New Balance Fresh Foam X More V5 Review
By David Salas
New Balance Fresh Foam X More v5Price: $154.95 at Running Warehouse
Weight: 11 oz, 312g (men's size 9), 9.2 oz, 260g (women's size 8)
Stack Height: 43mm heel // 39mm forefoot
Drop: 4mm
Shoe Purpose: Maximum cushioning trainer, Premium trainer
Pros: Stable for the stack height and amount of foam, durable feeling, good protection
Cons: A little bit heavy for long efforts
RUNNING SHOE SUMMARY
The New Balance Fresh Foam X More v5 is a maximum cushioned training shoe for daily mileage. The shoe has a large slab of Fresh Foam X midsole that incorporates decent amounts of sole flaring and sidewalls to create a pretty stable experience for how much foam there is. It is a lot of shoe, but one that can definitely take a beating while providing high amounts of cushion.
SIMILAR SHOES: Brooks Glycerin 21
PAST MODEL: New Balance Fresh Foam X More v4
FIT
(To learn how a shoe should fit, check out our full podcast on fit by Matt Klein.)
David: The New Balance Fresh Foam X fits true to size in my Men's 9.5. I feel the length on the shoe is pretty good, though perhaps a tiny bit long. The width in the heel and midfoot are normal, with the forefoot being normal to slightly wide. The mesh material is comfortable and fits what you would expect in a premium trainer. The tongue has a lot of padding and does a good job of protecting from biting from the laces. The lockdown throughout is quite good and I had zero issues with slippage or translation, which is saying a lot for a max stack shoe. The one thing I did notice however is that the forefoot volume is a little low. The shoe feels a little more snug in the forefoot than I would like it to. It feels like there is a slight amount of pressure over the top of my toes, where I would prefer just a little more space. It did not impact my running with irritation, though I do think it is something that could improve the experience of the runner on foot.
David's Typical Size: Men's US Size 9.5
Shoes that have fit David well: Nike Vomero 17, Saucony Ride 16, Puma Velocity Nitro 3
Shoes that have fit snug: HOKA Arahi 7
Shoes that have fit large: Salomon Aero Glide
Doctors of Running Checklist
Is This a Good Shoe for Walking: Yes
Is This a Good Shoe for Standing: Yes
Is the Forefoot Flexible: No
How Flexible is the Shoe: Minimal
Is This a Good Heel Bevel: Yes
Recommended for Haglunds: Yes
Recommended for Sockless: No
Durability Expectation: Average - Above Average
PERFORMANCE
David: The New Balance Fresh Foam X More v5 performed really well for me. The shoe is a little bit heavy up front I will note. That did not bother me for daily miles, though I definitely found it being a little laboring on a 16 mile run I was doing with them. Some of that is probably my own conditioning, though I found wanting it to be a tad lighter. The shoe uses a rocker geometry with a decently rounded heel bevel and a more gradual forefoot rocker. The More v5 comes off as pretty stiff throughout, mainly due to how much foam there is. There is no plate, though the amount of foam creates inherent stiffness. The Fresh Foam X foam is really good and feels very cushioned underfoot. I will say it strikes a nice balance of compliance without being too soft. The shoe has a lot of sole flaring and side walling going on. The shoe does give you that bucket sensation from the heel upwards into the early forefoot. The guided feeling felt good with the rocker and made for a stable neutral experience. The shoe certainly feels like a maximum stack height shoe, with plenty of cushioning for the roads. I found that I liked this shoe most for easy miles and daily mileage. The weight started to get to me on some of the longer runs.
Outsole traction was good and I did not have any issues with it for my uses, though I did not venture into anything too treacherous.
STABILITY
(Learn more about stability in our full guide)
David: The New Balance Fresh Foam X v5 would fall into the stable neutral category that we talk about. The shoe is neutral by nature, though has enough elements to make the shoe give a decently stable experience. The shoe has a very wide platform underfoot that gives you plenty of cross sectional area to stand or run on. The shoe also uses a lot of sole flaring and sidewalls to give you a centered experience. The upper lockdown is good and does not give any issues with translation or slippage. Outsole traction is pretty good. For how much foam is on this shoe, the stability is hard to beat.
