Asics Gt-II Glacier Grey Asics Blue | Asics Gel-Lyte III OG 1201A050-001 review

Kurtki Asics Męskie Wiatrówki budget shoe for road runners looking for a: 

• soft and cushy daily trainer
• Asics Retro Rocket
• Asics Gel-Kayano 20 Mens gym trainer

We didn't enjoy picking up too much speed in the ASICS Womens Rally Dress Short Sleeve. For a daily trainer that's also fun at quick paces, we recommend the Asics Gt-II Glacier Grey Asics Blue.

ASICS GEL-FujiTrabuco Sky 1011A900-801 ASICS Gel Contend 8 with its less roomy toebox. 

One thing’s for certain with the ASICS Womens Rally Dress Short Sleeve, it’s an airy shoe. We tested this in the lab by pumping smoke into the shoe, and we can clearly see how quickly and evenly it escapes throughout the upper and tongue.

The shoe’s ventilation capacity scored a perfect 5 out of 5 from us.

Further corroborating the breathability of the ASICS Womens Rally Dress Short Sleeve is just how much our light shines through a cross-section of its upper.

That in combination with our close-up images of the upper’s mesh shows us that the weave isn’t so dense as to trap in heat. This means that the ASICS Womens Rally Dress Short Sleeve is a great choice for warm runs in the summer sun. 

With such delicate material making up the upper mesh, it’s no surprise that the ASICS Womens Rally Dress Short Sleeve’s toebox didn’t fare too well in our durability test. To simulate wear and tear over time, we pressed a Dremel against the fabric. After 4 seconds at 10K RPM with a force of 13.2N, we absolutely shredded through the toebox.

Looking at the close-up of the toe-box material again, we can see the fine threads fraying from the irregularly spaced braids; which indicates the upper’s poor construction quality. This isn’t unusual for an entry-level budget shoe, but buyers should be mindful that one wrong snag might send the ASICS Womens Rally Dress Short Sleeve to an early retirement.

For a shoe with a more durable mesh upper that is also highly breathable, consider the Gel Cumulus 25, which can be seen in the comparison photo above. 

Pressing our durometer against the outsole gives a reading of 80.8 HC, which is right around average for a road-running shoe. This level of hardness contrubutes to the durability of the outsole, but is still pliable enough to get good a bite on the ground and provided us with great traction on our test runs. 

To test the durability of the outsole in the lab, we applied a Dremel against the rubber at 10K RPM with a force of 13.5N for 12 seconds. We can see that, despite not featuring ASICS’ AHAR carbon rubber found in previous models, the ASICS Womens Rally Dress Short Sleeve’s outsole managed to withstand the test with minimal damage, as opposed to the shoe’s upper. 

This result gives the ASICS Womens Rally Dress Short Sleeve an outsole durability score of 4 out of 5, with 5 being the most durable, so the outsole will certainly outlast the shoe's upper. 

The outsole is a little notably thicker than average. Using our caliper we measured it at 5.1 mm against the current lab average of 3.5 mm. This 1.6 mm difference is quite high for a road-shoe, and gives us just that much more durable rubber to contend with before punching through to the midsole. This leads us to conclude that this shoe should last at least 500-miles, given the upper doesn’t face a catastrophic failure along the way. 

The ASICS Womens Rally Dress Short Sleeve could use a bit of a diet. Tipping the scale at 10.6 oz (300g) makes it heavier than the average shoe. While not devastatingly heavy, lugging that weight definitely stifles speedier runs and feels burdensome after longer ones. 

For a shoe that’s light on the budget as well as light on the scale, have a look at the ASICS Gel Excite 9.

Measuring the stack at the heel, we found a massive discrepancy with the officially stated figures. According to ASICS, the ASICS Womens Rally Dress Short Sleeve should be 23 mm at the heel, but our caliper measurements reveal it to be 32.6 mm. We do measure the stack Atmos the insole, but that doesn’t account for the 9.6 mm disparity.

