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New Balance 860 v6 Performance Review

Of course, there are reasons for New Balance’s success as one the the world’s top running shoe brands, and that’s because of its professional models in the field. Actually, New Balance has a wide range of running shoes that mainly fall into four categories, each of which has its own advantages. And the NB860v6  of today belongs to the one that distinguishes itself by its support performance.

As soon as I opened the shoebox, I was refreshed by the shoes’ colorway and my eyes just opened wide with this surprise. And with the green outsole, the shoes look much less coquettish but all the more lively.

In the vamp it is the big meshes plus the seamless design, making the shoes very comfortable to wear and offering an excellent breathability performance.

The shoelaces are in fact quite elastic, which is rather satisfactory for the laces won’t loosen easily with this design. Besides, as you can see in the picture, the tongue is super thick, which can be very comfortable and skin-friendly for we wearers. However, it is a bit regrettable that the integrated design is not adopted in it.

Then just take a closer look at the heel and the outsole. As can be seen in the heel, there is the “860V6” printed which indicates that this is the 6th version of the series.

And on the outside of the heel, there is the eye-catching “ASYM COUNTER” that might be unfamiliar for some people. Simply put, it is a kind of asymmetric fixation technique, a commonly-seen tech in NB’s top running shoes with excellent stability and support performances.

So looking at the shoes from this perspective, we can find that the asymmetry between the two sides  of the shoe is obvious, which improves stability and also prevents injury.

It is also shown that there is a “RCTEVR lite” mark in the midsole, which is a kind of foam material. For the 860V6, it is a double-density midsole which is simply composed of two kinds of materials; that is the blue and the green parts. As for the green one, it is the ABZORB which is a kind of shock-absorbing technology developed by New Balance.

Speaking of the outsole, it is rather wear-resistant. The material used in it is said to have originally been used to make the caterpillar band of tanks, so it is beyond question that the outsole made of the material is sure to be long-lasting.

For the supporting tech in the midsole, it is the T-BEAM which is an excellent tech in this field. And combined with the lightweight and soft TPU, both the shoes’ support and stability are improved and can be sufficient for use.

Regarding the insole, the label on it reads “Ortholite”, but from my point of view, there seems to be nothing special. Although I had some doubt about it at first, after some more testing of the shoes, it turned out that I was right. On the strength of my experience, I deemed that the insoles’ performance actually could not live up to its reputation, and I’d never expected more of it from then on.

Personally, I’ve been into this kind of exercise for several years and I have always had such a belief that good equipment is necessary and essential for running, I’ve therefore bought a certain number of various running shoes as of today. And for you to better understand this pair of New Balance 860 v6, here is a brief comparison of the shoes to the other ones.

The New Balance 860 v6 is relatively harder than the Gel of Asics, but much better in offering elasticity. For those who have preference for elasticity, this New Balance 860 v6 would be  much more suitable. And although it is worse than Adidas Boost in offering elasticity, it is however much nicer in its support performance.

Overall:

To summarize, this pair of New Balance 860 v6 is suitable for most people and can meet the basic needs of many runners. So if you happen to be seeking a pair of excellent running shoes, you might as well have a try of this one and chances are that you’ll find the shoes better than you expected.