The Gel-Nimbus 26 is for runners who want a supremely comfortable cruiser. With top-of-the-line comfort and impressive durability, this is a shoe that can eat up a lot of miles. You won't want it as a training partner in hard or fast workouts.

The slight weight increase up to 10.7 oz (men's size 9) pulls the Gel-Nimbus series out of the now-average weight for premium daily trainers and more into the traditional weight. This is not a shoe for fast running. Instead, it works best for recovery runs, easy runs and long runs.

Nike and Asics have a weird relationship. Nike's founder Phil Knight started by importing and distributing Japanese shoes from Onitsuka in the US. This went on for a good number of years before they had a falling out and Nike launched its own shoes. Onitsuka is actually the parent company of Asics.

The main difference between the Asics Gel Nimbus 26 and Asics Gel Nimbus 25 running shoes is that the Asics Gel Nimbus 26 delivers increased performance, durability and traction with more outsole coverage, while the Asics Gel Nimbus 25 is fractionally lighter.