The ASICS GEL-NIMBUS 25 is an Affordance of Awesome

The GEL-NIMBUS 25 shoe’s soft cushioning properties help you feel like you’re landing on clouds. This neutral trainer is revamped with new materials that create a softer and smoother running experience.

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The Asics Gel-Nimbus 25 is the latest in a long line of solidly performing long-distance trainers, and they don’t disappoint in this edition. These are plush, wide and beautiful shoes that will inspire mile after mile of floaty, seemingly effortless cruising. There is a concept in the psychology of design called affordance that refers to the actions that an object inspires in the user, whether intentional or not. The affordance of an elevator button is to be pressed, but the affordance of a book of matches (remember those?) might be to stabilize a wobbly table.

The affordance of a box may be for storage but it might also be for sitting on or for carrying many small objects. It is the property of an object that makes you want to do a thing. It shouldn’t surprise anyone that running shoes afford running, but so often they don’t. Shoes that I bought for running sit at the foot of my bed and mock me. They don’t make me want to run, they are just the thing that I have to run in. The Gel-Nimbus 25 certainly affords running. They seem to want you to put them on. Once on, they seem to want you to run. And once running, they seem to want you to keep going.

The uppers are soft and breathable knit material with a tongue that wraps around your ankle to hug your foot. Asics says the material is 75 percent recycled material. They come in a wide variety of genuinely attractive colors. Mine are cream/fawn, which I worried wouldn’t hold up to the winter weather but they’re doing fine.

The mid-sole material is called FF-Blast and it’s incredibly soft and plush without being mushy or wallowing. The contoured shape cradles and directs your foot through your stride and pushes you forward. The foam feels deep (and it is, deeper than any previous Nimbus) but it’s also wide and stable without being bulky. It’s a funny shade of almost green on my version – very distinctive and interesting.

The outsole material is stiff and resilient and is going to hold up to the dirty shoulders along the highway this winter. On my version, it is the same color as the midsole material which gives the shoes an elegant and professional look.

My verdict: The Asics Gel-Nimbus 25 is a great pair of long-haul trainers and marathon racers that continues the tradition in style.