OH NO! No more New Balance on the SL-2

[Anniesantiago]

I learned with horror today that New Balance is no longer going to make their SL-2 trail runners. They're trying something new.
So I got online and found what I wanted on Zappos. The good news is I usually pay around $140 and I got two pair for $99 each, one for this year and one for next. By then, hopefully I can find something else that works as well for me.
Darn you, New Balance!

 

[Robo]

Don't you just hate when they do that.

I just bought 3 pairs of Hoka Stinsons (ATR 6) on sale, as I'm sure they'll have an 'improved' design soon!

 

[dbier]

Yup. By the time I figure out that the shoes are great, they're discontinued. Happened with ASICS, Hoka, Brooks, and for the non-running, any of the old Deflex Comfort shoes.

 

[Tom Conklin]

I learned with horror today that New Balance is no longer going to make their SL-2 trail runners. They're trying something new.
So I got online and found what I wanted on Zappos. The good news is I usually pay around $140 and I got two pair for $99 each, one for this year and one for next. By then, hopefully I can find something else that works as well for me.
Darn you, New Balance!View attachment 154629

I used the NB Hierro V7 on the Via last year and I’m training for the Norte with them this year.

 

[Anniesantiago]

I used the NB Hierro V7 on the Via last year and I’m training for the Norte with them this year.

Yes, there are dozens of brands that people use.
I have hobbit feet - I need a deep wide toebox and a narrow heel.
I've used New Balance since 2006 - so this change makes me sad

 

[Bogong]

I learned with horror today that New Balance is no longer going to make their SL-2 trail runners. They're trying something new.
So I got online and found what I wanted on Zappos. The good news is I usually pay around $140 and I got two pair for $99 each, one for this year and one for next. By then, hopefully I can find something else that works as well for me.
Darn you, New Balance!View attachment 154629

Hmm. I’ve been a runner for over 50 years although now reduced to walking after a series of bad trips and head plants. Reading the posts here it seems there are more shoe brands now than there are names in the London telephone directory. Over the years my family and I have tried nearly all the major brands. I hesitate to outline what we’ve found but here goes. First, any shoe which has the sole glued to the upper will have the two part company sooner or later.It’s because a decade or two back some body decided the glue was potentially carcinogenic - the replacement stuff wasn’t as good. When mine go I glue them back together with JB Weld’s black RTV sealant& adhesive which does a much better job although it takes several days to cure. But an assessment generally and from both ends of the spectrum. Basically the major brands are much of a muchness, including Aldi ( although their hiking/ bushwalking shoes and boots are junk). The very worst were New Balance. My first pair, the expensive top line model and Runner’s World magazine’s running shoe of the year, well, the soles collapses in a fortnight so it was like running on flat boards. Some time later I bought another top line model which was on sale. The soles parted company from the uppers but this time in a week! Never again! My son, who was in the military and doing serious exercise rates Nike very poorly and switched to Asics. His wife, who also pounds the pavements had generally OK experiences but also switched to Asics On her last buy ( around 20 months ago now) and is ecstatic. I’ve now also been using them for abwhile and they’ve performed much better than anything else I’ve tried in around 55 years of running. The seem
much better made and it takes a lot longer for the soles to part company from the uppers. Incidentally, the first pair of runners I used in the mid-1960’s were Adidas Rome which were wonderful, but they then dumbed them down to something only suitable for the Sunday Morning cafe latte set. In the 1980’s they brought out a lighteeight marathon runner ant it was excellent too. The next best, but in the much of a muchness category, was a set of Aldi runners I bought on their throwout tray for less than 5 bucks. The soles parted company about the same time as the others in this category.

De colores

Bogong

 

[el-pe]

Walked over 2500 km in NB 847s

 

[truenorthpilgrm]

My Vasque trail runners were THE BEST and of course, the particular model I wore is now out of production. Wore them on the Transcatalina trail and walked comfortably from Le Puy to Santiago.

 

[Lurch]

I used the NB Hierro V7 on the Via last year and I’m training for the Norte with them this year.

I ordered a pair of these a few days ago. I used ASICS for my first go-a rounds on the Camino, but, again, they changed designs and their replacement is junk. With size 16, the choice is small out there. Hopefully the NB will fill the bill!

 

[BruceNZ]

Have a look at Allbirds shoes. The SWT has great tread n comfy as with unusual stretch tops that support n keep stones out. Love all their range.

 

[ForrestUS]

Yes, there are dozens of brands that people use.
I have hobbit feet - I need a deep wide toebox and a narrow heel.
I've used New Balance since 2006 - so this change makes me sad

Wow, how do you remember that you've used a certain brand for 18 years? I can't even remember what I had for breakfast yesterday

 

[Anniesantiago]

Wow, how do you remember that you've used a certain brand for 18 years? I can't even remember what I had for breakfast yesterday

I remembered because shoes are the most important thing you purchase to walk the Camino.