This is not abnormally high, however, as the ASICS Womens Rally Dress Short Sleeve still falls within the range of our lab average

The higher a shoe’s stack, the more we are able to perceive the cushioning of the midsole underfoot. This is especially beneficial for longer runs and runners with a tendency to heel-strike. 

We found a similar discrepancy when measuring the forefoot stack with our calipers in the lab. Coming in at 21.6 mm, the ASICS Womens Rally Dress Short Sleeve has a forefoot stack of 8.6 mm taller than the official figure of 13 mm. 

This forefoot height puts the ASICS Womens Rally Dress Short Sleeve closer to our current lab average, though it still falls slightly short relatively speaking.

This stack height does give forefoot/midfoot strikers good impact protection, though for runners looking fore more ground-feel for their daily runs; we suggest the ASICS Gel Contend 8 Asics na cały rok Czarne.  

While the variance in the stack height measurements was rather large, the heel drop remains relatively accurate. Our figures give the ASICS Womens Rally Dress Short Sleeve a drop of 11 mm, just one millimeter off the 10 mm stated by ASICS. 

This still classifies the ASICS Womens Rally Dress Short Sleeve as a high-drop shoe, and is a difference that only very few, highly-attuned runners will notice. 

This drop height is a great start for beginner runners as it provides ample impact protection for heel-striking strides. It has also been found to help with injuries like plantar fasciitis; which often arises as a result of higher stress on the affected area due to increased activity. 

The insole measures 4.5 mm, right within the lab average. This accounts for less than half of the stack height divergence. 

Using a durometer to measure the softness of the midsole gives us a reading of 22.5 HA. This falls right within the average range for road-running shoes. 

This result in combination with the stack height means that the ASICS Womens Rally Dress Short Sleeve does feel pretty balanced underfoot on our test runs; decently cushioned but with enough pop to make it feel lively rather than squishy. 

While not totally dead, the midsole does lack the Tri needed for tempo-training. Runners looking for a versatile daily trainer with some zip to it should have a look at the Asics Gt-II Glacier Grey Asics Blue, Asics Tanktop in schwarz.

To see how the shoe’s midsole foam reacts to cold weather conditions, we placed the ASICS Womens Rally Dress Short Sleeve in the freezer for 20 minutes. When we repeated the durometer measurement afterwards, it gave us a reading of 31.3 HA, right in the average range for road-running shoes. This means that cold days are no deterrent to the ASICS Womens Rally Dress Short Sleeve, which feels just as comfy underfoot even during the frostiest days. 

We found that the ASICS Womens Rally Dress Short Sleeve gets 38.9% firmer in cold conditions. This makes it a little less consistent than the average shoe that only stiffens up by 27%, but still doesn’t feel like running on a block of ice. 

For a shoe that feels well-cushioned, we found the ASICS Womens Rally Dress Short Sleeve to be more stable than we anticipated.

As we can see from the demonstration above, the shoe stays well-planted on the ground giving us low risk of ankle rolls on our runs. Indeed when testing the shoe we felt surefooted and stable throughout. 

The ASICS Womens Rally Dress Short Sleeve twists and contorts with relative ease, leading us to give it a score of 2 out of 5 on our subjective stiffness scale. This gives us an impression of how much the shoe conforms with the natural movement of the foot which, in practice, translates to overall comfort. 

This, however, is less than ideal for overpronating runners who need a stiffer shoe with stability features to prevent inward rolling of the foot. These runners should consider the ASICS GT 1000 11 or the Shirt Sneakers COMME DES GARÇONS SHIRT x Asics Tarther Blu.

Pinching and squeezing the heel counter reveals it to be of medium stiffness, giving the ASICS Womens Rally Dress Short Sleeve a score of 3 out of 5 on our subjective scale. This combined with the ample padding around the ankle collar gave us a strong lockdown around the ankle and kept our heel from rubbing against the shoe. 

