COFFEE BREAK WITH THE NEW BALANCE #NB 868, PJ/533, and 288 For the prior Coffee Break review on the #NB 868, PJ/533, and 288 see:
http://www.slapmagazine.com/index.php?topic=98461.msg2769706#msg2769706Ever since Tom Knox started skating around in the 868s I wanted to give #NB a try. As stated previously, I’m not much of a “tech” guy when it comes to my shoes, but there’s just something about the designs of the #NB line that make them a lil more attractive than most of the other tech shoes. And now that Tom Knox has been skating the 420s a bunch, I wanted to try those and then, of course, there’s the new Westgate part…
The shoes
346
212
440
420
913
Toe Shape
440
The 440 has a pretty standard shaped toe box that is comparable to the Adidas Samba ADV and a bit like the Busenitz Pro. The toe box itself is relatively roomy, but your toes are not swimming around up there. i.e. not quite a glove, but not a shoe box.
Adidas Samba ADV / 440 / Busenitz Pro
Adidas Samba ADV / 440
440 / Busenitz Pro
440 / Busenitz Pro
440 / 346
440 / Adidas Lucas Premiere
440 / Adidas Lucas Premiere
The toe shape of the 346 is much square-er than the 440. At the same time, the toe box itself is a little shallower inside and to me, it puts some unwanted pressure on my toe-knuckles when skating in them. Surprisingly, the 346 is much stiffer than the 440.
346
212
My favorite toe shape of the bunch is the 212. Not only is it the closest toe shape to my all-time favorite toed-shoe, the Lucas Pro, but it has the perfect ratio of glove-to-comfort fit of the #NB shoes I’ve tried. I must just like the toe shapes of classic ‘tennis’ shoes. Even with the faux-rubber-toe look, the shoe’s toe has plenty of room for your toes and accommodates my wider than average feet.
212 / Adidas Lucas Pro
420
The 420’s toe is the most “aggressively non-skate” of the #NB toes. It’s an extremely comfortable toe, with plenty of room and good shape… but it gets pretty pointy rather quickly, which takes some getting used to when you are skating them. It’ll be a theme for the 420s…but you can definitely tell they are a ‘runner’ shoe turned skate shoe. Compared to the 868, I think the 868 (while maybe even runnier-looking) has a much better toe box for skating…maybe because the 868 keeps its same toe shape throughout.
868 / 420
868 / 420
868 / 913
The 913 toe is a perfect combination of the can-fit-everyone toe of the 440 and the a lil more tech of the 868 toe. The 913 toe is shallower than the 440 toe on the inside, but not really enough for it to feel like it’s squeezing you out (like the 346).
913
913 / 868
913 / 868
Sidewalls346
The sidewalls of the 346 are pretty standard for a vulc. Nothing too much else to talk about here.
440
The sidewalls of the 440 are made up of three-layers—two layers of suede and a layer of mesh. The shoe was built around the mesh-sock lining of the shoe, with the layers of obviously added for durability. The toe suede wraps far enough to the side of the shoe to catch most of your standard ollie and flick abuse, and the other layer of suede wraps even farther to protect the mesh area.
420
The sidewalls of the 420 are built like a flexible tank. While somewhat similar to those AVE Rapidweld shoes, the synthetic materials of the 420 have their pros and cons. Pros = really durable. Cons = stiffer than suede. Also, the shape of the cupsole sides don’t do much to take abrasion away from the sides of the shoe, but again, the synthetic materials of the 420 don’t wear as fast as suede.
212
212 / Lucas Pro
Initially, I wasn’t into the sidepaneling of the 212 at all, especially the gob of suede on the side. But as I actually wear them, I’m coming around. As you can see with the Lucas Pro, I tend to beat my shoe up on the side, but typically past the usual toe cap. The sidewall of the 212 goes farther back than most… Other than that feature, they are pretty standard vulcs. The vulc itself doesn’t go very far up the shoe, so the shoe takes most of the abuse.
