ASICS Nimbus Mirai 2 Triples Its Bio-Based Foam Content and Holds $180

The ASICS NIMBUS MIRAI 2 arrives globally on October 1 at $180, the same price the original carried, and the headline ASICS chose for it is the return program. The more interesting change is buried three paragraphs into the product copy. The midsole foam moved from FF BLAST PLUS with 24 percent bio-based content to FF BLAST MIRAI, which ASICS says is crafted using at least 75 percent sugarcane-based material. That is a jump the press release does not lead with, and it is the biggest material shift between the two generations.

The NIMBUS MIRAI arrived in 2024 as ASICS’ circularity project inside the GEL-NIMBUS family. Its premise was recovery rather than recycled content: an upper built primarily from a single material so it can be sorted cleanly at end of life, and an ASICS-developed adhesive that holds the upper to the sole in use but releases when heat is applied. Take the shoe apart with heat, and the two halves go into separate material streams instead of a landfill. That construction is the whole point of the franchise, and it is why the shoe exists as a named line rather than a colorway of the standard GEL-NIMBUS. The runner is part of the loop by design. ASICS asks owners to send worn pairs back through its return program, currently running in the US, UK, Netherlands, France, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, and China, and the recovered material feeds future products. Run, return, repeat is the brand’s own shorthand for it. It is a modest idea executed seriously, and it separates this line from the recycled-content marketing that most brands settled for.

The second generation keeps the disassembly logic and changes the foam and the weight. FF BLAST MIRAI replaces FF BLAST PLUS, taking bio-based content from 24 percent to at least 75 percent sugarcane-derived material. The engineered knit upper carries over, and at least 1 percent of the ASICS stripe embroidery now uses recycled polyester yarn pulled from first-generation NIMBUS MIRAI uppers collected through the return program, including wear-test samples and worn consumer pairs. A QR code on the tongue points owners to the return instructions. The launch colorway is Cream and Calm Indigo under style code 1013A197, listed as unisex, with an 8 mm drop and a stated weight of 263 g, or 9.3 oz. ASICS puts the carbon footprint at 4.9 kg CO2e per pair against 6.1 kg for the original, about a 20 percent reduction under the brand’s methodology version 1.4.

One number needs flagging. ASICS’ press release says the shoe is approximately 37 grams lighter than its predecessor. The two product pages on ASICS.com list the original at 285 g and the NIMBUS MIRAI 2 at 263 g, a difference of 22 g. Both figures come from ASICS, and the gap is most likely a difference in sample size or gender between the release and the spec sheet, but the brand has not said which. The weight is real either way. The exact number is not settled. The cushioning rating also moved, from Maximum on the original to High on the v2, which is the trade a 20-plus-gram cut usually implies. Anyone buying the MIRAI 2 expecting the original’s plush ride should know the platform got firmer as it got lighter.

Holding $180 across two generations is the quiet accomplishment here. Sustainability programs normally arrive with a premium attached, and this one does carry $10 over the standard GEL-NIMBUS 28 at $170, but the gap did not widen while the bio-content tripled. That is the number to watch on this franchise. A circular shoe that costs meaningfully more than the conventional version stays a statement product. One that lands within $10 of it can become the default, and ASICS appears to be steering toward the second outcome. The original still sells at $180, so there is no clearance signal ahead of the sequel. Worth noting for anyone weighing the two: the first-generation shoe is the one currently on shelves, and its take-back program is the same one the v2 uses, so buying the older pair does not put a runner outside the loop.

The NIMBUS MIRAI 2 releases globally on October 1 at $180 in Cream and Calm Indigo, style code 1013A197. ASICS is taking notifications now at ASICS, and Fleet Feet currently stocks the first-generation model at the same price. For more ASICS this season, see the ASICS SONICBLAST 2 and the ASICS BLOOMSTRIDE.

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The Sneakers Team

The Sneakers Team is the editorial desk behind becausesneakers, founded and edited by Nick Engvall. Nick has spent more than two decades in the sneaker industry. He built the original Eastbay Blog, led the first dedicated sneaker team at Complex, ran the first UGC and seeding programs at Finish Line, was employee number nine at StockX, and served as Senior Director at Stadium Goods. He hosts the Sneaker History podcast, and his first book, Small Luxuries: Sneakers, arrives in October 2026 from Motorbooks. Release details on this site are checked against the brand's own product information before publication, and anything we cannot confirm is labelled rather than stated.

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