7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The best tennis shoe I've owned., August 4, 2011
This review is from: ASICS Men's GEL-Resolution 3 Tennis Shoe (Apparel)
Here's my #1 rule when trying on any shoe: If it doesn't feel good on your foot when you are sitting down trying it on, it won't feel good doing anything else. Human feet come in lots of different shapes, so it's not reasonable to expect one shoe to provide an equally good fit for everyone.
Asics shoes seem like they were made for my specific foot (a little wider in the forefoot, slightly higher than average instep, normal arch), and I've been wearing only Asics running shoes since 1997. I should mention, too, that I weigh 200+ lbs. and play tennis 4-7 times a week. (Hey, what can I say? I love cookies!) I run my overweight butt off and hit the tennis balls pretty damn hard, so I'm murder on shoes.
A few years ago I owned a pair of Asics tennis shoes that weren't very good, so I've been shopping around since then. I tried quite a few top-of-the-line shoes from various brands, including Nike (comfy-for-Nikes -- which usually are sized small and run narrow -- but they literally BROKE after two weeks. Nike sent me a credit voucher, which I used to buy shorts), Adidas Barricades (great looking, but too constricting in the forefoot, very hot/sweaty, and a little slippery) and Babolats (comfy when standing still, too mushy in action, the useless velcro straps sometimes made clicking sounds, and I felt like a goof wearing red shoes).
After the Babolats -- which I gave to Goodwill with very little wear on them -- I started over, trying on shoes by Wilson, Nike, Head (yes, Head makes shoes now), Adidas (again), and Asics. In the store all of the Asics models felt reasonably comfortable, but the GEL-Resolution 3's ("GR3's" hereafter) also seemed to have a nice cushiness and a good side-to-side feel. Not that you can tell all that much about a shoe in a shoe store. So I decided to cough up the $115 (just my luck...why do I always have to like the most expensive ones?) and give the GR3's a whirl.
Well, folks, I just purchased my second pair of GR3's, and I have to say that the Asics GEL-Resolution 3 is best damn tennis shoe I've ever owned. They are very nearly perfect.
A few words about the 6-month outsole warranty (which the Babolats also had): You should never wear any shoe to the point that there is a hole in the sole, warranty be damned. Seriously, it's not safe or healthy for your feet. The warranty is *really* only saying that the outsole won't wear out like it's made of the same rubber used in pencil erasers.
So here's the quick-n-dirty of the GEL-Resolution 3's (and again, it's just my opinion...your feet may vary):
POSITIVES: GREAT FIT! Like, *awesome* fit. Seriously. Comfortably roomy in the forefoot, comfortably snug in the heel, the insole couldn't fit better if it was a custom orthotic. Nicely padded in the tongue and around the ankle. I don't think there is such thing as a tennis shoe that runs truly cool, but the GR3 is relatively breathable. I love that they have excellent traction, and they sometimes chirp on the court, especially when new, which is cool. My first pair of GR3's where white and the new pair I just bought are black with yellow accents. Both have a great look...I was even complimented just today on how cool the black pair look. They are a long way from cheap, but they are also in line with other manufacturer's high-end models, so I'd say they are a good value. Asics has struck a good weight balance with the GR3's, which don't feel especially heavy or light. (You'll usually trade durability and cushioning for lighter weight). And speaking of cushioning, the ride just can't be beat...that is, the shoe provides a wonderfully soft landing while still offering excellent support and stability. Asics might have been able to build them slightly lower to the ground by removing some of the cushioning, but I think they nailed it just right.
NEGATIVE: The ONE disappointment is relatively minor: Two of the plastic end-wraps of the laces had fallen off. Then again, have you *ever* had to re-lace a pair of shoes with the same laces? Modern laces simply never disintegrate (as did cotton laces of decades past). So I took a lighter to the tips where the plastic-end-wrap-thingies had fallen off, just to make sure they wouldn't fray, and that was the end of it. Needless to say, this is not much of a problem, but I thought I'd mention it in the hopes that someone from Asics reads this and gets a new shoelace supplier.
***** (5 out of 5 stars)
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
ow ow ow!, January 13, 2012
This review is from: ASICS Men's GEL-Resolution 3 Tennis Shoe (Apparel)
While I normally fit right in with 10D shoes, these were painfully narrow in the forefoot. KSwiss, Nike, New Balance, no problem, but these... I had to take them off after 30 seconds. A larger size wouldn't help, because there was already about a 3/4 inch gap in the toe. Given all the 5 star reviews here, I'll bet they're really comfortable if you have long, narrow feet.
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