It was love at first sight when I laid eyes on my Asics Kayano 19's. The 19th incarnation of one of Asics' flagship running shoes would have to be the sexiest structured running shoes on the market! Without even having tried them on I knew that these were my new running shoes. Luckily they fit even better than they looked!
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| Such a great looking shoe! |
My shoes are a white upper with orange and blue sole and blue Asics tiger trademark overlay. Asics have an extraordinary variety of colours and designs available for the Kayano 19's but mine is certainly my favourite. How cool do they look! The only drawback is the white upper gets dirty easily so I avoid running in these shoes in very wet conditions.
I was recommended the Asics Kayano's by the good people at Active Feet in Prahran. Initially they put me in a pair of the new Brooks Adrenaline's however I found them too structured which led to anterior shin stress. Thankfully Active Feet have a 30 day satisfaction guarantee and I was able to swap the bulky Adrenaline's for the much lighter and better looking Kayano's.
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| A clean pair of heals showing the Asics IGS badge. |
The Kayano 19 is a structured running shoe built using Asics' Impact Guidance System (IGS) design philosophy which, according to Asics, aims to "encourage the foot to perform in a more natural manner". It has moderate pronation control and its ample heal cushioning makes it a good match for a heal striker like me. I've now done more than 480km in these shoes and they still provide excellent cushioning in the heel thanks to Asics' GEL technology. Support is provided by the Dynamic Duomax medial post and the remainder of the sole is made up of Asics SoLyte foam material which helps keep the shoe extremely light.
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| The clean fresh sole of a new pair of Asics Kayano 19's. |
The tread on the heel is composed of AHAR+(Asics High Abrasion Resistant) material and is remarkably resilient. Even after 480km it has shown very little wear. On the other hand, the forefoot tread is made of a much softer compound and has exhibited significantly more wear with some of the grooves in the tread almost disappearing completely.
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| The wear on the sole of my Asics Kayano 19's after more than 480km. |
The shoe upper is of very high quality and very well designed and constructed. It utilises a breathable mesh and provides a firm and extremely comfortable fit. The Asics tiger trademark overlay is particularly impressive, providing support and adding to the great look of the shoe.
All this makes for a fantastic running shoe which I would happily recommend to anyone that needs cushioning with moderate pronation control. They have certainly handled my volume of running extremely well and I will be buying another pair very soon. Luckily there's plenty of colour options to choose from!
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