ASICS Magic Speed 5 Overview and First Run Review
Below we take a look at the changes that ASICS has made to the Magic Speed 5 from previous versions in terms of foam compounds, geometry, upper, and weight. We will let you know how it stacks up to the competition and whether it is worth adding to your running shoe rotation.
On paper we get FF Leap up top, FF Blast+ below, a carbon plate, and a trimmed 37mm stack, but on the run it feels more muted than exciting and more uncomfortable than versatile. It doesn’t deliver the comfort we want from a trainer or the pop and fun we expect from a true plated racer. At $180, it’s hard not to question who this shoe is really for when clearance racers exist with better ride experiences
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ASICS Magic Speed 4 vs Magic Speed 5: What Changed?
The Magic Speed 4 was compromised of FF Blast+ with a puck of FF Turbo in the forefoot. It had 43.5mm of foam in the heel with an 8mm drop, a carbon-infused plate, and it weighted 242 grams in a Men's size 9.
In the Magic Speed 5, ASICS opted for FF Leap, the new foam compound that is found in the Metaspeed Ray, on the top with a bottom layer of FF Blast+ training foam. In the latest version, the stack, drop and weight were reduced with 37.0mm of foam in the heel with an 7mm drop, a carbon-infused plate, and it weighs 193 grams in a Men's size 9.
The choice to lower this shoe’s stack to 37mm signals a shift in the way ASICS is approaching the Magic Speed line. In the previous generation Magic Speed 4, ASICS increased the stack height above 40mm, a decision that ruffled some feathers in the barefoot mafia community, and left many confused about the shoe’s intended purpose. With this more direct, trimmed-down new direction, ASICS has carved out a clearer place for the Magic Speed as the dedicated interval/track style shoe in their lineup.
ASICS Magic Speed 5
First Run Review
Unfortunately, the Magic Speed 5 has us once again questioning the plated speed trainer category: why pay $180 for what feels like a watered-down race shoe when you can buy a legit racer on clearance and get a much better ride experience? Our biggest issue with the Magic Speed 5 is that it’s caught in no-man’s land, offering neither the comfort and support of a training shoe, nor the explosive bounce and fun of a true carbon-plated racer. Despite having a soft layer of FF Leap, this shoe is downright uncomfortable for anything other than running fast in a straight line, with the bottom layer of FF Blast+ providing little respite from the pavement and serving only to mute the ride of the race foam top layer. It's like if they took the Streakfly 2, put a thick layer of EVA on the bottom, and kept the price the same. Who needs that?
Check out Yowana's first run review on the YouTube channel:
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