crooked tongues magazine News Features

For all the great makeups, the Lyte Speed has been fairly anonymous next to the retro rollout collossus that is the Gel Lyte III. Maybe we haven't been paying attention so far, but for all the good looking variations, none have exploited the lightweight, mesh-heavy point-of-difference the shoe provided circa. 1991 with the fully meshed-out toe. These do. ASICS have broken a few barriers over the years with their runners, but the dips into the archive have been pretty damned cautious so far - this version of the shoe gives it its identity back. We still feel that Gel makes a shoe more comfortable -are we kidding ourselves? We think not, and the split tongue makes for a more comfortable wear. Twin that with the shorn weight, and this model comes into its own. Seeing as this colourway harks back to a time when speckled soles were still ultra-impressive, that application defies critique, and it's little wonder that the likes of the Lyte Speed linked professional runners and 'Lo heads alike looking for the unique looks, back in an era before everyone shamelessly bought the same sneaker. White with blue detailing? This is that piff for the hotter months. Less is always more and these are available to pre-order <a href="http://www.crookedtongues.com/store/footwear/asics/1505/gel-lyte-speed-pre-buy/">in-store</a> now. There's still mileage in pieces with a strong athletic heritage - hopefully ASICS will capitalise on the gems they've got stashed away...