Asics Evoride vs Glideride – Two Tiers Of the Ride Series

Today, I have a comparison review between two Asics shoes from Asics’ Energy Saving series, the Asics Evoride vs GlideRide.

I think Asics is really making some efforts to try and move forward with the times.

We’ve got the Evoride, the Glideride, and the Novablast that they’ve just released.

They’re trying to improve and innovate, which is something to be commended.

I think the Evoride is a bit of a call to arms really from a company that is making huge changes in both the management and their designs.

Related:

• Is Asics True To Size?

Asics Evoride vs Glideride

I’ll throw some stats real quick.

The Evoride is 10.9oz and the Glideride is 11.6oz. It has 22mm of stack height in the heel and 17 in the forefoot for a 5mm heel-to-toe drop.

The Glideride is 31mm in the heel and 26 in the forefoot for a similar 5mm heel offset.

So, the Glideride is much higher off of the ground and it is about .7oz heavier than the Evoride.

What are the main differences between these two shoes?

Related:

• Asics Evoride vs. Gel Noosa Tri

Stack Height

There’s a substantially lower stack height in the Asics Evoride and I found the Evoride a tad more stable than the GlideRide.

You don’t feel as if you’re anywhere near as far off the floor as you do in the GlideRide.

Through the foot strike, I also found the Evoride to be much more stable.

It just felt as if I was planting my foot down and I didn’t feel as if I needed to think about it too much.

Guidesole Technology

Both shoes have that Asics Guidesole technology built into the midsole.

Basically, what that means is that the midsole kind of curves up towards the end of the shoes towards the toe box area.

So, you kind of roll off as if you were deep perhaps in Nike Zoom Fly.

It kind of promotes that kind of rolling motion.

I certainly felt that Guidesole technology and that upward motion.

To me, I think it feels a bit more pronounced in the Glideride, though.

Related:

• Nike Zoom Fly vs. Pegasus Turbo

Transition Carefully

This toe spring is quite aggressive in propelling you forward if it’s the first time you’ve put them on your feet

So the one thing I would say is when you first start running in either the Evoride or the Glidride, don’t think that because they’re energy-saving shoes that you can go really far in them.

I honestly think you need to get yourself used to them and give your body chance to adapt to the shoes’ extreme toe spring.

Once you get used to this curved technology, it helps your calves feel fresher and it helps running feel a little bit easier, and I can honestly say I do think that.

So, this Guidesole sort of saves your ankles and saves your calves, but that does mean other parts of your body might end up working a little bit harder.

Which brings us to …

Any Side Effects?

At the same time, I do worry that if it’s feeling easier in one area, is it working another area in your body a little bit harder.

Accordingly, I have heard some other people complaining about kind of glute, hip, and maybe even hamstring aches and stuff.

This is maybe because they’ve gone all out in them and it was a little bit too much too soon for their body, I think.

Again, try to get used to this curved toe area, become friends with the shoes, and let your body kind of know what’s going on because the Glideride and the Evoride probably are very different to any of the shoes you’ve ever run in.

This rocker sole design and stiff forefoot help reduce big toe flexion, which is good for Hallux Rigidus, and ankle flexion, which means your other leg muscles work less.

Is Guidesole a Gimmick?

Overall, I would say the Guidesole technology, which is supposed to create a rocking motion, does work and it is not a gimmick.

Purpose

Asics Evoride

These two Asics shoes fit very clearly into two different categories for me.

The Asics Evoride is a fast tempo running shoe. It’s kind of where you lock into a speed and you kind of stick with it.

I think the Evoride really does benefit from that kind of pared-down approach.

It certainly does feel a little bit more nimble on foot than the Glideride and it felt very safe in my stride as I was going through my runs.

The Evoride is not going to work as an easy-day shoe.

I did seven miles with four miles fartlek and some kind of warm-up/warm down miles, and I found the Evoride just doesn’t really want to work for those warm down miles whatsoever.

I think the Evoride is too firm for recovery miles and it’s certainly great if you’re going to be hitting things a bit harder.

I see the Evoride as a worthy opponent to something like the Nike Zoom Fly or perhaps the Hoka Carbon X as well.

Asics Glideride

The Asics Glideride is a heavier shoe and I think it really serves those longer runs better where comfort and cushion are more of a priority.

Typically, I’m doing those at around about 8 minutes to 7 minutes 45 per mile.

The Glideride really shines at around about 7 minutes 45-pace.

I did a 40-mile run in this one a little while ago and it felt absolutely effortless really.

It kind of felt really sustainable effort in the Glideride and I just kept with all the rolling on.

Certainly comfort-wise, the Glideride really hits the spot.

Midsole

The Evoride’s midsole is much thinner and it provides less cushion than its cousin, the Glideride.

I’m finding that the Glideride is a lot more cushioned actually than the Evoride.

On the Glideride, there’s an extra layer of FlyteFoam, which makes them very springy, bouncy, and responsive.

