New Balance FuelCell Rebel v4 Review
By Matthew Klein, Andrea Myers, & David Salas
New Balance FuelCell Rebel v4Price: $139.95 at Running Warehouse
Weight: 7.4 oz, 210 g (men's size 9), 6.3oz, 179g (women's size 8)
Stack Height: 34 mm / 28 mm
Drop: 6 mm
Shoe Purpose: Performance/Lightweight Trainer OR Non-Plated Racing Shoe
Pros: Versatile Ride, New PEBA Base Midsole, Inherently Stable Base, Same Lightweight Ride, Wider Fit
Cons: Early Wear On Exposed Sections of FuelCell Outsole, Insole Folds on Itself Easily
RUNNING SHOE SUMMARY
The New Balance FuelCell Rebel v4 is the PEBA-based update to the popular lightweight performance trainer. Featuring a brand new PEBA version of FuelCell, the ride becomes faster and bouncier than ever. A new wider upper/forefoot sits up top while a secure midfoot and heel keep the platform locked to the foot no matter what the pace. Version 4 features a new geometry with a wider midfoot that makes for a surprisingly stable ride. The incredibly lightweight for a performance trainer is maintained, which combined with the new midsole creates a shoe that can handle daily training to racing for those who do not want or do well with plated super shoes.
SIMILAR SHOES: Hoka Mach 6, Saucony Kinvara 14
PAST MODEL: New Balance FuelCell Rebel v3
FIT
(To learn how a shoe should fit, check out our full podcast on fit by Matt Klein.)
Matt: The New Balance FuelCell Rebel v4 fits me true to size if slightly short in my normal Men's US size 10. The upper is an engineered mesh that fits wider in the forefoot and normal in the heel. The forefoot is rounded, although the slightly short fit comes from the fairly large toe spring that caused some mild pressure on my largest toe while standing. While running I have not noticed this at all over longer miles, likely due to how thin the translucent upper is. This transitions into a normal-width forefoot with a thin gusseted tongue. The laces are slightly thicker and fortunately do not need to be tied that tight for a secure fit. The heel fits normal to slightly snug with a low to moderate amount of heel collar cushioning. There is a moderately flexible heel counter that did not bother me but with the low level of padding may be troublesome for those with extremely sensitive heels. The security is good and I did not have to lace lock the heel. I would not suggest sockless running as the inner aspect of the upper is a little scratchy. Additionally, the insole can slip and fold on itself if you are wearing socks with traction on the bottom or going sockless. Thus I would suggest normal socks with this shoe and making sure to flatten down the insole when you take the shoe off.
Typical Size: Men's US Size 10
Shoes that have fit Matt well: Saucony Guide 17, ASICS Kayano 30, Hoka Gaviota 5, Saucony Endorphin Elite, Nike Ultrafly
Shoes that have fit snug: Hoka Arahi 7, Saucony Kinvara 14
Shoes that have fit large: Salomon S/Lab Phantasm 2, Altra Timp 5
Andrea: The New Balance FuelCell Rebel v4 fits slightly short in my usual women's 9.5, but not enough that I would go up 1/2 size. The toe box has ample width and is almost reminiscent of the toe box width of the Beacon v3. The midfoot is normal to slightly wide and the rearfoot is normal width and fits securely thanks to a semi-rigid heel counter and a small amount of internal padding. The gusseted, thin tongue provides a secure wrap around the dorsum of the foot and is further held in place by a lace loop. Due to the wider midfoot, I did have to tie the laces a little tighter than I normally do, but once I got the laces dialed, I had no issues with lockdown. The engineered mesh upper is comfortable and did not create any hot spots on my feet, even where the mesh creases over the dorsum of my toes. I was happy with the fit of the Rebel v4 and had zero fit related discomfort during my test runs.
Andrea's Typical Size: Women's US Size 9.5
Shoes that have fit Andrea well: New Balance Beacon v3, Brooks Hyperion Max, Topo Cyclone 2, Nike Vaporfly 3, Altra Via Olympus 2
Shoes that have fit snug: Saucony Kinvara 14 (length and toe box width), Altra FWD Experience (length and width), Hoka Cielo Road (toe box width), Saucony Endorphin Speed and Pro 1-3 (length)
Shoes that have fit large: Adidas Boston 12 (length), Adidas Adios 8 (length)
David: The New Balance Rebel v4 fit true to size in my Men's 9.5. The heel is a normal width, with the midfoot and forefoot being a bit wider. The tongue is on the thinner side, but padded just enough to prevent any biting from the laces. The upper material is pretty comfortable throughout and feels like a relatively softer mesh. There is a flexible heel counter that did not provide me any problems. The upper material has decent security and lockdown through it, though I will say the midfoot may feel a tad too roomy for me. I did find my foot wanting to move medially and laterally through that region.
