new balance enters skate shoe arena

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Stop with the quality thing. Quality went down because some fuckers wanted thin ass shoes to rock with their skinny jeans. Emerica, Nike, Lakai, Adidas, New Balance, it's all the same shit. It's not like you're burning through a pair of shoes in a week or two. You're not that good.

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Quality isn't always about durability, sometimes it's about rockhard soles peeling away from the rest of the shoe, shitty stitching, glue all over the place etc.

While that's not altogether untrue, quality in skate shoes is 90% durability. No faction of sport or athletes blow through shoes the way skateboarders do. We spend hours a day rubbing our shoes with sandpaper... they should be built to withstand that as much as possible.

[hekkahyphy]

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In celebration of such an important moment in the history of skateboarding I have just bought me two pairs of HUFs.

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Same.

agreed. slipping into my mortons as a big hell no to numeric

[Will Easley]

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Stop with the quality thing. Quality went down because some fuckers wanted thin ass shoes to rock with their skinny jeans. Emerica, Nike, Lakai, Adidas, New Balance, it's all the same shit. It's not like you're burning through a pair of shoes in a week or two. You're not that good.

[close]

Quality isn't always about durability, sometimes it's about rockhard soles peeling away from the rest of the shoe, shitty stitching, glue all over the place etc.

[close]

While that's not altogether untrue, quality in skate shoes is 90% durability. No faction of sport or athletes blow through shoes the way skateboarders do. We spend hours a day rubbing our shoes with sandpaper... they should be built to withstand that as much as possible.

Ay yall I'm sure soles peeling off & bad stitching would qualify as a durability problem. Just throwin that out there.

[Fongstarr.]

All models here:
http://www.skateboardermag.com/features/skateboarder-magazines-new-balance-numeric-sneak-peak-photos/

These are probably the best pictures of the showes and after seeing them here, I don't think the shoes are any special.

[Gay Bar]

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All models here:
http://www.skateboardermag.com/features/skateboarder-magazines-new-balance-numeric-sneak-peak-photos/

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These are probably the best pictures of the showes and after seeing them here, I don't think the shoes are any special.

agreed

[_aminal]

the shoes dont look so bad.
they just look like im gonna blow them out and regret spending 75 bucks on one pair of NBs instead of 60 bucks on 2 pairs of eras....

[Big Skatefase]

that N is kinda obnoxious

[fourdown]

Also, Adidas has had a skate team since..... some time in the 90s.  I know the earliest ad I can remember was with Kalis and that was like, 95-96.  They've always had a dope team too.  Back in the 90s it was Gonz, Quim, Matt Beach and Paulo Diaz.  Plus Harold Hunter and Richard Angelides skated the shelltoes pretty consistently. 

At this point you just pick who does the most that you agree with- Yeah Adidas is a big company, but then you've got skate companies doing shit with musicians (Supra/Lakai), or weirder collabos with video games (Fallen) or companies like DC- who flat out go make shoes for motocross and mall kids etc.  Business is business and they all want to make money.  I'd argue the quality of some of the skater owned ones, but it looks like Emerica and Lakai have really taken that into account and are changing a lot for the better.

Truth. At the end of the day even the most core skate companies are a business and looking to keep their doors open and make better products. DC is the perfect example, they've been around for ever but I wouldn't support them because of what they represent now, who cares what they were. I'd also rep NB before Nike just for the fact that they still make some of their shoes in the states.

[Tale Crab]

Watch your ankles. I've got another logo to aim my board at.

[Frank]

i can't see how these shoes bring anything new to the game. the stamped in faux-paneling of the logan looks weird to me. the brighton model is the nb# janoski, ok. quincy is downright cheap looking in the pics, could also be an osiris shoe and is basically a revamp of a fallen chief model that looked so uninteresting i have forgotten its name. only decent looking model imo is the stratford, which is basically a nike sb koston with the same attempt to mimic that running shoe paneling like those air max kostons.

i also wanted to buy some nbs for walking or going out, but now that they started to make unoriginal skateshoes, i am even turned off to buy some nb-runners, althought it may not even be the same business entity. i can really find no reason why you would want to try to establish another non-skateboarding brand in this sinking ship of an industry, especially when it seems that your own "core" brand isn't doing well.

[RoedGroed]

These almost look like fatlaces haha


They bring nothing new to the game at all? Seems like a quick way to make some money and be out. Those NB Janoskis looks horrible. Just look at the 'leather' crumbling and all. Really disappointed, but then again.. Its just NB, not a skateshoe company.

[ungzilla]

the 'leather' one those look like pretty much every other waxed canvas shoe in existence.

blah. they ok. probably won't buy any ever though.

[captainfalcon69]

the maroon chukkanoskis actually look kinda good to me

[dillanharp]

I'm not buying them on principle, but there is some serious nit picking going on here. The N is obnoxious? They're new balance. Stretch it out and it might turn in to a swoosh. Nothing new to the table? Like what? You want them to light up when you push? The vulcs look cheap. No shit. So does every other vulc shoe from every other company. I don't get it. Hopefully the PJ gets paid, that's all, fuck these shoes.

