ASICS Men's GEL-Venture 5 Trail Runner

Like most Asics sneakers at the $50 ish price point, we got these for casual use a few times a week, and don't put them through the ringer as they are not made for / meant for heavy duty use or work etc. I think some of the issues people have may be from putting them through too vigorous use (other than running) but as long as you understand these are running sneakers and not work shoes or heavy duty shoes, you should get a good amount of use from them. (Note - we don't use these for actually running :) so can't speak to wear with that.For day to day normal use though they have held up wonderfully, lots of walking and light things like moving furniture now and then etc.LOOK: Great colors (we have a few but the favorites are the blue/neon ones that I posted photos of below! A little different and cool looking but not too crazy or loud.) Nicely made, no weird stitching, even, definitely happy with Asic quality at the $50 ish price point.FIT: Easy on/off and a very comfortable fit even from the start before they broke in (which did not take too long) True to size with a nice slight bit of room for a thicker sock like a Thorlo or a work sock and a replacement insole that's usually thicker than the stock one. If you are between sizes I would go up one and not down, though.QUALITY: We for years thought of Asics as middle of the line, so so quality wise brand -- but these and the few others we have gotten seem to be quite well made and have held up great even at the year + mark. Our previous pair only started to really break down at 2+ years - pretty good in this price range. No noticeable wear or issues other than normal wear/tear -- will update as usual if this does change.PRICE: Paid $45 during a sale. The normal price seems to be $55-$65 and still not a bad deal.Overall - cool color options, easy to wear/true fit, nicely priced at around $50 and have held up nicely with normal use.

I originally purchased a pair just to walk around in, but ended up taking for a jog while traveling, and a couple years ater I have bought about 4 pairs.Before you think, 4 pairs in 2 years, that sucks, let me explain. I am pretty heavy for my height and put a pounding on a shoe. When i was much lighter and ran distance and XC, a pair of asic gel lite trainers would last me about 3-5 mo before being completely broken down. thats insole, upper, and outsole all showing wear and degradation. fast forward 20 years, and i dont run distance, but I do cross train among other things, boxing. Now conventional wisdom says running shoes are not for cross training, let alone boxing, and i generally agree- softer EVA midsoles and cool tread patterns for running aren't designed for heavy static loads and twisting pivot motions of boxing. But after doing it anyway, I found that this shoe was built like a tank, and could take the abuse.The fact that i had to ditch my first pair completely grimed up (saltwater, sweat, and mud) without any wear showing on the outsole or upper tell you its a tough shoe for the price. With the second pair. I had started more volume in the gym and after almost a year the pair i have is pretty compressed but still comfortable, with not a single part out of place. So this round I bought 2 pair to allow me to alternate, which you should do if you train daily, as it prolongs the life of your shoe a bit more than if you wore them every day.so in summary, i think this is a great all around shoe, probably not best for high volume road miles, but great for walking, and GP workout if you like the runner fit for that work. Solid construction, good lateral stability, and medium heel and low forefoot cushion.

First: These are absolutely trail shoes above all else. If you do a lot of street running, look elsewhere.Second: Fantastic shoe. I could not believe the quality for the money I paid for them. Top notch.I run a 10k on the road every day, and after reading numerous reviews on this site and others surrounding these shoes and numerous people who use them for road running, I decided to bite. I am on a budget, and this is a hard time of year to find street shoes for less than a hundred bucks. After coming from a light weight street running shoe, I absolutely cannot recommend these for street running. I know they are a trail running or "multi surface running shoe", but after seeing the sheer volume of users who take to the black top with them I decided to bite.So, why don't I like them for street running, you may ask? Primarily, weight. These are bulky, at least twice the weight of my previous shoe, and the break in period was quite painful for the first week.I took my dogs to some very steep local trails recently (I live near the very hilly finger lakes region of New York) and these shoes are PHENOMENAL trail shoes. I was running top speed through a very narrow, tree, rock, and root ridden trail that curved this way and that with almost every step and felt unstoppable. The grip felt like I had cleats on. Despite the speed, I could turn on a dime, using trees to propel my momentum through the curves, and not feeling a thing beneath my feet despite the various terrain types I was covering (from rocky to slipper needle covered loose dirt).I knocked a star for personal reasons, and really, it's a reason that the shoe wasn't exactly designed for, so I'm not really sure if it's even fair for me to do so. I only did this as many other reported a great road running experience, and I feel they came up short in that regard.As far as trail running goes: are their better shoes out there? Yes. Are you going to find them for anywhere near this price? Absolutely not. If you're on a budget, and run trails, these are your shoe.And lastly, as I forgot to mention above, the fit was perfect.