Doctors of Running Checklist
Is This a Good Shoe for Walking: Yes
Is This a Good Shoe for Standing: Yes
Is the Forefoot Flexible: Somewhat
How Flexible is the Shoe: Somewhat
Is This a Good Heel Bevel: Yes
Recommended for Haglunds: Maybe
Recommended for Sockless: No
Durability Expectation: Average
PERFORMANCE
Matt: The FuelCell Rebel v4 is a versatile lightweight performance trainer. The midsole is a new PEBA blend of FuelCell with a bouncy but not unstable ride. There is no plate in the shoe and the forefoot has some moderate flexibility. The 7.4 oz weight (men's size 9) is immediately noticeable and combined with the softer sole and great geometry make this shoe feel especially light. The heel features a good bevel with a small central groove that allows for noticeable separate compression of the lateral aspect of the sole. This transitions into a wider and stable midfoot. The lack of a plate keeps the entire transition easy unless you pick up the pace. The forefoot has an early rocker, a large rocker and the lack of a plate allows for an easy transition with the aforementioned flexibility. This makes for a fairly rockered shoe that rolls and bounces with control. The cushioning, with a 34 mm / 28 mm stack height, provides plenty of protection without being mushy.
The FuelCell foam feels comfortable at easier efforts but comes to life more the faster you go. I have used this shoe for a long run, easy runs, a tempo run, hard intervals and the Rebel v4 has done well with all of them. It is not the fastest shoe but can certainly still move. I found this to be a great alternative to plated shoes when I did not want as much stiffness, wanted a super foam but still wanted my legs to work a little. The speeds I hit made me completely comfortable to use this shoe for anything on road. Those who do not respond well to plates will find this to also be an excellent racing shoe for a variety of distances from 10k and up. The outsole traction is fairly average and the amount of exposed FuelCell foam means this shoe should only be used on road surfaces. I have 30 miles on my pair with mild abrasion on the outsole rubber and significant wear on the exposed FuelCell foam. I expect to get an average number of miles out of these for a lightweight trainer if they are kept on smoother surfaces.
Andrea: The New Balance FuelCell Rebel v4 is a lightweight, bouncy, rockered performance trainer. I was excited to test v4 because I really enjoyed v3, but experienced discomfort just posterior to my 1st MTP because it felt like the shoe flexed behind the ball of my foot, resulting in medial arch pain. While v4 has significantly more longitudinal bending stiffness as compared to v3, I still felt like the shoe was flexing behind my 1st MTP, again causing medial arch pain. I also noticed that the rearfoot of the shoe felt lower than the forefoot at initial contact (like I was going to rock backwards, as if wearing a 90s strength shoe), which created a feeling of lag when transitioning from initial contact to mid stance. I land at my lateral midfoot, which corresponds to the narrower portion of the midfoot of the shoe. It seems that this occurs due to the interaction of the large heel bevel, early forefoot rocker, and lack of rubber outsole coverage at my point of initial contact. I thought that the lagging sensation would be reduced at faster paces, but it was just as noticeable at threshold pace or even during strides as it was at easy paces. This was disappointing, because otherwise I like the responsiveness and moderate compliance of the new PEBA FuelCell blend, as well as the comfortable fit. This isn't to say that I couldn't run in the shoe, but I felt like I was working harder to run any given pace in it, and the pain in my medial arch was annoying, but fortunately went away quickly after each run. Unfortunately, the Rebel v3 and now the Rebel v4 do not line up with my foot shape (short toes compared to total foot length) and mechanics (lateral midfoot strike). For those who do not have these issues, I think the Rebel v4 could be a great do it all shoe due to its light weight and responsive and protective midsole.
One of my test runs was in a downpour, and I had absolutely no issues with traction despite the lack of total rubber coverage. The mesh upper does not drain well, and after this run I poured a significant amount of water out of the shoes. The exposed midsole is already showing wear after 28 miles, but the rubber has minimal wear. The durability of the outsole will depend on a runner's individual mechanics.
David: The New Balance Rebel V4 did well in some areas and missed the mark in some others. Where the Rebel V4 did well was weight, traction, and general usage. The shoe has a very competitive weight for the stack height and softness of the midsole. I found that this shoe is one that you can get into rhythm with pretty easily at slower paces. The Fuel Cell is very soft and compliant underfoot, and so I would expect your foot to go through some larger ranges of motion, especially through the midfoot. The fit through the upper and softness in that region does predispose this to place a little more work on the intrinsic muscles of the foot. The Fuel Cell midsole was soft, though I did not get as much bounce from it as I thought I would. It felt a little flat at toe off, and I founded that I liked this more for easy rhythmic runs.
