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ASICS Novablast 5 — Spec Analysis (Not Yet Tested)

Spec analysis — not yet tested

The Novablast is ASICS’s bouncy, high-stack neutral trainer, and the shoe most often suggested to runners who want softness without paying super-shoe money. It is also a case study in what brands leave out: ASICS publishes a heel-to-toe drop for it and publishes neither stack height it is derived from. Here is every figure ASICS states, attributed line by line, and what a spec sheet can and cannot settle.

What ASICS says the NOVABLAST 5 is

ASICS places the NOVABLAST 5 in its High cushioning tier and builds it on an FF BLAST MAX midsole, a breathable engineered jacquard mesh upper and an AHAR LO outsole rubber. It is the bouncy, high-stack daily trainer in the range rather than a stability shoe: nothing in ASICS’s own description claims a medial post, a guidance line or any corrective structure.

One piece of context matters more than any single figure. The NOVABLAST 5 has been delisted from ASICS’s US site. The US Novablast category now lists only the NOVABLAST 6 at $155, the 6 GTX at $175, the 6 PLATINUM at $170 and a grade-school version at $110. The 5 is still carried on ASICS Canada, where it is listed at CAD $190 with a CAD $149.99 sale price. So if you are reading a review of the 5 in late 2026, you are shopping the outgoing model, and the price you see should reflect that.

ASICS NOVABLAST 5 specifications: heel-to-toe drop, stack height and weight

Specification	Figure	Source
Category	High cushioning; no stability features claimed	ASICS
Weight	255 g / 8.99 oz — reference size not stated	ASICS (Canada product page)
Drop	8 mm	ASICS
Heel stack	Not published by ASICS	—
Forefoot stack	Not published by ASICS	—
Midsole	FF BLAST MAX	ASICS
Outsole	AHAR LO outsole rubber	ASICS
Upper	Breathable engineered jacquard mesh	ASICS
Widths	Standard, Wide and Extra Wide	ASICS (Canada product page)
Removable sockliner	Not stated on the product page	— not confirmed by ASICS
APMA Seal of Acceptance	No seal or podiatric certification is claimed for this shoe	ASICS product page — claim absent
List price	CAD $190 (CAD $149.99 sale); delisted from ASICS US	ASICS (Canada product page); ASICS US category

What the spec sheet suggests — and what only a test can answer

Start with what is missing, because it is the most useful thing on the page. ASICS publishes an 8 mm drop but publishes neither the heel stack nor the forefoot stack. Drop is the difference between those two numbers. Without them, the 8 mm figure cannot be checked against anything ASICS publishes — it has to be taken on trust. That matters clinically, because drop is one of the few shoe variables with a plausible mechanical link to load on the Achilles tendon and the plantar fascia, and it is the variable people are most often told to shop for. A drop you cannot verify is a drop you cannot reason from.

The weight has the same problem in smaller form. 255 g is published without a reference size, and shoe weight varies by roughly 10 to 15 g per half size, so a figure without its size is close to meaningless for comparison. Most brands quote men’s US 9 or 10; ASICS does not say which, or whether 255 g is the men’s or the women’s shoe.

What the sheet does establish: 8 mm is a genuinely middling drop. It is not a low-drop or zero-drop shoe, and it is not a traditional 12 mm trainer. Combined with a High cushioning tier and FF BLAST MAX — ASICS’s softest, most rebound-focused foam — the reasonable expectation is a tall, soft, energetic platform with limited ground feel. Soft and tall is not the same as supportive. Nothing in the published specification addresses torsional rigidity, heel-counter stiffness or how much the midsole compresses under load, and those are exactly the properties that decide whether a cushioned shoe feels stable or vague underfoot. They cannot be read off a spec sheet; they have to be measured and worn.

An independent laboratory has measured what the sheet leaves out: RunRepeat cut a pair in half and found 40.9 mm of stack at the heel and 33.5 mm at the forefoot, a drop of 7.4 mm, so ASICS’s 8 mm holds to within a millimetre, and the pair weighed 254 g. Its midsole measured 30.3 Asker C, the fifth-softest of the 33 shoes we review that the lab has measured this way, and returned 63.6% of the energy at the heel, the fourth-highest of the 35, so the tall, soft, energetic platform the sheet suggests is what the lab found. The heel counter graded 3 out of 5, and the toe box measured 74.4 mm at the big toe, joint seventh-widest of the 34 shoes we review that the lab has measured there.

One point in ASICS’s favour, worth stating plainly because it is not universal: ASICS makes no podiatric seal or certification claim for this shoe. Some brands do make such claims on models where the relevant register does not list that specific version. ASICS simply does not claim it here, which is the honest position for an untested-by-podiatrists running shoe.

Who the ASICS NOVABLAST 5 is probably for

On the published specification alone, the NOVABLAST 5 reads as a neutral daily trainer for a runner who wants a soft, lively ride and does not need built-in correction. The widths are its quietly useful feature: Standard, Wide and Extra Wide is broader coverage than most bouncy trainers offer, which makes it worth a look if a wide forefoot, a bunion or a tailor’s bunion normally rules this category out for you.

