Asics Gel-Nimbus 26 - Women's Review

With a wide, 4.59-inch outsole, 10mm drop profile, unrelenting cushion, and a soft and stretchy upper, the Asics Gel-Nimbus is a comfortable shoe for long, arduous road miles.

Cushioning and Landing Comfort

The Asics Gel-Nimbus takes “soft landing” to a whole new level, spoiling your soles with an overreaching cushioning extravaganza. While this pair of kicks scored well in this metric, the underfoot stack feels overdone, somewhat spongy, and, ultimately, like it is absorbing the energy of your footfalls instead of returning it. With a total rear stack of 41mm and a forefoot stack of 31mm, this shoe is great for slow cruising runs. If you spend a lot of time pounding pavement and specifically want a shoe with a fat stack of protection, the Gel-Nimbus might hit just right. However, some other shoes are just as cushy and score higher across the board.

Responsiveness

While the Gel-Nimbus 26 has certainly mastered the art of cushioning, its responsiveness is lacking. The underfoot sponge that makes each step a soft delight also means that the nimbleness takes a bit of a backseat. If you're looking for shoes that can keep up with sudden bursts of speed or quick maneuvers around corners, the Nimbus will likely seem too cushy for the job. While we enjoyed the sensation of walking and executing meandering runs in these kicks, we struggled to truly get moving in them. Speeding up felt like trying to do a sprint on a memory foam mattress - comfortable, yet not especially effective.

Stability

The Nimbus is a neutral runner that lacks some of the built-ins that create a super stable shoe. The Nimbus holds its own in the stability metric because it has a wide base of support, but its structure doesn't necessarily hold up to the demands that many runners need, especially because of how high it sits above the ground. The Gel-Nimbus does come prepared with a secret weapon - plump heel collars. These substantial heel collars provide a reliable anchor for your rear foot, locking it in for a little less squirminess. Even though the inner tube-like heel collar liner is supportive, when coupled with the silky and flexible upper, the shoe feels imbalanced. Runners who overpronate and know they need extra support should avoid the Nimbus for this reason.

Upper Comfort

The upper of the Nimbus has a luxurious feel that starkly contrasts the less comfortable demands of running. The upper comfort of this shoe is a highlight, with a pillowy heel collar, silky-smooth laces, and a plump lace bed. The abundance of padding in the heel collar almost feels too thick. The upper textile is soft and stretchy, a sensation that some runners love but we don't. This iteration's upper is more breathable than many of the current shoes in our lineup, but not so much that it negates the otherwise basicness of this well-padded plodder.

Weight

It's no surprise that the Nimbus is a hefty shoe. Each women's size 6.5 shoe weighs 8.67 ounces. This isn't outside of the realm of normal when it comes to maximalist shoes, but two of them add up to a significant amount of extra weight to be lugging around on your long runs. However, the weight is well-distributed, so if you like the Nimbus, its weight shouldn't be a dealbreaker.

Should You Buy the Asics Gel Nimbus 26?

The Nimbus is a shoe worth considering for long plodding runs, but who wants their long runs to feel plodding? While Asics has made huge strides in the world of maximalist shoes, the Nimbus lacks some of the high-tech thoughtfulness that its higher-scoring counterparts contain. If you want a road running shoe to add to your rotation, consider the Nimbus. If you are looking to purchase only one pair of running shoes, we have plenty of more versatile recommendations for you to choose from.

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