The ride of the shoe has a gentle rocker through the heel followed by a very flexible distal forefoot. The point of flexibility is right at the toes at end stage gait mechanics. At easy paces this felt fine and rhythmic, though you need to make sure you have good toe flexibility. At faster paces, the combination of the midfoot and flexible forefoot made for a time on the foot muscles. It felt almost like the windlass mechanism was getting activated nearly every step. Though that creates rigidity through the foot, having that happen over and over again isn't always fun. So though I didn't like it for faster efforts, controlled efforts and rhythmic paces were fine and I did enjoy running those. This could easily be a lightweight cushioned long run shoe and controlled tempo run shoe.
STABILITY
(Learn more about stability in our full guide)
Matt: The FuelCell Rebel V4 is a stable neutral shoe thanks to solid execution of geometry (that we speak frequently about). The entire sole is wider with a large amount of medial and lateral sole flare in the heel and forefoot. The midfoot is extremely wide, which combined with mild sidewalls in the heel and midfoot make for a stable-feeling, non-intrusive shoe. This is despite the softer FuelCell foam, which is also balanced by the amount and strategic medial and lateral placements of the outsole rubber and small central groove in the heel that allows separate compression of the lateral heel. The geometry is well-rockered and makes for an easy transition forward. While there are not any crazy methods of stability, the wide midfoot and sole flare makes for a solidly centered ride that has worked well for me even over longer efforts.
Andrea: The FuelCell Rebel v4 is a stable neutral shoe from a general perspective, but it actually created instability for me personally. The wide base and large amount of sole flare in the rearfoot and forefoot create a stable platform the entire length of the shoe. The large heel bevel and forefoot rocker should promote forward motion, although for me the combination of the rocker geometry and narrow portion of the midfoot actually promoted rearward motion (rocking backwards after initial contact) as opposed to forward motion, which it is designed to do. This shoe may perform more like a stable neutral shoe for rearfoot strikers, and may feel less stable for midfoot strikers due to the factors discussed above.
David: The FuelCell Rebel v4 is a very neutral shoe. The shoe has a very compliant midsole with a decent amount of play on the foot in the upper fit. Those with neutral mechanics who like flexible forefoots will probably enjoy this. The midfoot in the upper can be a tad loose flexibility of the forefoot make for a very neutral running experience. The wide base underfoot and sole flaring help a little bit, though this is still a very neutral experience.
Thoughts as a DPT: The Impact of Midfoot Width On Ride and Stability
By Matthew Klein
I (Matt Klein) frequently talk about midfoot sole width as it relates to stability and guidance. The joints of the midfoot have most of their motion in the frontal plane (actually more like the frontal diagonal plane as nothing in the foot is truly in a straight plane). While motion here is needed for shock absorption, a narrowed midfoot sole width can make the platform inherently unstable for those who need a little help controlling motion at this area. A wider platform is naturally more stable, just as sole flare provides resistance to motion. The wider platform also adds some degree of stiffness both side to side (frontal plane) due to the extra material present as well as in the sagittal plane (front to back). In some shoes, companies may be worried about adding too much midfoot stiffness as this can sometimes make shoes feel clunky. With stiffer, firmer type midsoles, this might be true. However, with a less dense, more compliant and resilient foam like the PEBA-based FuelCell foam, this is not always the case. What is interesting about the Rebel v4 is that the midfoot is the stiffest part of the shoe. Even when manually twisting the shoe, the midfoot retains its shape best. So the additional width does add stiffness, but that isn't always a bad thing. For those who want a faster stable neutral shoe, this shoe provides the necessary stiffness to provide some mild guidance over longer miles.
RECOMMENDATIONS
Matt: This is the best version of the Rebel I have experienced. A superfoam twist of the midsole, a wider and more stable base, a wider yet secure fit and a fast ride that can handle a variety of efforts. It is still a Rebel, meaning a versatile shoe with a softer midsole and a more moderate stack height. However, the PEBA addition gives this shoe an edge that gives it a much more competitive edge into racing for those who want a plateless racing shoe. My only major suggestion is to reduce the amount of toe spring. There is a ton, which makes the shoe feel short due to the toe extension. The forefoot rocker does not need to extend up that much and the same transition could easily be maintained by having the rocker come up to the edge of the toes rather than extending beyond them. Other than that, this is a great shoe!
Andrea: I really wanted to love the Rebel v4, but the geometry does not line up with my foot shape or my mechanics. Since the majority of runners are rearfoot strikers and Matt says this is the best Rebel he has tested, New Balance may not want to do anything to change the shoe. If New Balance wants to make this shoe work well for those of us who land further forward, they may need to provide additional stiffness to the narrower area of the midfoot that corresponds to where I land. The thickness of the rubber outsole in the lateral forefoot also appears to give the forefoot a slightly greater stack height as compared to the midfoot region, which could also be responsible for the rocking back feeling I experienced. The solution could be as simple as extending the rubber outsole coverage all the way from rearfoot to forefoot.
