Details
Brand
New Balance
Heel To Toe Drop
4 mm
Breathability
8/10
Latest Version
No
Terrain
Trail
Type
Neutral
Key Features
• Plush upper’s overlay keeps feet both clean and secure• Plush underfoot system keeps your feet comfy as you run• AT Tread Outsole is very durable• Antimicrobial sockliner• Plenty of traction when running• Aggressive gripping lugs allow you to run on almost any surface
Upper
The New Balance Fresh Foam Hierro has an upper that is entirely made out of synthetic mesh. While this is a fairly risky choice, it ultimately pays off when you consider just how many innovative features there are in this running shoe. It has a lightweight sort of breathability and the synthetic overlay works in a way that it entirely wraps the foot, giving a snug and comfortable fit. It finishes this up by offering a gusset tongue that adds to the comfort while simultaneously preventing any and all debris from entering the shoe. It also takes advantage of New Balance’s Sure Lace system, keeping the shoelaces in place and secure as you run.
Midsole
New Balance has further innovated with their New Balance Fresh Foam Hierro shoe by introducing a Fresh Foam midsole. It’s all made up of a single piece, and it delivers a durable sort of cushioning so that you have a nice and soft underfoot feel. It’s a simple thing to add to the overall construction of the shoe, but it’s enough to really set this running shoe apart from its brethren. When you combine this innovative midsole with the tough and durable outsole of the product, it becomes a no-brainer that the New Balance Fresh Foam Hierro is the way to go for all of your running needs.
Outsole
The outsole of the New Balance Fresh Foam Hierro utilizes AT Tread Outsole technology to ensure that you have durable traction on most any surface. This running shoe was designed primarily for technical trails, but you can bet that it will do just as well running on most road surfaces. It also utilizes multi-directional aggressive lugs to make sure that you don’t lose your balance and fall while running either uphill or downhill. Running is mostly a mental game, and this outsole will help alleviate some of the worries and concerns that you might have while running.
Breathability
Breathability is key when it comes to running shoes, and the New Balance Fresh Foam Hierro definitely delivers on this front. While you won’t be getting the lightest experience when you run in this shoe, you will definitely be getting a breathable one. It all starts with the synthetic upper overlay of the piece, simultaneously keeping your foot cool and dry and providing a snug fit for your feet. When you add to that the proprietary Sure Lace system, it’s clear that New Balance is thinking about the overall experience of their running shoe, from top to bottom.
Comfort
When it comes to running, especially running long distance, you’re going to need a shoe that offers a great deal of comfort to keep you running strong and running long. The New Balance Fresh Foam Hierro excels in this regard, starting with an extremely comfortable upper and tongue system and finishing with a midsole that cradles the foot and keeps it in place to avoid injuries. You wouldn’t think of a running shoe’s outsole as being capable of providing comfort, but this is exactly what the New Balance Fresh Foam Hierro does with its durable outsole. The outsole protects the foot from enduring the shocks and bumps that come along with running on technical trails, in effect providing added comfort.
Style
Those who are looking to turn heads with their running shoe should consider the style of the New Balance Fresh Foam Hierro. It isn’t your typical running shoe. One way to put this is that the stylings of the shoe would best be used as a sort of throwback to the 80s. This is because the color of the shoe itself is bold and extreme, using bright primary colors to dazzle the eye, colors such as bright baby blue and neon green. This isn’t your dad’s plain old white New Balance, this is something that’s been designed to pop and showcase itself. While to some this might be a bit much, to others it’ll be a welcome change.
Durability
Durability in the New Balance Fresh Foam Hierro really all starts from the ground up. At the expense of not being a lightweight shoe, New Balance has designed the Fresh Foam Hierro to be extremely durable and tough while also providing a high degree of flexibility. It’s not every day you get a shoe that combines these two features, but the New Balance Fresh Foam Hierro does this in spades. It has an AT Tread Outsole that is catered directly for trail running. It also provides a good level of traction, which is one of the big things that makes this shoe so suitable for technical trail running.
Protection
As you might imagine, protection in a running shoe really all starts with the outsole. This is no exception with the New Balance Fresh Foam Hierro, which has a super durable outsole that you won’t have to worry about burning through anytime soon. This protection extends to the midsole, that both protects the inside from shocks and the outside from leakage. The upper, one of the most crucial elements of protection in a running shoe, prevents any and all debris and weather effects from interfering with your run. This running shoe might not be the ideal choice for those looking for a lightweight shoe, but it’ll definitely hold up during the rigors of your average mud run.
Responsiveness
We’ve already said this before, but the New Balance Fresh Foam Hierro’s responsiveness also really relies on the construction of its outsole. It’s an extremely durable and protective outsole, but more than that it’s responsive to your every movement. You’d expect such responsiveness to be contingent on the addition of flex grooves on the bottom of the shoe, but the New Balance Fresh Foam Hierro manages to achieve this without the use of them. It’s a versatile shoe that will run just fine on roads while excelling on the technical trails, and seeing such a thing is really refreshing indeed.