Thoughts as a DPT: Stable Neutral
By David Salas
We talk about "stable neutral" at Doctors of Running a lot. We have zero intention of creating buzzwords, but rather like making things make sense categorically. Some shoes on the market are neutral shoes, but come with some stability additives. This is where we use the verbiage "stable neutral". In some cases, neutral designed shoes can come off as being more stable than actual stability shoe! How does this work?
There are a lot of different ways of creating "stability." For a long time it was thought that stability was created by making rigidity, especially through the medial aspect of the midfoot. Though this can help for some, this is not all there is to making a shoe feel stable. Everything from the upper to the outsole contribute. We will look at it from the top bottom.
The upper can have huge implications on stability. The upper is the single material keeping your foot to the platform underneath you. An upper needs to be comfortable, but also supportive and predictable between steps. If it is too stretchy, that alone can make you distrust a shoe. The midsole can contribute to stability in many ways. One quick way is creating a dual density midsole, potentially with the classic firmer foam in the medial midfoot. This does not have to be the case though. One can play with the shoe shaping and geometry to make for a more stable experience as well. Sole flaring is the extension of the foam beyond that of the upper's holdings and essentially a widening of the platform in a given region. When the foam extends out in one direction, it can help with resisting motion into that given direction, similar to the effects of a wedge in a shoe, but to a smaller degree. Another way a shoe can help create some stability on a neutral platform is by creating some sidewalls with the midsole. A sidewall is similar to what it sounds like. The sidewall is a vertical integration of the foam that creates a gentle wall on either the medial or lateral side of the foot. Normally it will be on both sides and give a gentle guiding sensation. Many times we will also see a sidewall integrate into a heel counter. The outsole can also provide sensations of stability. The obvious way is trusting your footing. If you have good traction and connectivity to the ground, you will be more confident with your foot placement and actions. It does have some inherent stiffening agents through the rubber as well. Plates can also have some implications on geometry and stability, but that will be a conversation for another time.
The New Balance Fresh Foam X More V5 does a good job of integrating many of these components into an approachable package. The shoe does come off as a premium training shoe with maximum cushioning that does not sacrifice stability. Much of this shoe is neutral, but the added elements make for what we call a "stable neutral" experience.
RECOMMENDATIONS
David: The New Balance Fresh Foam X More v5 is a daily training shoe for
someone that wants a maximum cushioned experience with some gentle
stability and rocker integrated. The shoe is on the heavier side, but
has good guidance measures with the big influence of sole flare and
sidewalls. The Fresh Foam X gives plenty of cushion, but does not come
off as mushy. The platform is a tad stiffer by nature due to the foam.
This will be a good workhorse daily training shoe.
The main recommendation that I would have for the New Balance Fresh Foam X More v5 would be to work on the forefoot volume. The shoe can feel a bit snug in that region and some may find it uncomfortable. I like the rest of the shoe to look the other way some, but it could be a bit more spacious. The other thing would be to work on reducing the weight, to make it more long run friendly but that's lower on my priority list.
GRADES
David
Fit: B+ (I found the upper to be comfortable and secure throughout, but my thing with this shoe is the forefoot volume being low)
Performance: B+ (Nice consistent ride, felt durable, weight gets in the way of longer efforts)
Stability: A (Hard to beat without going fully into the stability category and integrating some other things)
Value: A- (At $155 approximately, this should be a durable workhorse that most will find good value in.)
Personal: B+/A- (If it wasn't for the volume this would be an A-. A very well done max cushion shoe though.)
Overall Design: A-
SHOP | SUPPORT DORNew Balance Fresh Foam X More v5Price: $154.95 at Running Warehouse
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FURTHER READING
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Find all Shoe Reviews at Doctors of Running here.
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