This grants the runner a much softer ride but at the cost of about 0.7oz per shoe.

Upper

Both uppers are an engineered mesh type material that’s really soft.

They both give quite a plush and refined kind of feel.

They kind of feel like you’re wearing a smoking jacket when you’re wearing both of these shoes.

The upper on the Evoride is a little bit more refined than the Glideride upper, but I think the tongue of the Glideride is quite a bit more cushioned and there’s quite a bit more foam in it than the Evoride.

The tongue in the Evoride seems like they’ve reduced it down at least a little bit for Asics.

Fit

I would suggest though that the Evoride is a lot more narrow than the Glideride. So, do test it out in store if you can.

The Evoride just doesn’t feel so sort of clunky really on foot or underfoot.

Lockdown

I’ve got to say it’s really easy to achieve a good lockdown in the Glideride and the Evoride.

When you do cinch the shoes up over the top of the midfoot, it really does feel like you get a great lockdown.

I didn’t have any issues really with the shoes loosening up at all over any sort of length of miles.

Durability

I think the construction and build quality of both shoes is very high.

I can see the Evoride and the Glideride certainly lasting the test of time providing the runner with no durability issues whatsoever.

Certainly, Asics makes a very hard-wearing shoe. That’s for sure.

Outsole

The rubber on the outsole is very smooth and it’s kind of almost flat really on the Glideride.

The outsoles on both shoes feel a little bit slippery when I hit a couple of metal grates on the floor.

On the Glideride, you’ve got that EVA plate along the outsole as well.

I guess, along with the extra foam, those are probably the things that are adding up for that extra weight.

That kind of full-contact outsole on the Evoride is certainly my preference between the two shoes.

Stability

The one thing I’m not as keen on about the Glideride, I think they don’t work great on uneven surfaces.

So, when I wore the Glideride on uneven areas of the pavement or on cobbles, I did feel a little destabilized.

The outsole is designed to help you roll through your foot and spend as little as possible on the ground and I did find the grip amazing. on most surfaces.

Other than uneven surfaces, I’ve run in the Glideride and I’ve never slipped in them, but they don’t feel as grippy as my Asics Nimbus for example.

The Asics Evoride have been out on some slippery pavements and I already feel much more confident in the grip in these than I do compared to the Glideride.

But if you’re looking for some real stability shoes for your flat feet or overpronation issues, you can look at the Asics GT 4000 3 for example. 

Weight

As quite a tall runner, I often struggle when shoes go past a certain weight because they just feel really unwieldy on foot.

I think the Glideride was just about as weighty as I’d want to go with a shoe, but it certainly is a shoe that once I get going, I kind of forget about the weight a little bit.

I certainly own heavy issues than the Glideride and this one still feels good to me.

Evoride vs Glideride – Me?

If I would buy only one shoe, I would go for the Evoride, and here’s why…

I do love the Glideride, but I just think the Evoride offers that little bit better value for money, to be honest.

With the Evoride, you kind of get all the benefits that you’re getting from the other two without paying for all of the things that perhaps you don’t want from an everyday shoe.

The Evoride is not as kind of aggressive and over-engineered because it does not have all the built-up feeling around the midfoot area, which gives it that nimble lower profile.

It’s a great shoe for shorter distances like 5ks and 10ks where you want just an extra bit of speed but also going inside your half marathon where you want that kind of extra bit of energy in your legs.

It is also really soft in the tongue as well and there’s no pressure going from around the lace area onto the top of your foot, which is always great.

It’s is a souped-up version of an everyday shoe, but I do feel it’s diverting tiredness from my calves.

Evoride vs Glideride – You?

I think you need to consider usage very carefully…

• What are you going to use the shoe for?
• Which one’s going to suit you best?
• Which one of the two shoes is going to kind of give you what you need?

I think if you want lots of cushioning over the miles, then the two foams used in the Glideride midsole will hit the spot.

Also, if you want that plush and very pressing upper for those long runs, then the Glideride will do the job.

On the flip side of that, if you want a faster more tempo type shoe with an old-school upper, then I think the Evoride will be your go-to shoe.

And if you do want something more fancy that can just help you with those longer runs and perhaps help you with your half marathon distances, I think the Glideride would be great for that.

Final Thoughts

So, in this energy-saving trio, we have the Metaride, which came out first, the Glideride, and the most recent edition, the Evoride which is the cheapest of the three.

The Evoride and the Glidride have very similar uppers and two very different midsoles for different areas of your training.

So with the Evoride being the cheapest in the energy-saving family, if you are thinking of getting into the Ride series without compromising on your ability to kind of test the Guidesole rocker technology for yourself, this is a good entry-level to that.

That’s all for this Asics Evoride vs Glideride comparison shootout.

Thanks for reading through to the end of this article.

I hope this helps you make an educated decision if you’re going to go for one of Asics’ current models.

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Stay safe and see you in the next one.