CitySports.com reached out to us to review their latest “natural” ASICS running shoe, the 33-M. The 33-M is built for the natural running experience to lessen interference from the shoe to the body’s running form, assuming it’s a normal pronation and doesn’t need any work per say. With our test pair, we logged nearly 100 miles over six weeks and you can read on for our take from an everyday age grouper on how the 33-M stacks up in the real world.
SPECS
- The 33-M sports the following tech details:
- 4mm Platform / Drop
- Solyte Midsole with Amplifoam Layer
- Comfordry Sockliner
- Seamless Upper Construction
- Natural Running Experience / Under and Neutral Pronation
- Natural 33 - Heel Fit & Toe Box
- 10.9 oz
- Heel Height : 24 mm
- Forefoot Height : 20 mm
- Durasponge Outsole
APPEARANCE
At initial glance, the one stand out feature is the actual sole thickness at the rear supporting the 4mm platform drop. If you’re looking to squeeze in a few inches on your online dating profile, the 33-M is your shoe. You might feel as if the ground is a little further away with these bad boys, and you wouldn’t be far from the truth.Aside from the robust soles, the ASICS 33-M’s we tested were the White / Flash Yellow / Navy style. There are other colors out there, however it appeared that City Sports carried this style in particular. The white is sharp and eye catching to say the least. We immediately got comments on how attractive and appealing the 33-M’s were. One drawback on the white is how fast they will attract dirt and smudges. Naturally if you run outside, you might run into some dirt, water or mud. With a white pair of shoes, it’s going to happen. If you are worried about keeping your shoe investments as pristine as possible, one option would be to limit usage to indoors on treadmills. Lets be honest, shoes are meant to run in and they will get dirty. Accept it. Even after 100 miles of street, track and treadmill running, our white 33-M’s were not any dirtier than other white running shoes.
The overall construction of the shoe is cohesive and doesn’t suffer when you enter the larger sizes. You big foots out there know what we mean when you order that awesome looking pair of shoes online only to get them and have them look distorted when in larger sizes than the nice pictures online. The 33-M’s don’t look odd in the larger sizes.
PERFORMANCE
If a running shoe doesn’t perform the function is was designed and purchased for, then that was a waste of money, right?In our 100ish miles of testing, we ventured runs on streets, sidewalks, treadmills, long runs, tempo runs, easy runs, interval runs, brick runs and dog walking. We even ran in the rain with our 33-M’s and lived to tell the tale. We also stuffed the 33-M’s in duffle bags for travel and crammed them into airplane overhead bins. You know a shoe is resilient when it rebounds to it’s original shape after 10+ hours being in luggage.
Thoughts of note:
- Sole degradation was minimal. Wear and tear on the sole and stitching was not an issue as not one seam had popped or piece of rubber had peeled.
- Being designed for under or neutral pronators, the 33-M’s are aimed at a specific running segment, which means they aren’t for everyone. If you overpronate and roll your feet too much, the 33-M’s might hurt you in the long run. We have a tendency for overpronation and after long runs, we would experience hot spots on the balls of the big toe and in the arch area. No blisters came of it, but we could tell it would be an issue if this was our full time shoe. But, this could also offer a “cross training” opportunity for non-under or neutral pronators to use a shoe that works muscle groups left unaddressed by stability or motion control shoes. In moderation and under controlled usage, varying shoe types could potentially be used to promote strengthening of weaker muscle groups and ligaments similar to trail running and other variations of running. It’s not something to switch to 80% of the time, but may be a good option for one or two shorter runs a week to work on stabilizer muscles.
- We are guilty of nasty heel striking. It’s just there after years of running and various PT sessions. We’ve coped with finding the right shoe combination and training regime that allows us to stay injury and pain free. One item of concern was the return of heel pain after using a non-stability shoe like the 33-M. We were pleasantly surprised that no heel pain was present after runs and non-existent the mornings after long runs, which was the worst times for heel pain. Also keep in mind that we did not switch to exclusive use of the 33-M’s, but rotated them in with our other trusted shoes.
- The 33-M’s actually felt heavier than our trusted styles, but at 10.9 ounces, they were right on target or actually lighter than other styles we use on a consistent basis. For some reason it was deceiving while wearing the 33-M’s, and we don’t really have an explanation.
CITYSPORTS.COM EXPERIENCE
We would be remiss if we didn’t give some review love to the store that set us up with our test shoes. CitySports.com is an actual brick and mortar store in Boston that has developed into an online entity selling quality apparel. They shipped the ASICS 33-M’s free of charge (normally $6 for standard ground) and from order confirmation to shoes at our door, it was around 3 days to get our kicks. The box comes wrapped in plastic to protect is from the elements and comes with a printed receipt in the need of returning the shoes. They offer a 30 day refund policy for online buying as long as you meet their conditions for a return.
COST
The 33-M’s don’t come free. Depending on the source, the 33-M’s run from $125 to $139.99 before tax and shipping. That’s a nice chunk of change, but when you’re buying the latest and greatest in running tech, you’re paying for what you get.SUMMARY
Overall the 33-M’s appear to be a solid shoe. They are reliable and have been built to withstand some serious punishment.They are geared to a specific market. The natural running experience is their target, and that may not work for everyone. It’s not to say the 33-M’s wouldn’t serve a purpose, but it’s a large price tag to add a part time runner to your closet. But, ASICS and CitySports.com have several options to address your needs. We just reviewed one of them.
Will we continue to run with our 33-M’s? Yes. They offer the ability to target weaker running muscles groups, therefore proving useful in the war on triathlon. They may not serve as everyday race flats, but they made the rotation.
Would we continue to buy more 33-M’s after our test pair gets retired? Probably not. It’s not a knock on the shoe, but a testament that needs of runners are very unique to the individuals and not just any shoe will fill that need.
We would definitely recommend checking out CitySports.com for future purchases. They have been very reactive to our questions and concerns and seem to care about online customers. They want you happy with what you buy from them. The order process is smooth and it’s not a fly by night operation that may go offline at any time.
For those that made it this far in the review, reward yourself with 20% off the ASICS 33-M with code “TRI20” at CitySports.com.
* Writer's note - City Sports provided the products for this review at no cost and did not influence this review.
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