ASICS GEL-KAYANO 12.1 White Black Blue (1203A759-107): releasing 1 October 2026

The ASICS GEL-KAYANO 12.1 in White Black Blue, style code 1203A759-107, lands on Thursday 1 October 2026 at £170. It is a hybrid: the upper of the GEL-KAYANO 12 from 2006 sitting on the tooling of the GEL-NIMBUS 17 from 2015. Buy through ASICS UK with Soleback cashback active and part of that comes back, since at £170 every 1 per cent is £1.70 returned.

What drops on 1 October

The pair carries the code 1203A759-107 and is listed as White Black Blue. The 107 is one of around a dozen executions in the 1203A759 family, alongside 001 (Black/Pure Silver), 002 (Black/Obsidian Grey), 104 (White/Graphite Grey), 105, 108, 250, 300 and 701. ASICS also runs the separate code 1203A827 for further versions of the same silhouette.

Release day is Thursday 1 October 2026. The Sole Supplier lists the pair at £170, which matches the standing retail price of the GEL-KAYANO 12.1 in the UK.

Why 12.1 rather than just 12

The name is doing real work. The GEL-KAYANO 12.1 joins two shoes from two decades:

• Upper: the GEL-KAYANO 12 from 2006, with its layered construction and metallic overlays

• Tooling: the sole unit of the GEL-NIMBUS 17 from 2015, originally engineered for comfort over the marathon distance

ASICS describes the upper as drawing on European gothic armour, hence the sense of overlapping plates and the metallic sheen across the panels. Underneath that layer sits open mesh, which handles airflow.

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The tech

• Twin GEL units: cushioning inserts placed through the midsole, there to absorb impact

• FLUIDRIDE: a cushioning structure that pairs low weight with durability, carried over from the running line

• Open mesh: underlays that raise air circulation through the upper

• Metallic overlays: a visual quote from the 2006 original, and structural, since they stiffen the midfoot

Where the model came from

The GEL-KAYANO 12.1 is not an ordinary archive reissue. Ronnie Fieg brought the silhouette back with Kith, showing it in summer 2024 as a collaboration. For over a year the Kith pairs were the only route to this construction, and they sat well above what the general release costs today.

The general release versions, known as GR, only arrived in 2025, across several colourways spread over June, August and October. Since then the model has been a permanent fixture in the ASICS SportStyle range.

Through 2026 the silhouette became one of the most used canvases for collaborations. It has already carried the atmos Raden version (1203A976-001), PACE (1203B001-100), a project with Albino & Preto and a pair for Thai boutique CARNIVAL.

Where to buy

• ASICS UK: the official source, £170, full size run at launch

• END.: Newcastle retailer with consistent ASICS coverage

• size?: high street chain, often holds sizes after launch day

• Footpatrol: London boutique with a strong ASICS SportStyle selection

• BSTN: German store shipping to the UK, useful for hard to find sizes

• Solebox: Berlin chain with a UK storefront

The full list of stores with active cashback sits in the Soleback catalogue.

What cashback is actually worth here

At £170 the maths is simple. Every 1 per cent is £1.70. At 3 per cent you get £5.10 back, at 5 per cent £8.50, at 7 per cent £11.90, roughly the price of a decent pair of technical socks to go with them.

For the rebate to register, click through before you buy: open the ASICS page on Soleback first, then go to the shop from there. If you would rather not remember that every time, the Soleback extension prompts you to activate whenever you land on a listed store.

New accounts also get the welcome bonus, which stacks on top of the rebate from the first order.

Watch outs for this release

• App versus browser: cashback registers on browser purchases, buying inside a retailer app usually will not track

• Codes from elsewhere: a voucher found outside Soleback can zero the commission, and then there is nothing to pay out from

• Sizing: the GEL-KAYANO 12.1 runs wide and well padded, so narrow feet should consider going half a size down

• Approval time: sports retailers typically release rebates after the returns window closes, so patience beats speed

The bottom line

1203A759-107 is the next general release of a shoe that started as an exclusive Kith project. £170 buys a construction built from two ASICS classics, visible GEL units and a sole originally designed for the marathon. It drops on 1 October 2026, and if you were buying anyway, activating cashback takes seconds.