[sweets]

The one thing New Balance is bringing is a reputation for producing a lot of synthetic shoes (they were veggie friendly before veggie friendly was a thing) and USA manufacturing. If they make a model here, I'll consider purchase. I'll also look super hot for all the retirement home skate Betties. 

[StFlour]

If they're anything like Fallen's i'd steer clear.

[Aleister gnarly]

They look exactly like they should, the workers get paid $.32 an hour or $12.00 a day, do you actually expect them to look amazing? 

[pica]

years ago fingers would be pointed and people would have laughed at any skater who would have worn New Balance shoes. all of a sudden it's legit and there are people who think this is good? shame on you guys. while any idiot who doesn't skate has worn skateshoes in the late 90ies/early 00's we now turn the othe way round and the skaters wear the same brands that any idiot who doesn't skate wears? finally proof of the theory that 90% of the skaters are 100% idiots.

[ROCKxADIO420]

how easily some of you are accepting this is really bumming me out.

[Cthulhu!]

No thanks, I'll pass.

[NowhereInLife]

blah, blah, squawk, squawk, rag, rag, hate.  lulz, bunch of bitches.

way i see it, the only person who can speak whether these shoes are relevant or not (they are, you're not) is PJ Ladd.

and he tends to let his feet do the talking. 

will cop.  will compare to new Reynolds.

[Gray Imp Sausage Metal]

how easily some of you are accepting this is really bumming me out.

why? we (skaters) basically gave them a free pass considering how much we all circle-jerk nike. at least NB has some sort of credibility in the scheme of things (correct me if i'm wrong but they basically only make core running/ hiking / retirement village shoes right?), nike will rape and pillage ANYTHING with a pulse, they have a "yoga" line ffs? ohm NIKE!

[Will Easley]

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how easily some of you are accepting this is really bumming me out.

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why? we (skaters) basically gave them a free pass considering how much we all circle-jerk nike. at least NB has some sort of credibility in the scheme of things (correct me if i'm wrong but they basically only make core running/ hiking / retirement village shoes right?), nike will rape and pillage ANYTHING with a pulse, they have a "yoga" line ffs? ohm NIKE!

Yeah man, what's the deal with all these big shoe companies trying break into as many markets as possible? It's like they're trying to make money or something! I don't care if they make quality products, they should stick to doing ONLY what they started off with if they wanna stay legit. Growth & expansion is definitely a step in the wrong direction when it comes to business.

[new_york_shitty]

way i see it, the only person who can speak whether these shoes are relevant or not (they are, you're not) is PJ Ladd.

[NickDagger]

that N is kinda obnoxious

This, otherwise the quincy's look aight.

And I agree with the dude that said NB is not as bad of a corporation as Nike in many ways.

[ROCKxADIO420]

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how easily some of you are accepting this is really bumming me out.

[close]

why? we (skaters) basically gave them a free pass considering how much we all circle-jerk nike. at least NB has some sort of credibility in the scheme of things (correct me if i'm wrong but they basically only make core running/ hiking / retirement village shoes right?), nike will rape and pillage ANYTHING with a pulse, they have a "yoga" line ffs? ohm NIKE!

this kids been wearing janoskis for the last 3 years, but now he has to rub the toe with spare griptape so his mom will buy him a new pair of NBs.

[Rusty Shackleford]

fuck that give lakai your business instead

[sleepypancakes]

blah, blah, squawk, squawk, rag, rag, hate.  lulz, bunch of bitches.

way i see it, the only person who can speak whether these shoes are relevant or not (they are, you're not) is PJ Ladd.

and he tends to let his feet do the talking. 

will cop.  will compare to new Reynolds.

Correct me if I'm wrong. But isn't PJ Ladd so fucking talented that it really wouldn't matter much what shoes he was wearing?

[Gray Imp Sausage Metal]

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how easily some of you are accepting this is really bumming me out.

[close]

why? we (skaters) basically gave them a free pass considering how much we all circle-jerk nike. at least NB has some sort of credibility in the scheme of things (correct me if i'm wrong but they basically only make core running/ hiking / retirement village shoes right?), nike will rape and pillage ANYTHING with a pulse, they have a "yoga" line ffs? ohm NIKE!

[close]

Yeah man, what's the deal with all these big shoe companies trying break into as many markets as possible? It's like they're trying to make money or something! I don't care if they make quality products, they should stick to doing ONLY what they started off with if they wanna stay legit. Growth & expansion is definitely a step in the wrong direction when it comes to business.

that's the thing though, even you nike-head salad tossers are saying their quality sux these days so you have little/ no arguments left.
what i am saying about NB is that they have to stuck to what they are good at for a long time (making running shoes) instead of trying to milk profits out of anything that moves which at least gives them a little more integrity/ credibility in the scheme of things (my original point   ).
make me a vegan model made in the USA NB and you can have my $$$.

[Gray Imp Sausage Metal]

this kids been wearing janoskis for the last 3 years, but now he has to rub the toe with spare griptape so his mom will buy him a new pair of NBs.

proud to say that in 20+ years of skating i have never owned a pair of nikes, never will