ASICS' Powerfully Chunky Trail Shoe Can Hang With the Big Boys
ASICS does dad shoes. ASICS does running sneakers. Does ASICS do trail shoes? Of course. And they're great. Of course.
Thing is, ASICS isn't as commonly known for chunky trail shoes as, say HOKA or Merrell, and its grasp of crossover tech — that is, functional footwear that translates from utilitarian operations to lifestyle livin' — doesn't feel as adept as Salomon.
Those are all misconceptions, of course, because ASICS does do great trail shoes and it does do excellently useful sneakers that work in a variety of applications.
ASICS' Trabuco Max 3 sneaker, debuted in March 2024, ought to change some minds. It might not, simply because it's not the kind of shoe to receive much attention beyond the outdoorsy runners it was designed for, but it should.
Fitted with a ripstop nylon upper, the Trabuco Max 3 can handle whatever grit and grime comes its way, whether its splashing through muddy puddles or the slime that gathers on the ground of the New York subway system.
The technical specs — FF Blast Plus midsole to boost cushioning and recoil. ASICSGRIP outsole to supersize traction — are also all there but the real kicker is that ASICS blessed the Trabuco Max with a genuinely gorgeous design.
Admittedly, the womens' black and blue colorway doesn't hit the palate the same way as the mens' beige-ish iteration (both retail for $153) but both versions are a good first step for taking ASICS to the forefront of the multifaceted trail shoe conversation.
And that's a conversation worth having.
HOKA is currently crushing the dad shoe-to-sneakerhead pipeline with ingeniously stylish sneakers both distinct and approachable. Sensing a new wave, upstarts like Veja are moving in.
ASICS is well-positioned to muscle in on this territory. It's already got some good-looking adventure shoes, for one, but it's better known for fashion-y experiments and quintessentially cool post-mall walker sneakers.
Its shoes' soles aren't quite as chunky as the aforementioned competitors, its lifestyle shoes' technical specs lean classic while its avant runners are firmly functional.
The Trabuco Max 3 feels like one of ASICS' first proper stabs at a shoe that kinda does it all: it's chunky, it's plush, it's weird (in a cool way). It works. And it's hinting at good things to come.
