Wednesday, October 23, 2024

ASICS Trail FujiSpeed 3 Review

Article by Sam Winebaum

ASICS FujiSpeed 3 ($160 €180)

Pros:

  • Versatile: trails, gravel, road

  • LIght at 8.6 oz / 244g US9 for a well cushioned trail shoe with ample grip

  • Fun: energetic dynamic ride with a forgiving non harsh carbon plate with a bit of flex.

  • Does not feel like a 5mm drop even at relatively slow paces, rare for a carbon plated shoe

  • Solid grip that is not in the way “off trail” on smoother firmer surfaces

  • Great winter “road” and gravel speed and race option.

  • Secure, comfortable upper

  • A very solid value at $160 given carbon plating, light weight, and crossover to road versatility 


Cons:

  • Not for more tech trails for most if you are not..speedy and agile

  • Better options around for slower paced trail running


Most comparable shoes

North Face Vectiv Sky

Brooks Catamount Agil


Stats

Approx. Weight: men's 8.6 oz / 244g US9

Sample Weight: men’s  8.4 oz / 238g US8.5

Midsole Stack Height 24mm heel / 19mm forefoot

Approx. Full Stack Height: 35mm heel / 30mm forefoot, 5mm drop

Platform Width: 75mm heel / 70mm midfoot / 100mm forefoot 


Introduction

The FujiSpeed 3 is a light carbon plated trail runner of moderate stack height intended for fast trail running, and as I found out, also gravel paths and paved roads. 


Stack heights in trail shoes have been rising and rising with plated shoes stiff and high with the big current focus on ultrarunning, a notable example ASICS own Metafuji Trail (RTR Review). Yet, at the same time, lower stack height plated speedy trail runners have also emerged including the Fuji Speed, Brooks Catamount Agil, and The North Face Vectiv Sky. 


Agility, light weight, and propulsion borrowed from road super shoes with trail grip and enough flex and give to contour terrain are what these shoes seek to achieve, and here the Fuji Speed 3 does so as well. It has essentially the platform of the road Magic Speed 3 road shoe adapted to trail with a 4mm lug ASICS Grip outsole and a somewhat reinforced upper. 

So let’s see how the Fuji Speed 3 measures up. While I did not run its predecessor, our Jeremy Marie did (RTR Review) The update appears to be mostly to the upper moving from a woven material to a Jacquard mesh. Not to spoil the review, but it is one capable, fast and extremely versatile shoe that can be ideal for those daily, let's go out and run moderate trails, gravel and paved road all in the same run at faster paces.. 


First Impressions, Fit and Upper

Bright bright yellow with black highlights the Fuji Speed 3 announces its intentions upfront, speed! 


The upper is a soft and pliable Jacquard mesh and is seemingly unstructured, yet foot hold is excellent. The secure fit is helped by an almost fully rigid heel counter with just the right amount of soft padding. 

The gusset tongue is unpadded but for a small and effective pad at lace up. The laces are thin and quite stringy and have ridges to grip your tie up and keep it there. A bit fussy to untie and long the lacing is very effective,

The rest of the support is provided by printed soft overlays to create the toe bumper and protection on the lateral side. It’s really surprising how good the foothold is here given the soft, very comfortable and “relaxed” materials. 


I suspect that ASICS keeps the volume down and lets the non-stretche yet soft upper wrap the foot securely helped by the mostly non padded gusset tongue. 

There is plenty of toe box room for my narrow to medium feet and I expect higher volume feet as well as the mesh and overlays are so adaptive. 

The fit is true to size and should be for all but very broad feet. Sizing up here for others will likely affect hold and security.


Midsole & Platform

The midsole is ASICS FlyteFoam Blast Plus, a foam now found in almost all ASICS road and trail shoes but for their top end racers. The platform is relatively narrow at the heel at 70mm and at the forefoot 100mm with the midfoot at 70mm. The narrower platform contributes to the commendable light weight of approximately 8.6 oz / 244g US9 for a shoe with a mid range stack height of 35mm heel / 30mm forefoot and outsole with 4mm lugs.

