Official New Balance Thread *sizing info for different models on first page*

[niketock88]

Curious on your guys' thoughts. Knowing that NB has been on the rise along with Asics and other runners from other brands, what do you guys think the sneaker trends will be like in 5 years? If the trends move away from these, how do you think the reaction will be like? You think these shoes that's been part of this trend/wave will remain timeless and still get a fair amount of attention or would it be completely dropped off like the Adidas Ultraboosts?

I ask because for a good stretch, the Adidas Ultraboosts were dominating the sneaker trends (and the Nike Roshe Run for a bit before that) before it died out and it's rarely mentioned much now, and so those two phases got me wondering.

I know new balance, and a lot of other brands are on the rise, but I’m not sure it’s really at the ultra boost level yet? Maybe we think this trend is bigger than it is because we’re in this forum every day. I could be wrong. I see a lot of people, especially college kids in the lower price base model new balances I think it’s just because it ties in better with their casual, monochromatic style that seems to be popular these days. I barely see anyone in 990s or some new balances that cost a bit more. It’s definitely the opposite of when most of us were kids and everything was sporty, big branding, and the more tech your shoes looked the better. I feel like the mesh runner is a sub genre of the dad shoe as far as trends go.

 

[vidiviciun]

Ultra-Boost was like...

The Boost God fad was a mutual fund on yo 401K, yahmean...

New Balance/Asics is like an Index Fund on a 401K... #SlowAndSteady
​

 

[trappedintime]

Also this may just be me, but I feel like NB, ASICS, Adidas, Saucony all broke thru to mainstream sneakerheads in 2013-2014. Like after concord 2011 hype and all the headaches of releases started to kick in, those brands picked up their following.

What we’re seeing now is more of a normalization of them as being on equal footing as Nike. It’s more of the market catching up to the differences being less than they wanted to acknowledge 5 or 10 years ago. Maybe following Yeezy hype across brands and collabs in general helped bring them more into the fold.

For runners NB, Saucony, ASICS and Adidas have always been in the rotation. Many hardcore runners won’t touch Nikes.

 

[vidiviciun]

I hated how the midsole synthetic pebbles would erode and pop out the Ultra-Boost De' Germans bugging on that one! I need a midsole that is the energizer bunny yahmean', Duracell! I need them m'tha'Fu'Ka Power-Tester that would make your thumbs go NUMB!

I pray to GOD my 998's midsole from the 2010's Era last til 2030! ​

 

[niketock88]

I hated how the midsole synthetic pebbles would erode and pop out the Ultra-Boost De' Germans bugging on that one! I need a midsole that is the energizer bunny yahmean', Duracell! I need them m'tha'Fu'Ka Power-Tester that would make your thumbs go NUMB!

I pray to GOD my 998's midsole from the 2010's Era last til 2030! ​

Besides, the nice initial cushion the ultra boost, especially from that era, had no support. Exhausting after a few hours.

 

[cgs37]

The Boost God fad was a mutual fund on yo 401K, yahmean...
New Balance/Asics is like an Index Fund on a 401K... #SlowAndSteady
​

But an index fund can be a mutual fund...

 

[never wear them]

Curious on your guys' thoughts. Knowing that NB has been on the rise along with Asics and other runners from other brands, what do you guys think the sneaker trends will be like in 5 years? If the trends move away from these, how do you think the reaction will be like? You think these shoes that's been part of this trend/wave will remain timeless and still get a fair amount of attention or would it be completely dropped off like the Adidas Ultraboosts?

I ask because for a good stretch, the Adidas Ultraboosts were dominating the sneaker trends (and the Nike Roshe Run for a bit before that) before it died out and it's rarely mentioned much now, and so those two phases got me wondering.

I’m finding it difficult to respond to this.
A lot of topics to touch on.
I’ll try to explain it from my point of view.

Adidas boost had a huge following… died out right? Why? Simple answer = Yeezys.

Now, will NB die out? No. They were there before and will be there after.
Being in the “shoe game” for 20+ years, we all knew NB was always there. They had a certain image.
For us older heads that, (correct me if I’m wrong) they were “whack” because Nike/jb had us in a choke hold.

They stayed true to their image but now gained a larger following due to marketing and dare I say Teddy/ALD/Kith made them even more popular.

Social media is now painting the shoe culture differently. It’s different now and I hate it, but at the same time it shed light on other brands and made me find joy in buying shoes again.

