ASICS METASPEED Ray Review

The ASICS METASPEED Ray is for you if...

You want one of the best-fitting elite racing shoes on the market 

You want to experience an absurdly light, 4.6-oz shoe

You prioritize light and fast over stable and durable 

What is the ASICS METASPEED Ray made for?

A few weeks ago, we dropped our double review for the ASICS METASPEED Edge and Sky Tokyo super racers. The shoes represented specialized, stable race-day shoes that catered to two different foot strikes, with the Edge supporting quicker turnovers, and the Sky suited to longer, more open strides. But throughout that dual review, we kept mentioning a third METASPEED shoe—the Ray—over and over and over.  

We appreciated the Edge and the Sky, and the stability and specialization baked into their designs made it feel like the shoes left just a little bit of performance in their tank. It was as if there were an opportunity for the METASPEEDs to cut their brake lines completely and for ASICS to attempt something truly unbelievable. And so it was that in those ASICS labs, a third METASPEED was forged.  

The METASPEED Ray Tokyo stands as ASICS’ “big swing” racing shoe for 2025. Weighing a full ounce lighter than their Sky and Edge brethren, with practically no weight dedicated to things like ‘stability,’ or ‘durability,’ and with caution thrown entirely to the wind, the Ray is a pure speed offering that takes the biggest gambles possible in an effort to elevate your race day experience to the highest of heights. It’s the type of shoe that, if ASICS stuck the landing, then the Rays could cement themselves as ASICS’ greatest racing shoe to date. Or, if things like the FF Leap superfoam didn’t land just right, then it could implode into a total, completely unrunnable flop. With the Edge and Sky existing as “safer” options to buoy the METASPEED line back to safety, ASICS took its swing.  

So... how’d it go? Sink? Or Swim? We laced up and found out.

Comfort

Super shoes can be notoriously uncomfortable. The minimalism needed to keep super shoes’ weights down, combined with carbon fiber plates, can lead to some unpleasantly rough rides. Fortunately, that’s not the case here. 

We can’t say enough good things about this shoe. Comfort-wise, it provides an on-foot experience that feels natural and effortless. The upper is extremely thin, but buttery soft and it disappears on foot. The underfoot is compressive, yet bouncy, and feels just as great on mile 1 as it does on mile 10. It’s not going to offer some “luxurious” training experience, but for a stripped down, high performance racing shoe, it offers a wonderfully enjoyable experience. It’s the type of shoe that you look forward to running in for multiple hours, instead of cramming your foot into it and “toughing it out” for the sake of your PR.

Performance

In a word: Wow. 

In two-hundred, thirty-three words: The METASPEED Ray is easily one of the best performing racing shoes that we’ve ever worn. Its weight, bounciness, and underfoot feel makes it a clear market leader, with an unreal weight to cushioning ratio that somehow stays legal in stack height for pro competitions per the World Athletics governing body. It’s maximally stacked AND 4.6 ounces. How? We cannot get over how ridiculously lightweight this shoe is. 

Having a midsole composed entirely of brand-new FF Leap foam was a bold choice, but it paid off. That commitment to ASICS’ new foam resulted in a ride that’s a little bit shaky and unstable, but that shakiness is easily overlooked when compared to the ultimate energy return that we received. The foam has that “alive and constantly vibrating” quality that we crave in a super foam.  

We tested the shoes through 10k races, 20+ mile workouts, and more, and noted that its absence of weight makes it absolutely disappear on foot, with the cushioning able to handle any distance. Taking tight turns may not be the shoes’ strength, thanks to the lateral instability and the heel bevel necessary to keep it World Athletics legal, but straightaways feel so effortless as to be worth it. We’ll note that it’s NOT a shoe that you want to walk/jog home in, if you happen to ‘bonk,’ but that’s not the point of this shoe. This shoe wants to go fast. You should let it. 

Fit

Taking several cues from its Edge and Sky brothers, the METASPEED Ray does a great job of providing a snug and secure design with enough room in the toe box for your foot to breathe. It’s a truly seamless design that allowed us to focus on our racing with every slip-on, instead of focusing on our shoes. With a confident midfoot and heel lockdown that beat out other super shoes, the Ray provides one of the best—if not THE best—fits on the market, with our standard-foot-width reviewer and our narrower-foot-width reviewer both singing the shoes’ praises. It fits like a glove and is “exactly what we would want for race day.”