Where the published figures argue for caution, and where we would not encourage anyone to rely on this page:

NOVABLAST 5: where it now sits against the NOVABLAST 6

ASICS has moved the line on. The 6 is the shoe ASICS sells in the US at $155; the 5 survives on other regional sites and in retail channels at a discount. ASICS does not publish a side-by-side comparison of the two generations, and we will not invent one — but the practical decision is straightforward. If the 5 is genuinely discounted and the fit works, an outgoing bouncy trainer at a real markdown is one of the better-value purchases in running footwear, because the changes between generations in this category are usually foam tuning and upper geometry rather than anything that alters who the shoe suits. If the two are close in price, there is no argument for the older one.

What we cannot tell you from specifications is whether the 6 fixed anything you personally disliked about the 5, because ASICS publishes no stack heights for either and the properties that change generation to generation are the unpublished ones.

Where to buy

Disclosure: the link below is a paid link. If you buy through it Amazon pays us a commission at no cost to you. Commissions never influence a score, a ranking or the seal, and this page carries no score because the shoe has not been tested — see our independence policy.

This opens an Amazon search rather than one listing, deliberately: the Novablast 5 is discontinued and the listings that remain are colourway- and width-specific, so a single product link would go stale or send you to the wrong width. ASICS has removed the 5 from its US site; the current shoe there is the Novablast 6 at $155. ASICS Canada still lists the 5 at CAD $190 with a CAD $149.99 sale price, read on 27 September 2026. Prices move — check the listing.

Questions people ask about the NOVABLAST 5

What is the ASICS Novablast 5 good for?

On ASICS’s own description it is a neutral, high-cushioning daily trainer: easy miles, long runs and general training for a runner who does not need corrective structure. The FF BLAST MAX midsole is tuned for rebound rather than firmness, so it is aimed at people who want the shoe to feel lively. It is not presented as a stability shoe, a racing shoe or a walking shoe.

Can I run a marathon in the Novablast 5?

Plenty of people do, and nothing in the specification rules it out for a high-stack neutral trainer. The honest answer is that marathon suitability is decided by things ASICS does not publish: how much the midsole has compressed by mile 20, whether the upper still holds your foot when it swells, and how the outsole is wearing. Those are wear-test findings, not spec-sheet findings. If you are choosing a marathon shoe, the mileage you have already put in it matters far more than any figure on this page.

Why is the ASICS Novablast so popular?

It occupies a spot most brands leave empty: a tall, soft, bouncy midsole in a shoe priced as a daily trainer rather than a super-shoe, in a range of widths. The rebound-focused foam makes it feel faster than its stack suggests, which people enjoy. From a clinical standpoint that same quality is why it does not suit everyone — a platform tuned to return energy is a platform that moves under you, and some feet want the opposite.

Which is better, the ASICS Novablast 5 or 6?

The 6 is the current shoe and the only one ASICS sells in the US, at $155. The 5 is the outgoing model, now carried on other regional sites and in retail at a discount. ASICS publishes no generation-to-generation comparison and no stack heights for either, so nobody can honestly tell you which rides better from specifications alone. The decision that can be made on published facts is a price decision: at a genuine markdown the 5 is good value in a category where generational changes are usually foam tuning rather than a change in who the shoe fits; at similar money, buy the 6.

What is the drop of the Novablast 5?

ASICS publishes 8 mm. It is worth knowing that ASICS does not publish the heel or forefoot stack heights this figure is derived from, so the 8 mm cannot be verified from ASICS’s own data. Treat it as the manufacturer’s claim rather than a measured fact; RunRepeat’s lab, which cut a pair in half, measured 7.4 mm.

Does the Novablast 5 come in wide?

Yes. ASICS lists Standard, Wide and Extra Wide. ASICS maps those names to different letter widths for men’s and women’s sizing, so check the width against your own size on the listing rather than assuming a letter code. That is wider coverage than most shoes in this category, and it is the most clinically useful thing on the specification sheet if your forefoot is the part that normally does not fit.

Do podiatrists recommend the ASICS Novablast 5?

Not as a category, and not on the strength of this shoe’s paperwork. A podiatrist recommends a shoe for a foot, after looking at the foot — and for a neutral high-cushion trainer the questions are whether you need correction (this shoe claims none), whether your orthotic will fit (ASICS does not confirm the sockliner is removable), and whether the width works. ASICS itself claims no podiatric seal or certification for the NOVABLAST 5. When we have had a pair under our own calipers and on the road for logged miles, this page will carry a score and either a Podiatrist Tested seal or the criterion it failed. Until then it carries neither, deliberately.

What happens next

This page is spec analysis and will stay that way until the shoe is bought, measured and worn. When that happens it gains the full measurement block — weight at men’s 10, heel and forefoot stack from our own calipers, verified drop, internal toe-box width and depth, Toe-Box Index, Depth Index, Rigidity Score and an Orthotic Volume Rating — plus a wear log and the nine-criterion scorecard. A shoe earns the seal at 8.5 overall with comfort at 8 or better, no criterion below 5, and only after physical testing. Nothing on this page is a measurement we made.

Acquisition disclosure: this shoe has not been acquired or tested by Podiatrist Tested. No brand has provided a sample, paid for coverage or seen this page before publication. Figures are ASICS’s own, read on 27 September 2026, and are attributed individually in the table above; the laboratory figures in the text are RunRepeat’s, read 28 September 2026.