The newer sneaker heads are being shown something completely different than what we were shown back then.
NBs and ASICS are being portrayed as the cool hip shoe now.

So much to talk about just that alone.


I’m rambling with my thoughts all over the place.

If NB continues to be plain and simple and with good marketing and (hate saying this word) influencers, they’ll stay relevant.

We can also touch base on how there are people that love items made in USA…
( I wonder how true NB’s statement about Made being a small portion of NBs sales).

I also wonder how many non-sneaker heads buy NBs assuming that all of their stuff is made in USA.

 

[trappedintime]

For us older heads that, (correct me if I’m wrong) they were “whack” because Nike/jb had us in a choke hold.

They stayed true to their image but now gained a larger following due to marketing and dare I say Teddy/ALD/Kith made them even more popular.

I feel like this misses that it wasn’t just marketing or a Nike chokehold. You have dudes on here and into sneakers who ONLY wore basketball shoes. It wasn’t just that NB had the dad shoe image, runners weren’t as mainstream a decade ago.

Streetwear and sneakers have evolved and the runner in its various forms is taken a lot more seriously. Conveniently Nike has a lot more competition in classic running shoes.

 

[vidiviciun]

cgs37 see that why this whole system is fraud (late-stage capitalism) lolol but yeah I don't mess with Actively-Managed funds yahmean. #BringBackUnions #BringBackPensions
​

 

[bklyn style baby]

I’m finding it difficult to respond to this.
A lot of topics to touch on.
I’ll try to explain it from my point of view.

Adidas boost had a huge following… died out right? Why? Simple answer = Yeezys.

Now, will NB die out? No. They were there before and will be there after.
Being in the “shoe game” for 20+ years, we all knew NB was always there. They had a certain image.
For us older heads that, (correct me if I’m wrong) they were “whack” because Nike/jb had us in a choke hold.

They stayed true to their image but now gained a larger following due to marketing and dare I say Teddy/ALD/Kith made them even more popular.

Social media is now painting the shoe culture differently. It’s different now and I hate it, but at the same time it shed light on other brands and made me find joy in buying shoes again.

So much to talk about just that alone.


I’m rambling with my thoughts all over the place.

If NB continues to be plain and simple and with good marketing and (hate saying this word) influencers, they’ll stay relevant.

We can also touch base on how there are people that love items made in USA…
( I wonder how true NB’s statement about Made being a small portion of NBs sales).

I also wonder how many non-sneaker heads buy NBs assuming that all of their stuff is made in USA.

Totally agree, not to mention people (myself included) got tired of playing games and doing backflips / cartwheels for nikes. Praying for miracles on the stupid snkrs app. Eventually you start to look at alternatives and even finding out the superior quality from NB compared to the plastic dunks and poor build jb items we've been buying.

 

[downyboy]

I feel like this misses that it wasn’t just marketing or a Nike chokehold. You have dudes on here and into sneakers who ONLY wore basketball shoes. It wasn’t just that NB had the dad shoe image, runners weren’t as mainstream a decade ago.

Streetwear and sneakers have evolved and the runner in its various forms is taken a lot more seriously. Conveniently Nike has a lot more competition in classic running shoes.

too many people wait for validation on whats cool, they need others to make them have hype before they get interested. most dudes that started buying nb in the last 4-5 years fall into that category. look at the first ALD drop, there were only a handful of us going for them in this thread. hilarous to look back at that.

i had a few NBs before skippys dropped, that and being in dc got me even more interested in NBs. funny enough my first pair of NBs were 574s, now i hate that model.

 

[vidiviciun]

Lowkey was done with Nike after the LeBron 7's & Durant 4's Era of Nike. The death of malls if you ain't in a city and the birth of social media killed Nike Basketball for me. I always wore runner in the 90's and 2000's but nothing like New Balance made in USA yahmean. The moment I got my 2013 C-Note and Pebble Blues I knew what I wanted in life.​

 

[clippermitch]

Curious on your guys' thoughts. Knowing that NB has been on the rise along with Asics and other runners from other brands, what do you guys think the sneaker trends will be like in 5 years? If the trends move away from these, how do you think the reaction will be like? You think these shoes that's been part of this trend/wave will remain timeless and still get a fair amount of attention or would it be completely dropped off like the Adidas Ultraboosts?

