Category: New Balance

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New Balance FuelCell Impulse Performance Review

Nowadays in the world full of various shoes brands, New Balance still remains true to the original aspiration and is striving hard to its ambitions. Founded in 1906 in Boston, the American city of marathon, New Balance  is known as “the king of running shoes” and one of the top four running shoes. On November 4, 2018, the New york marathon, one of the world’s six largest marathons, kicked off as scheduled. Albeit I wasn’t on the scene, I still felt lucky enough to be given the opportunity to test this New Balance FuelCell Impulse. If you want to know whether the shoe agrees with you, then just gon on checking with me. 

A single shoe weighs 232 grams. I have to admit that this is a tremendous job New Balance has done and it seems never did it fail me in this respect.

The appearance of New Balance FuelCell Impulse, from my point of view, differs from many ordinary ones in that it adopts the black shoe body, making the whole somewhat “mysterious”. You can see in the vamp, the tongue and the shoelaces the glittering  NYC logo. And if you do not like this colorway, there are still other options for you. I am sure there must be one that fits you.

The vamp consists of two layers: the outside layer is the breathable TPU, offering support while the inner super-thin layer brings you comfort and nice wrapping experience. The  fabric upper makes the shoes to be very breathable and light,  allowing in extra air. And the sides having not printed logos this time, the shoe looks very simple but it is practical in fact.

As the New Balance FuelCell Impulse adopts the one-piece inner boot design, the wrapping is very good, avoiding the situation that the tongue of the shoe goes off during exercise. The shoe tongue is printed with the gold logo which is also indispensable in the insole. In hot summer days, the thin and breathable insole can perfectly fit your feet and help dissipate heat when you are running. Besides, the toe part has a certain extent of elasticity and support and meanwhile protects your toes from injury.

The midsole is made of RevLite EVA foam and FuelCell nitrogen with the former supporting most part of the midsole and the latter just a thin layer. Actually, it is the foam that offers nice response and feedback. Having tested the shoe, what is most impressive of the shoe, for me, is the tech in fore part, which gives me efficient cushioning as well as sufficient rebound.

The rubber is used in the heel and the forefoot, the fore part a novel design. As for the heel, it is surrounded with rubber for it wears out easily. The LOGO of “New Balance” is printed on the parallel line and the foam of RevLite is in the middle.The reduction in rubber made the shoes lighter, bringing less burden to wearers. 

The feeling that the shoe is breathable and comfortable always remains in my mind however long the time has passed. If asked to sump up the shoe in a word, there is only one word surging into my mind: nice!

In the first trial of running, my experience was that the shoe rubbed my feet and caused some pain at the heel because the shoes were new. But later the pain disappeared. And during the whole process of running the shoe wrapped my feet superbly. That impressed me a lot. Then even after 5 miles of running, I did not in the least feel any sweat under my feet and the rebound effect is not degraded after running for a long time.

When I was running on slopes, the fore part of the shoe gripped nicely so that it reduced shock, preventing my knees from injuries.

Overall:

To summarize, the fabric upper makes the running experience unforgettable, which is resulted from its lightness and breathability; in terms of the appearance, it is simple but graceful; the cushioning is also an excellent setup: the combination of Foam and FuelCell nitrogen is a work of originality; what’s more,  its strong feedback can cope with a variety of problems; the upper also sticks to your feet nicely whatever kind of action you do. So just believe it and you will get surprised by its performance.

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New Balance Fresh Foam Zante Performance Review

As a well-known century-old international brand, of course New Balance has its own compelling features and has its own representative masterpiece among which the retro shoes should be said to be the most famous and popular ones. Notwithstanding the achievements already gained, New Balance is still striving hard to reach another peak; that is to make the brand a much more professional and influential one.

Concerning one of New Balance’s most professional running shoes, I’d like to talk about the one,  New Balance Fresh Foam Zante, released last year that beckons countless fans from all over the world.

Zante is one of the most popular and reputable one in Fresh foam series. With regard to the shoe box there is not much to talk about. It is an average box, nothing special. In terms of the appearance, as you can see, the most impressive part is the “N” logo. You must have found that the Fresh Foam Zante has a thinner overall shape and somewhat it looks a bit like a boat from the side, which is quite distinct from the traditional retro shoes. 

Being quite lucky to get the opportunity to try this Fresh Foam Zante, I feel rather astonished at the comfortable experience it brings to me because Fresh Foam Zante adopts the technology of flying knitting and mesh knitting vamp. Both of them, on the other hand, contribute to the exceptional wrapping at the heel. For me the shoe fits my feet perfectly from toe to heel, but it might not be that friendly to wide footers. So I suggest you have  a try on stores rather then rush to a decision.

You might find it hard to think it as a shoe of New Balance but for the “NB” logo. And if you happen to have one pair of this Fresh Foam Zante you’ll also find that the special printing and dyeing will not fall off or wear out due to long wear and use, which is another highlight of the shoe.

Besides the logo part, the materials adopted at the heel is also used to reduce friction so that you won’t feel pain when putting on the shoes.

In spite of the tightly knitted vamp which is elaborately designed, the shoe is still breathable and it warps your feet  superbly. And with respect to the remarkable breathability I deem that it should be ascribed to the countless holes in the surface. Even if you are exercising in hot summer days you simply have no need worrying about the bothering sweat for New Balance has made provision for you.

Moreover, due to the soft materials of the vamp the shoe is bent easily, from which you can elicit a conclusion that the comfort of the shoe is guaranteed.

For the supporting and cushioning  I just can’t praise it too much because the soles of the shoes are of moderate hardness, neither too hard nor too soft.

The extent of softness in the midsole varies a lot so that it not only ensures stable support, but also prevents too soft cushioning from causing the runner to slip. On the personal level, the cushioning is rather important for me because it reduces the impact of shock to my knees when I am running. And from the side the concave and convex pattern in the outsole is clearly seen. It is the pattern that does a nice job in enhancing traction and grip. For professional athletes this is of great help whereas for daily exercise its help may not be that transparent. 

As for the sole, it is made of a layer of material similar to silica gel and it feels very soft. Looking at the sole closer you’ll also find many small holes in it, thus add more breathability.

The sole is about 3 mm thick and it absorbs sweat nicely, so here I highly recommend it to those marathon participants and running enthusiasts. 

The first time I wore it out it gave me an illusion that I were just wearing a pair of socks.

For people who are used to running with their forefoot, they might feel they are stepping on a pillow for the fore part of the shoe is relatively soft.

A shoe of Fresh Foam Zante weighs about 245 grams in which I think New Balance does quite an excellent job. So you can imagine the fantastic feeling the lightness and comfort can bring to you.

Compared with some other running shoes that are characterized by exceptional cushioning, Fresh Foam Zante instead is featured with its moderate softness. Hence you can choose the one that suits you best according to the their different merits.

I do not contend that Fresh Foam Zante is suitable for everyone, but that it can live up to most expectations of yours. I even wore it out on rugged roads and it just turned out to be as satisfying as usual.

Here I suggest you might as well try this New Balance Fresh Foam Zante if you’d never experienced it; chances are that you may get astounded at its nice performance and more surprisingly it will become a companion that you can count upon.