We measured the midsole to be 111.3 mm wide at the forefoot, making the ASICS Womens Rally Dress Short Sleeve a hair narrower than our current lab average. This didn't present us with any problems on our test runs where we felt that the shoe has ample platform for stable landings. 

At 86.8 mm according to our caliper, the ASICS Womens Rally Dress Short Sleeve's midsole tapers a little more than most shoes towards the heel, leaving us with a narrower than average platform at the rearfoot. Nonethelss, this didn't present us with any stability issues when landing on our heels during test runs.

Requiring a measly 14N of force to bend the ASICS Womens Rally Dress Short Sleeve 90-degrees in our stiffness test makes it significantly more flexible than the average shoe. 

This means that even as our feet got tired and swelled up towards the end of our longer test-runs, the ASICS Womens Rally Dress Short Sleeve was easily able to adapt to the shape and movement of our feet. This had us gobbling up our mile markers while feeling as fresh by the end as we did at the start, and with no rush to peel off the shoe for sweet relief afterward. 

It also means that the ASICS Womens Rally Dress Short Sleeve feels great right out of the box, with no breaking-in period that is often associated with stiffer shoes.

While this feature lends itself to comfort, we found the flexibility of the ASICS Womens Rally Dress Short Sleeve to come at the expense of performance. That lack of rigidity underfoot gives us a less responsive surface to spring-off from which, in combination with the not-so-responsive midsole, means that we won’t be breaking any PRs in this shoe. 

Testing the stiffness of the shoe again after 20 minutes in the freezer to simulate exposure to cold weather, the ASICS Womens Rally Dress Short Sleeve gave us a reading of only 33.3N. This is well below the amount of force needed for the average shoe under similar conditions, and means that cold-climate runners will also reap the comfortable benefits of this shoe. 

With a 137% percent difference in stiffness outside warm and cold condtiions, the ASICS Womens Rally Dress Short Sleeve isn't as consistent as the average shoe which tends to stiffen up much less than that. 

While this means that the shoe won’t feel as flexible on cold days, its reading of 33.3N after the freezer is comparable to the amount of force needed to bend the average shoe at room temperature! Given that context, it really is a remarkably pliable shoe.

The outsole is definitely one of our unexpected highlights of the ASICS Womens Rally Dress Short Sleeve. Whether we used it indoors at the gym, or outdoors whether in dry or wet conditions; we always felt sure-footed with lots of traction underfoot. 

The ASICS Womens Rally Dress Short Sleeve is grippy and durable enough that we felt confident taking it out on some mild park trails. 

At 94.4 mm according to our caliper, the ASICS Womens Rally Dress Short Sleeve's toebox is slightly narrower than our current lab average at its widest part. Despite this, the upper's mesh upper easily stretches over even the widest foot and decisively locks it down once laced up right.

Measuring the toebox at the big toe, we found it to be 77.9 mm, which is a little roomier than our current lab average. Looking at these two measurements, we see that the ASICS Womens Rally Dress Short Sleeve's toebox doesn't taper towards the toe as significantly as the average shoe.

This means that wide-footed runners should still have more than enough room for their feet to splay out on landings.

While the tongue on the ASICS Womens Rally Dress Short Sleeve has no gusset, we didn't have to contend with any tongue slippage during or test runs. 

We measured the tongue with our caliper to be 4.8 mm. While this may be 0.9 mm shy of the average tongue thickness, we still felt it to be padded enough to provide a snug and comfy midfoot lockdown while avoiding any unwanted lace-bite. It also manages to stay in place quite well for a non-gusseted tongue. 

The ASICS Womens Rally Dress Short Sleeve doesn't include any type of heel tab, though we were still able to slip in and out of it with ease. 

The insole of the gel Pulse 13 is removable, which means that runners with special orthotics can use them with this shoe.