ASICS Metarise 2 'Paris'
Colorway: Safety Yellow/Black · Style code: 1051A078-750 · Release date: June 25, 2024 · Price: $354 · Availability: Available now
ASICS splits its volleyball range by what a player actually does on court, and the Metarise sits at the jumping end of that split; the brand points outside and inside hitters toward it specifically for take-off power. The second generation adds a carbon-fibre-reinforced plate under the forefoot to spread pressure through the push-off, and pairs it with RISETRUSS, the sidewall structure ASICS uses to steady the foot through acceleration and landing.
The midsole is FlyteFoam Blast Plus Eco. FlyteFoam itself dates to 2016, developed at the ASICS Institute of Sport Science in Kobe; the Blast branch of the family trades some firmness for rebound, and the Eco suffix marks the recycled-content version of that compound. On a shoe listing at $230, the plate and the foam are what the money buys.
Against the rest of the range, the Metarise 2 sits apart from the Netburner Ballistic FF, which ASICS aims at players who cover ground laterally, and alongside the Sky Elite FF, the model built around repeated jumping at the net. The Safety Yellow and black treatment keeps the plate housing and outsole visible rather than hiding them.