I’ve been wearing the Asics Fuji Attack 4 gel trail runners for about 4 years now. I just kind of stumbled on them. I bought them on clearance one day, gave them a try, and they worked really well for my feet. When we were planning our hike of the GDT in 2018 these were no longer being manufactured so I bought scoured the internet to find any in stock and bought a couple pairs online – some of the last in existence.

This year I came to the sudden realization that I’m on my last pair and I don’t have a new pair of runners to start the GDT for our 2021 thru hike with.

I have tried a bunch of typical trail runners and I haven’t found anything that fit my feet as well as my Asics. I also like the aggressive tread and lace pocket – which is hard to find elsewhere.

I wear Brooks for running, but the Cascadias’s I have tried on just don’t fit right (and to be honest, my runners probably aren’t quite right but I have avoided injury so far so I haven’t tried changing them).

This year, I found another pair of Asics that had the key features I wanted:

• Same fit as other Asics
• Lace pocket
• Aggressive tread

What did I get?

I bought the Asics Fujitrabuco Lyte.

Specs and Features

• Lightweight foam sole
• Flexible sole
• Aggressive tread
• Lace pocket
• 250 grams each (about 480 grams total)

My impressions

I think they are pretty close to my old Fuji Attacks, which is what I was going for.

The soles are foam, not gel, but they seem similarly comfortable. I could have gotten the gel versions but those are not as light. The heel to toe drop seems higher than my old shoes but I don’t know for sure. If anything it’s not significant – which is a relief because it almost seemed like there has been a trend to go to very high drop and I find that uncomfortable.

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The sole is still quite flexible, but durable feeling. In my hands these feel like my old shoes – a little stiff – but once I put them on they seem to be just right.

The tread is a little different than my old shoes but still feels very grippy.

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The tread feels like it’s solidly in contact with the ground and my foot feels like it can breath but there is enough structure to the heel and toe that my feet do not slide over top of the sole.

I’m unsure about breathability. I will need to hike in them on a few hot and humid days to test that out.

The colours are fun!

Asics backed off on the toe cap, which was necessary on the GDT in 2018. This makes me a little nervous so we will just have to see how it holds up hiking.

The key areas that wore out and failed in 2018 have been reinforced.

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The lace pocket on the tongue is there and it seems to hole the laces pretty well – no complaints.

Having a loop to pull my shoe on will be nice – it was a bit tough some mornings when my shoes freeze and get stuff!

Next steps

I guess at this point I just gotta go on a few day hikes with them and test them out!