New Balance Women's Fresh Foam Sneaker

Product Information

Certain types of items cannot be returned. Please get in touch if you have questions or concerns about your specific item. I tried running with different gaits, landing on different parts of the foot, and different paces. No matter what I did, the landing of the shoe was audible every time. Below the midsole, the 1080 offers a very nice outsole. Using mostly blown rubber, the outsole is very durable and offers a great amount of grip for an everyday trainer. When looking at the negatives, they are fairly minimal. The upper is a bit too narrow in the toebox, but that issue will not be a problem for most runners.

When I put them side-by-side with shoes like the Saucony Triumph and Endorphin Shift, the 1080 is slightly lower – mostly due to the fit of the toebox. The upper has seen a redesign, but not a full overhaul. In this instance, New Balance kept their Ultra Heel structured heel cup and bootie design. This heel cup is honestly one of the best I’ve encountered.By the time a company has gotten past 10 editions of the same model, you know they have found something worth repeating. In this case, the 11th edition of the New Balance 1080s is no different. The outsole is pretty cool on the 1080v11. It’s almost a lugged design rather than a flat road trainer, and I dig this.

However, these negatives don’t even come close to offset the positives. The cushion is great, although it needs a couple of runs to break in, and quite responsive. The lacing structure features oval lace holes, which fit the flat laces well, but the holes are vertical and on odd angles. However, it also resulted in a toe-box that felt cramped for me. There were multiple times where I felt my big toe come off the edge of the sole unit. I’ve seen this on a few shoes this year, and I am not a fan, just sew in a simple finger loop, how hard is it? Fresh Foam 1080v11 is extremely breathable The New Balance 1080 v11 is better suited for longer efforts but does not scream speed (nor is it designed to). Although not as bouncy as other New Balance shoes, the Fresh Foam X midsole does infuse a lively little bounce to every stride that contributes to a smooth ride.Honestly, at the end of the day, I would compare them mostly to the New Balance Fresh Foam More v2 (perhaps my #4 shoe of 2020). It’s not as soft as the Mores but has much more energy return.

This is also where I have one of my main issues with this shoe. The blown rubber used on the outsole is very loud on concrete and asphalt.It secures the heel, while not putting any pressure on my Achilles. This is important to me, because of my experience with Achilles Tendonitis. However, they took about 10-15 miles to break in and get to feel softer on the forefoot. That was a surprisingly long break-in for me. To play devil's advocate here though, the heel slip issues were a much bigger concern just walking around in them where the slip is most pronounced. While running, it’s not as bad, but it's still slipping and annoying when it’s all you can think about every step. Heel tab doesn’t work This has always been, and remains, a supremely cushioned shoe, and NB has refined the feature again and again over time, mostly by reducing weight while not losing any of the gorgeous bounce ad plushness. Great value On the midsole, the company uses laser engravings to create a honeycomb design that helps compress and soften your landing. This is noticeable on heel strikes, but not as much on forefoot strikes.