them, good cushioning for long runs. A few weeks ago I bought the Trabuco 13 for this race but after 2 runs a small hole was appearing and the outsole in the toe area was coming of so I didn’t have any confidence in them for my race so I kept with my Trabuco 12. All I can say is that I used the Trabuco 12 and love them and they held up very well in almost 10 hours of non stop running.

S-tier: Asicsgrip. Tested it on mossy wet rocks by the waterfall. Beats megagrip

Asicsgrip is amazing. I have a pair of old Fujilyte 2 to walk the dog and these MFs still stick to the ground as fairly new. I've done super fast series on technical terrain where at first I would've swear I was about to kill myself but nope. On the other hand I have always Found LaSportiva Akasha awesome, I guess the rest of the lineup will be similar regarding the proper sole/terrains intended. Once you've run a few miles to get rid of that "new sole coating" they move incredible. Less over wet rock/soils but very nice anyways, slipped just two or three times in a +1000kms distance span.

For me in wet terrain with rocks, the best is Asicsgrip (6). After that, probably Vibram (tried in Hoka and Nike shoes), Contagrip in Salomon Speedcross 4 and Continental in various Adidas models. Here, some variation between them (for example, Continental in Adidas Terrex Two Flow is better than in Adidas Terrex Agravic Flow 2.0 (so a 4 for them). After those, probably the outsole by La Sportiva (in Jackal model) and various Nike outsoles (Kiger 8, Wildhorse 6, Pegasus 4 TR) in wet terrain (btw, in mid Spring to mid Autumn, Nike are pretty nice shoes here)