Color:
Carbon/Red pepper-black
Asics'
marketing pitch: Introducing the lightest GT-2000 ever in its 20 year
history.
Surfaces
tested on: Road, ambient temperatures of 21° C/70° F
Upper:
Mesh, synthetic leather, fused overlays, plastic heel counter.
Midsole:
Triple density compression molded EVA foam, plastic midfoot shank.
Outsole:
Carbon rubber heel, softer blown rubber in forefoot.
Weight:
339 gms/ 11.9 Oz for a half pair of US11/CM28.5/EUR 45.
Widths
available: D-standard (reviewed) B-narrow, 2E -wide, 4E-extra wide in select
colors.
US Retail: $ 120
the new GT-2000 3 is
heavier than last year’s GT-2000 2 for the same size. The upper sees some changes too, leading to a slight fit
difference over the GT-2000 2.
The change in cushioning
level is a sum of parts, namely the redesign of midsole stacking, foam density
(midsole and insole), Gel volume and heel crash pad. The basic construction
doesn’t change; two layers of midsole foam (black and white) are stacked
together with forefoot and heel Gel pads embedded within. The harder density
‘Duomax’ under the arch side carries over, utilized with the intent of
controlling inward foot roll.
Foam
densities have been changed on both the midsole layers. The upper portion
(black) of the new GT-2000 3’s midsole becomes firmer than GT-2000 2. On the
other hand, the lower midsole layer (white) gets an increased serving of
squishiness.
One
might be inclined to think the firmer black EVA and softer white would
counteract each other and deliver zero net gains, but that’s not how this ends.
A
softer white area has a greater influence on the GT’s cushioning, because that
part of the midsole is directly connected to the outsole. The GT-2000 3 sole
design has multiple pieces of rubber mounted on midsole pods, so a softer base
will allow better ’sink-in’ of the outsole.
The
split outsole design runs across heel and forefoot, so the ‘pistoning’ effect
is felt at all stages of gait cycle – starting from footstrike to transitions,
and finally toe-offs.
Keeping in line with outsole design updates on the GT-1000 and Kayano, the heel crash
pad is now shaped differently. It is bigger, and now vaguely resembles a
half-oval shape instead of the sort-of-triangle design from the year before.
As a
result of this change, a deep flex groove cuts across the heel width. This
helps splay the heel area much better than before, and hence making the
cushioning feel softer upon footstrike.
Forefoot also comes through as softer, though not to the same
extent as heel. Besides the softer midsole base, we also felt an increased
splaying action of the ‘Guidance line’ groove. In the GT-2000 3, this is wider
than what used to be, hence making the forefoot more conducive for splay. The
GT-2000 3 tries to restore some balance by bulking up the heel counter. It now
comes with an external, molded heel clip similar to what’s on the new Kayano,
replacing the internal stiffener. The black midsole walls rise up slightly to
wrap the base, and like we mentioned earlier, makes the heel look thicker. The
new external heel construction has a lesser tendency to push the foot
forward.The counter sits further rear from the foot compared to the relative
closeness of the internal heel stiffener. This helps the foot to sit further
out in the rear, hence opening up some room in the front. In
GT-2000 2, two different overlays – synthetic leather and welded overlay
covered the small toe on the lateral (outer) side. This year, that overlay is
reduced to a single layer of synthetic nubuck fused over mesh. This eases off
some of the top down pressure on the small toe.
The same thing is
repeated on the medial (inner) side, where the overlays (which cross over the
big toe base) are moved towards the back.
Aesthetic and structural core of the upper remains more or the less the same. Mesh with overlays, an ungusseted tongue, standard lacing. Materials are changed, with the mesh now looking thin and unquestionably downmarket. A thinner mesh helps breathability, but the quality doesn’t befit a $120 shoe. Synthetic leather has a brushed metal texture, somewhat similar to Nimbus 16. Reflectivity has been reduced on the heel, and the tongue is a bit shorter than GT-2000 2. Midfoot wrap and arch support was average on the GT-2, and that trait carries over here.
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