I ask because for a good stretch, the Adidas Ultraboosts were dominating the sneaker trends (and the Nike Roshe Run for a bit before that) before it died out and it's rarely mentioned much now, and so those two phases got me wondering.

As somebody new to NB, I will never and can never go back to Nike/Jordan. I didn’t try NB cause of the hype or collabs. I tried NB cause all the shoes I had were killing my knees. Since switching to NB, I’ve been pain free.

I guess to answer your question, old people are not going anywhere. NB will always own that market share.

 

[vidiviciun]

Really good discussion. I'm passing out now. TGIF! I can't wait to read others input and thoughts in the morning. ​

 

[us3less]

All solid insight! I get a lot of what's been expressed. I will openly admit I was brainwashed by all that Nike marketing, and fell into the trap for years with their games of releases and raffles, leading to frustrations until I got numb from it. That whole reintroduction to the Kobe Bryant line back in August from Nike ultimately snapped me out of it (although I'm not sure why it took me THAT long when it should've been earlier.)

I finally explored shoes from other brands like the Adidas Ultraboosts, which I like. However... giving the NB lifestyle another chance shortly afterwards by getting the NB 990v6s was probably the best decision I've made when it comes to sneakers. Like clippermitch , I'm new (maybe kinda?) to NB, but I can't go back to Nikes/Jordans either... at least for now (based on my track record). I deal with some Achilles tendinitis on my left foot, and the 990v4s and 990v6s have surprisingly helped the tendinitis tremendously. It's just an excellent mix of everything a shoe is supposed to provide that it's gonna be very hard for me to go back. So fir me, I'm staying for the better quality. I'm likely not gonna buy as much, but at least I'll know that NB, Asics, and maybe Saucony and Brooks will deliver for me.

I think one of the things I appreciate is that NB is still a private company and not public, which I think helps NB stay true to its roots. I don't know how much involvement there could be with other stakeholders if any, but I would guess it's less than if they were public, perhaps? I feel like public sneaker/apparel companies are [more] prone to wrongful influence/decision-making, but I could be wrong.

 

[Asho_TO]

It's just an excellent mix of everything a shoe is supposed to provide

NB’s always been cooking

(Not mine, just hilarious)

 

[niketock88]

Ehh

 

[MRBW]

U991TB2

 

[buddhashark]

Fire Teddy. Actually keep Teddy. He’s saving me monies.

 

[ryder1129]

NB community always felt supportive and mature to me. Same with Adidas SPZL.

 

[206to813]

I guess to answer your question, old people are not going anywhere. NB will always own that market share.

Not wrong lol

 

[206to813]

Folks come for the cool designs and hype, they stay for the quality and comfort

Wearing basketball shoes casually is dead (which happened over 10 yrs ago) and will never be back, at least to how it once was.

Jordan retros?? A lot of us were here for the birth of the retro game as we know it back in 1999. Our first chances of owning bred 4s, concord 11s, metallic 5s, etc? Oh hell yeah. Even retro +’s were cool. The flagship model was still relevant.
Now? Every classic been retro’d multiple times, the flagship model been dead. Jordan brand will always be a big thing but for a lot of us that been there done that, it’s not very important

Just saying a whole lot of folks making the switch and will stay for the long haul.

 

[never wear them]

Totally agree, not to mention people (myself included) got tired of playing games and doing backflips / cartwheels for nikes. Praying for miracles on the stupid snkrs app. Eventually you start to look at alternatives and even finding out the superior quality from NB compared to the plastic dunks and poor build jb items we've been buying.

That’s another good point. I got tired of all those Snkr L’s.

but I can't go back to Nikes/Jordans either... at least for now (based on my track record).

For me, It’ll always be Nikes over anything but for the time-being, I’m sticking to NBs.
Doesn’t mean I won’t try to go after a dope release tho lol. I still suffer from Hype disorder/FOMO.


I’m pretty sure the old NB heads looking at us new NB heads with disgust like how we view these new Nike heads

Look at flintgrey Son is all NB’d out now
He told me to stay away and keep collecting my little Kobe’s

 

[mikey23]

Yea I don't see NB ever dying down, or being forgotten about. When I was really buying jordans and nike in the late 2000's early 2010 I've always seen NB from a far. The first time I saw a 997 I was like damn I need these. But had that mentality like these ish for old people. I left the sneaker scene for 5 years and came back to buying NBs, now I'm at 80ish pairs and counting.

 

[cgs37]