David: I think the Rebel could be really good, though I do think there are some changes that can be made. I feel the upper can be a little more secure through the midfoot. The big one for me is actually the forefoot flexibility. I don't mind it being flexible, though I do think they could make it a little earlier, to make that extension moment on the toes a little less dramatic. That, or decrease the rounding the of the shoe in that region and make the toe spring a little less aggressive.
WHO IS THIS SHOE FOR?
Matt: The New Balance FuelCell Rebel V4 is a versatile lightweight performance trainer that can handle everything from easy miles to racing efforts. The midsole is best for those who want a more moderate stack height, lower drop, responsive and moderately flexible ride that can handle a variety of paces. The upper is best for those who want a wider forefoot, can handle some toe spring and want a light fit that allows you to forget about the shoe. The wider midfoot and sole flare make this a stable neutral shoe mostly in the midfoot. Those who do not like plated shoes but still want a faster super foam shoe will find this an excellent choice for a variety of race distances. The price is especially attractive at $140 given the amount of performance in this shoe. The FuelCell Rebel v4 is also a great workout alternative to super shoes where it still features a comfortable foam but the moderate flexibility still requires some force to be generated and absorbed by the lower extremity. A solid, simple option for those who want a do it all shoe, the Rebel v4 is the best Rebel yet.
Andrea: The New Balance FuelCell Rebel v4 is a lightweight performance trainer with a new PEBA blend midsole that provides a nice balance of compliance and resilience. While the shoe did not work for my mechanics, it may be a great option for rearfoot strikers who are looking for a do it all performance trainer or even a non-plated racer. I would not recommend it for midfoot strikers due to the issues I had with the geometry and midfoot flexibility, but I am sure that some midfoot strikers with a different foot structure as compared to mine will be just fine in the shoe. At $140, the shoe is an excellent value compared to similar shoes on the market.
David: The New Balance FuelCell Rebel v4 is a lightweight training shoe that is very soft and compliant. The shoe will work for someone who has very neutral mechanics and likes a flexible forefoot through the toes. The midfoot can be a little unstable, due to a wider midfoot fit and compliance of the foam, though for those that want to have more range of motion there this will work well. I'm thinking of those that have a relatively locked foot and actually have a little bit of hard time pronating. Either way, this is versatile lightweight shoe that can tackle most of your runs.
COMPARISON
GRADES
Matt
Fit: B+/A- (Wider forefoot with slightly short fit due to toe spring. Comfortable fit from upper with solid security)
Performance: A (Able to handle everything from easy to long to faster workouts and is a race alternative to super shoes. Great light and bouncy ride)
Stability: A- [Stable Neutral] (Wider midfoot, small heel/midfoot sidewalls and heel/forefoot sole flare make for a surprisingly stable neutral ride)
Value: A ($140 for a shoe that can do almost anything is a great deal. Wish more companies would see this price. Shoes don't need to be >$200 on the regular)
Personal: A- (A favorite this year and fun to run in. A little concerned about the exposed FuelCell outsole but holding up well. )
Overall Design: A-/A
Andrea
Fit: A (Wide toe box and secure fitting upper fit comfortably, although slightly short. Zero issues with lockdown or fit related discomfort)
Performance: B- (Geometry does not line up with my foot shape or landing mechanics, resulting in arch pain and a backward rocking feeling at initial contact. While I could run in the shoe, paces felt harder than they should and the lagging feeling was annoying.)
Stability: B [Stable Neutral] (A stable neutral shoe in general due to sole flare, wide base, and rockered geometry. For me personally, a shoe that creates instability for my mechanics and foot shape)
Value: A (If this shoe works for your mechanics, a superb value. There aren't many $140 shoes that match the specs and performance of the Rebel v4)
Personal: C+ (I wanted to love this shoe. The fit is incredibly comfortable, but the shoe does not work for me. Fingers crossed for v5.)
Overall Design: B+
David
Fit: A- (The fit is pretty good for how spacious it is. I do think I would like to see the midfoot dialed in a little better though.)
Performance: B (Aggressive toe spring and flexibility through the toes being too far forward make this a little uncomfortable at faster paces, but it can be quite nice for neutral mechanics at easier paces.)
Stability: B (The sole flaring helps, though very neutral shoe throughout due to the midfoot fit and compliance of the midsole.)
Value: A (At the price point this should give you good durability for the usage.)
Personal: B (I wanted to like this more as a workout shoe, though I think it will stay a daily mileage and long run shoe.)
Overall Design: B+
SHOP | SUPPORT DOR
New Balance FuelCell Rebel v4
Price: $139.95 at Running Warehouse
Shop Men | Shop Women
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FURTHER READING
A brand new super trainer that's soft and comfortable and quite fun.
An ultrarunning shoe meant to cruise comfortably.
Find all Shoe Reviews at Doctors of Running here.
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