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Asics Gel Lyte V: less tongue, more canvas

The Gel Lyte 3 became famous for its split tongue. The Gel Lyte V, which followed later, threw that feature overboard. Where the 3 divides its tongue in two, on the V the upper runs as an uninterrupted plane from the toe to the collar, with the laces over a closed sock construction. On paper that sounds like giving up a trademark. In practice it produced something that proved more valuable: space.

Look at what’s on this page and you’ll see what that space has done. Of the 136 versions, dozens bear the name of a store or designer: Ronnie Fieg, Concepts, Bodega, Bait, Mita, Monkey Time, Commonwealth, Extra Butter, The Good Will Out, Saint Alfred, United Arrows. A smooth, closed flank is simply easier for a designer to paint than a divided one.

The construction remains the same across all those versions. GEL-LYTE V is printed on the side panel, just above the tiger stripes, which sit as a separate glossy panel on the mesh with a contrast outline. The midsole runs into a wavy dividing line at the heel, and in two-tone versions that wave becomes a graphic element. asics is pressed into the midsole wall. The GEL cushioning sits in the heel without a window: you feel it, you don’t see it.

Pay attention to the spelling when searching. Some titles use the Roman numeral (Gel-Lyte V), others the Arabic (Gel Lyte 5), and in many older collaborations the abbreviation GL 5 or GL5 appears in the name. It’s always the same shoe.

Within Asics this is the most decorated branch. The Gel Lyte 3 has the split tongue and the best-known silhouette, the Gel Lyte term covers the whole line, and the Gel Lyte V Sanze Knit is the knitted modernization attempt. Anyone who wants the same 1990s running shape without that long collaboration history should look at the Gel-NYC.

On this page you see which versions of the Asics Gel Lyte V are hottest now according to the Hypescore, the starting price, and how many shops have them in stock.