In production · road · Daily / Long run / Recovery · $170
Big, bouncy PEBA-blend daily with a playful rocker.
Built for daily, long run, recovery, at a target pace of 8:00–11:00 /mi on road.
New Balance tuned this midsole very soft (5/5 on our cushioning scale). The foam is highly resilient — it gives energy back rather than swallowing it, which is what makes the shoe feel eager when you push. At 44 mm of heel stack this sits in max-cushion territory; legs stay fresher on long efforts, but the platform is tall. Combined, the ride reads as snappy at 4/5 responsiveness.
There is no plate here. The midsole does all the work, so the shoe flexes naturally and stays versatile across paces — easier on the feet day to day, but without the snap of a plated shoe when you want to roll.
A 6 mm drop is the mainstream middle — familiar to almost anyone coming from a standard trainer. The rocker is aggressive: the sole is curved and stiff enough to tip you into the next stride on its own, which saves the calf on long runs but feels strange when you slow right down. The forefoot is stiff, so it rolls rather than bends — a lever, not a slipper. Support is light — neutral, with a mildly steady platform.
The toe-box is standard width — comfortable for most feet without swimming. It fits true to size. Expect roughly 400 miles from the outsole, about $0.42 per mile at $170.
For the foams and plates New Balance uses across its line, read the New Balance brand guide.
Measured against the 542 currently-available shoes in the catalog. The bar shows where this shoe sits in that range.
Weight
270 g / 9.5 oz
5 g lighter than the catalog median of 275 g
Heel stack
44 mm
8 mm taller than the catalog median of 36 mm
Drop
6 mm
Level with the catalog median of 6 mm
Price
$170
10 pricier than the catalog median of 160
Responsiveness
4 / 5
Catalog median 3 / 5
Cushioning
5 / 5
Catalog median 4 / 5
Energy return
5 / 5
Catalog median 3 / 5
Durability
~400 mi
Catalog median ~400 mi
Within the New Balance line it is lighter than the brand's median (278 g / 9.8 oz) and sits taller than its median stack (36 mm).
Current shoes with the nearest combination of weight, stack, drop, foam feel and plate.
Tracksmith Eliot Ryder(2026)
269 g / 9.5 oz · 45 mm · 7 mm drop · — · $220
Max-cushion trainer built on a 25 mm supercritical ATPU drop-in midsole.
Mount to Coast P1(2025)
265 g / 9.3 oz · 42 mm · 6 mm drop · — · $190
Max-cushion road ultra shoe designed for hours, not miles.
New Balance Fresh Foam X 1080 v15(2025)
275 g / 9.7 oz · 46 mm · 6 mm drop · — · $170
Taller, rockered and plush — NB's flagship soft daily.
Asics Superblast 2(2024)
252 g / 8.9 oz · 45 mm · 8 mm drop · — · $200
Race-foam stack in a trainer chassis. Long runs that finish faster than they started.