Asics Gel Nimbus 21 'Black'
Colorway: Black/Dark Grey · Style code: 1011A169-001 · Release date: June 2019 · Price: $2682 · Availability: Available now
More colorways: ASICS Gel Nimbus 21 'Classic Red' (1011A169-002) · Asics Gel Nimbus 21 'Black' (1011A169-004) · Asics Gel Nimbus 21 'Black Electric Blue' (1011A169-005) · Asics Gel Nimbus 21 'Mako Blue' (1011A169-402) · Asics Gel Nimbus 21 'Safety Yellow' (1011A169-750)
Nimbus is Latin for cloud, and ASICS has been fairly literal about it since the line began in 1999. The brief has never really changed: maximum cushioning for neutral runners and under-pronators, positioned above the Cumulus in both price and softness, with the marketing built almost entirely around how the shoe feels on landing.
The twenty-first version came near the end of the line's traditional era. It still ran discrete Gel units at heel and forefoot under a FlyteFoam midsole, with a structured mesh upper and a conventional heel-to-toe drop. Four years later the twenty-fifth generation would raise stack heights past forty millimetres, cut the drop and replace GEL with the lighter PureGEL, changing what the shoe felt like underfoot more than any single update before it.
Black with dark grey shading is about as plain as this model gets, which suits a shoe bought for daily mileage rather than for looks. It reached shelves in June 2019.