The carbon plate developed a bit of flex. It is not totally rigid as the Saucony Endorphin Edge’s is. That is good as I find totally rigid carbon plates in trail shoes require constant high speeds and mid foot strikes, uphill and downhill all the way and most of us can’t maintain this as the miles pile up. 


I was worried it would still be too rigid for me but no. I think its location in the shoe, not sure exactly where and its shaping (ASICS has not as of yet provided these details) working in concert with the Flyte Foam Blast Plus foam which is relatively soft all join together for a well cushioned, dynamic ride for up to moderate terrain for me. 


The combination of foam, plate and outsole clearly make the Fuji Speed a truly outstanding non tech trails and gravel faster paces trainer and racer.   


Outsole

The outsole is ASICSGrip rubber in a skeletal design to save weight. The lugs are 4mm and somewhat pyramid shaped, I suppose also to save weight and also provide the 4mm depth.

Grip is outstanding everywhere I ran them including the road. I do think a simpler full contact lug design would make for a smoother yet road and smooth terrain ride. 

That said, come winter, the Fuji Speed 3 will be my go to for sloppy winter road conditions when speed is on the program.


Ride, Conclusions and Recommendations

The Fuji Speed 3 is a practical and fun to run carbon plated trail shoe. Many such shoes are elite focused, very rigid, high stacked and “hard to handle” after a while or on more technical terrain. 


Yes, the Fuji Speed has the characteristic sometimes disconcerting  “spring” of carbon shoes at slower run or hike paces but it is not overwhelming. Lean into them and pick up the pace and they fly with, in the mix ,surprising stability and agility. 


My runs were on well groomed single track and gravel trails in Park City, Utah as well as paved roads. I also hiked them a day in Switzerland. Their sweet spot for me was on smooth trails and gravel roads/paths sometimes with significant elevation gains. On paved roads they were fine as well although the outsole was noticed more than in a road shoe.  


At their light weight, dynamic and forgiving if not max cushion grade platform and comfortable secure upper they can be an ideal choice for the runner seeking a versatile shoe equally at home on many trails as well as roads, or both in the same run, for both training and racing. As such, and at $160, they are a great value for a carbon plated shoe that is so versatile.


Sam’s Score: 9.5 /10

(Minor deductions: wish the carbon plate was a bit more flexible and the outsole had fuller and broader contact surfaces)

😊😊😊😊


3 Comparisons


The North Face Vectiv Sky 1 (RTR Review)

Slightly heavier on a broader but lower stack height,  the Sky is also carbon plated. It is somewhat more flexible and not as forgivingly cushioned. It’s coarser feeling  heavier (and maybe more rugged) upper. It has a broader forefoot fit and a barely there crude fitting stretch knit cuff type heel area. On fit and upper feel the ASICS is a clear winner. While I appreciated the additional flex of the Sky, the Fuji Speed is a clear winner for its much more polished overall execution.


Brooks Catamount Agil (RTR Review)

Almost 1 oz lighter with a considerably  lower stack height of 27 mm heel / 21 mm forefoo, t the Brooks is broader on the ground at the heel by 10mm and narrower at the midfoot by the same. Its non carbon plate is springier and also conforms to terrain somewhat better than the ASICS. Its upper (also true to size) is snugger and more precise. All of this translates to speed and agility on more tech terrain at shorter distances with the ASICS leaning more mellow terrain and longer distances for me and is overall a more versatile shoe due to its crossover capabilities to road,


Index to all RTR reviews: HERE


Tester Profiles

Sam is the Editor and Founder of Road Trail Run. He is in his 60’s  with 2024 Sam’s 52th year of running roads and trails. He has a decades old 2:28 marathon PR. These days he runs halves in the just sub 1:40 range if he gets very, very lucky. Sam trains 30-40 miles per week mostly at moderate paces on the roads and trails of New Hampshire and Utah be it on the run, hiking or on nordic skis. He is 5’9” tall and weighs about 160 lbs, if he is not enjoying too many fine New England IPA’s


The FujiSpeed 3 is available at ASICS HERE


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1 comment:

faci said...

What is the width of the Toe box?
In case of 2, I remember that the length and the width of the toe were too narrow compared to other models