Support
The arch support of the New Balance Fresh Foam Hierro is neutral, meaning that just about anyone can use this shoe and be satisfied. There’s no such thing as a one-size-fits-all shoe, but this comes as close to that ideal as possible. It has a Fresh Foam System that offers a plush underfoot support for the duration of the gait cycle, meaning that you won’t have to be worried about any awkward toe-offs and the like. Again, running is mostly a mental game, and the last thing you want to be obsessing over is whether or not you’ll be able to remain upright while you’re running.
Terrain
The terrain that the New Balance Fresh Foam Hierro can handle is definitely technical trail terrain. Where other running shoes will inevitably fail to give you the proper support and traction, the New Balance Fresh Foam Hierro does just fine. While it will no doubt weigh you down as you run, having a shoe that can stand up even to mud will be better than a lighter shoe that lets all of the elements in. While this shoe was built for the technical trails, it can undoubtedly perform just fine on roads true. In fact, the durable nature of the shoe and responsiveness will mean that you won’t have to worry about the hard surface of the road interfering with your natural gait.
Price
When it comes to the price of this running shoe, you’d expect the New Balance Fresh Foam Hierro to be quite expensive. While the higher end version of this shoe can be a bit pricey, as of this writing, you can get the shoe for as little as $54.95 on Amazon. You can expect this price to be much higher on other shoe retailers’ websites, as Amazon typically gets the best deals on their running shoes. When you consider the cheapest price that you can get these shoes for, it’s easy to see that you’re getting a tremendous deal. This shoe is priced out comparably to simple gym shoes while being packed with amazing features that you won’t find in just any other running shoe.
Drop
As you might imagine, the drop of the New Balance Fresh Foam Hierro is pretty reasonable, considering that no flex grooves were used and that the construction of the shoe was relatively flat to accommodate the necessary stability of the shoe. The heel to toe drop is only 4mm on both the men’s and women’s version of the shoe. While this isn’t the smallest heel to toe drop (We’ve seen as little as 0mm!), it’s definitely significant enough to make a big difference when you’re out on the road or the trail. You’ll get a phenomenal toe-off with this shoe, which is especially important when every footfall counts and you’re counting every tenth of a second.
Stability
The stability of the New Balance Fresh Foam Hierro running shoe is completely contingent upon the balance of the outsole. The balance here is very strong, meaning that you’ll have minimal risk of losing your grip and stumbling while running. Of course, there’s always some inherent risk while running, especially while running technical trails. This risk, however, is dramatically decreased when you take this shoe out into the wild. This is also where the heavier weight of the shoe actually comes in handy, as it serves as a way of stabilizing the shoe further and keeping it steady on a run. If you’re looking for a running shoe with a great amount of stability, look no further than the New Balance Fresh Foam Hierro.
Flexibility
You wouldn’t expect a running shoe with as thick and durable of an outsole as New Balance Fresh Foam Hierro has to be flexible, but New Balance is full of surprises. You’d expect, at the very least, that the shoe would incorporate flex grooves to accomplish such flexibility, but you’d be wrong when it comes to the New Balance Fresh Foam Hierro. It seems obvious as to why New Balance decided to leave flex grooves out: it’s very easy for mud and much to get stuck up in the space between the flex grooves, rendering the shoe useless on muddy, technical trails. Since this shoe is specifically targeting technical trails, New Balance was tasked with accomplishing this flexibility in another way. The job that they’ve done is admirable.
Traction
You best believe that traction is crucial when it comes to running on just about every surface, but especially on more technical trails. The New Balance Fresh Foam Hierro has traction in spades, with its AT Tread Outsole that’s trail-specific and designed to keep you upright and running fast, no matter the terrain. This means that the overall durability of the shoe is helped as well, making it so that you can put mile after mile on the shoe without having to worry about the thing breaking down on you. It doesn’t matter whether you’re planning to use this shoe for short sprints or long marathons, the New Balance Fresh Foam Hierro is the shoe for you.
Bottom Line
The bottom line is that the New Balance Fresh Foam Hierro is an extremely versatile shoe that will serve you as well on the trails. You can expect the durable yet flexible outsole to serve you well as you’re running, making it so that you can keep this shoe for years and get just as much responsiveness out of it as if it were brand new. The upper is plenty comfortable and supportive, and the whole shoe is built like a tank to ensure your feet are as comfy and clean as possible while you run. This tank-like construction leads the shoe to be a bit on the heavy side, but this shouldn’t be a major deterrent toward getting the shoe. The New Balance Fresh Foam Hierro would be a welcome addition to any runner’s collection.