913 (outside of the foot)
913 (inside of the foot)
The 913/Westgate sidewalls are not very bulky and tend to hug the foot. On the inside of the foot, there’s both less material (allowing more ventilation from the mesh) and a bit more plastic-y stuff to protect the increased mesh. While on the outside of the foot, there’s no real mesh and it’s a wall of suede…which looks better than the inside of the shoe.
Collar, Heel Lock, Tongue
440
440
It’s usually pretty hard for me to find a cupsole with enough heel lock for me, but the 440s are nearly perfect. When you tie em up, they’re gonna stay put without yanking em down. The thin mesh tongue doesn’t assist with the ‘fit’ when you lace em up, so it’s the collar and the inside heel cup of the shoe that does all the work for you…which is actually awesome, because the collar and the heel are shaped just ‘athletic’ enough to really wrap around your lower ankle.
346
346
The 346 feels boxy and mass produced…like most vulc-mids. The collar’s padding hits my ankle in all the wrong places and pales in comparion to the classic half-cab collar. The heel lock is pretty good, but you really have to yank the upper lace areas to get them snug… and the more I did, the more they dug into my ankles in just the wrong spot. For anyone else, these might be great though.
212
212
The collar of the 212 isnt anything to write home about…except for the fact it just happens to fit around my ankle perfectly. The heel lock is excellent for a standard vulc.
420
420
For being such an athletically-inclined shoe, the collar of the 420 left me wanting more. It fits well, but not perfect. The heel lock is really good though and does not require lacing the shoe like a football to feel snug on your foot. Check out that Quartersnacks review/interview re: the ES Muska (
https://quartersnacks.com/2019/01/halo-effect-the-oral-history-of-the-first-hundred-dollar-skate-shoe/ )to figure out if you actually want to use the stash pocket or not.
913
913
The 913 takes the collar feel and fit of the 440 and makes it even better. It’s basically the perfect fit for me. The collar rests perfectly just below the ankle and the inner heel accommodates your heel like Cinderella’s slipper. It’s awesome.
The Sole
440 / 346 / 212
440
Flexible and grippy.
346
Seems like it’s leftover from the Blackbox days… decent.
212
Very grippy. On first glance it looks like a pebble magnet, but the tread is spaced out just enough to keep most small pebbles from getting lodged in there.
420
Really different than most skate soles. It works tho… grippy (for a cup sole) and very flexible
868 / 913
As stated in the prior review, the 868 is a pebble magnet. The sole of the 913 is much better. The forefoot is very flexible and the tread is shallow enough to keep out pebbles, but thick enough to last. The heel area is also flexible, but seems denser and more suited for impact. Plus there’s the N2 stuff in the heel for extra pillow-effect.
The Insole of the 913
868 insole / 913 insole
913 insole
The insole of the 913 is a standard thin insole and nothing like the suped-up insole of the 868…but that’s because the rest of the 913 does all the work—like it should be. The sole and innards of the 913 are so well made and comfortable that you don’t need a puffed-up insole to do the work for the shoe.
Final ThoughtsThe 440 is definitely a step forward in affordable cup soles. It should fit just about every foot style perfectly and it’s design is mellow enough to convert some vulc-lifers back over to cupsoles. The 420 is a bit much for a non-runner shoe guy like me, but it’s also really cool to see New Balance take what they are known for and retro-fit a runner into a skate shoe. The 913 seems to be exactly what New Balance should be designing—a technical, comfortable, and understated cupsole. For anyone that skates the 440 and loves them, they should at least try on a pair of the 913 to see if it’s for them. It has all the comfort of the 440, it just takes the tech and ‘athletic’ feel of the shoe and cranks it up a bit.
Finally, all of #NB were true to size for me... Except the 420, which were a little roomy in the toe at my regular size, but a little more snug than I would usually like at 0.5 size down. So, with the 420, you may have to decide whether it's your own preference to have a lil bit of room or have no extra space at all.
Topic: *new* COFFEE BREAK with the NEW BALANCE #NB 913, 440, 420, 212, and 346 (Read 6177 times)