The Asics Gel Blade 8 is landing! Thanks to John for the tip.
The Asics Gel Blade 8 appears to have have undergone a significant redesign from the Asics Gel Blade 7. Here’s a side-by-side image comparison:
The Blade 8 is in black on the right. You can see they have simplified the design — there are now two “teeth” on the outsole instead of three, and where the outsole connects to the upper there’s now a single tooth instead of three. I think that’s important because one of the complaints I’ve heard about this shoe (from squash players) is they tend to fall apart around the teeth over time. Hopefully this updated design will prove more durable.
More from the Asics product description:
The upper has been reconstructed to promote a more supportive foothold. It keeps your foot locked-in when making quick transitions.
By raising the heel collar height, this shoe offers more stability while allowing your foot to move more freely.
It’s difficult to tell those differences just by looking at the photos. I will have to buy a pair to make a proper comparison 😎
Men
Black
Deep Sea Teal / Glow Yellow
Glacier Grey Sunrise Red
Women
White / Sunrise Red
White / Pure Silver
Lapis Lazuli Blue / Blazing Coral
Tim Liu says
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7 was more of a squash shoe as there were some protection around big toe for “dragging” and also the back heel seems to be lower which both were more designed for squash. This new 8 looks more like for badminton.
Tor says
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My God. Drastic change indeed. Hope they feel the same on and during play, if not i have to buy a batch of the 7s. Best squash shoe ever made