Tag Archives: NewBalance

Lace-Locking & A New New Balance Outlet

May 18, 2015 Chris Nesti Leave a comment

I hope you all had a happy International Fluevog Day last Friday. Pardon the sneezes; the pollen count has been high in the northeast this week. Heavy boot season is about done and I’ve been wearing sneakers a bit more along the northeast corridor. What about you?

Doug from Jersey City, New Jersey tipped me off to this swell video that went around on the webs heavy last week:

I’d been wondering about that extra set of holes lately, and since I’m not a runner (I just walk a lot), never bothered to look into it. I’m sure there are a google ways to use the extra holes. My New Balance 498s have this extra set, and I usually skip it, or obtain some 45-inch laces that don’t leave as much tip. I did lace up as instructed in the video above and it felt pretty solid, but I found this lacing a pain to untie quickly. Locking might be preferable for competition runners, but I’d avoid using the technique while air traveling or going on dates.

Speaking of New Balance, they opened a new factory outlet shop on April 4th in Avon, Massachusetts*. As a former Bostonian who’d been visiting the main NB outlet in Brighton, (Boston, Massachusetts) since it was located on North Beacon Street, I was curious to see how it would compare. The regular New Balance running shops, like on 5th Ave in New York City or Boylston St. in Boston are fun to visit for the latest and greatest New Balance, plus customization stations, but at an outlet we expect to see older models, deadstock, and totally random oddballs that you can’t even find on the Internet.

The new new is located on Stockwell Drive, and is definitely stocked well. They did have plenty of brand new older models, with a split down the middle for women and men.

You had your insole and accessory endcaps, with some try-on benches toward the back, lots to look through. Hockey players could even get gear from NB’s Warrior brand.

There were a couple Brannock foot measuring devices at the store. When I’m considering buying a shoe, I like to try all sizes above, below and wide to make sure I’m getting the best fit. Some irregularities could be in sizing, and that could be the reason the sneaks ended up at an outlet anyway.

Chock-full clearance racks lined the back walls. This is where you find the oddball randos. I ended up purchasing some Minimus MX20v3s for $40 out of said racks.

I first tried them with socks, and proceeded to break them in later that day via a batting cage session, some field frisbee, and even a turn playing drums. Remember that cartoon Laff-A-Lympics?

I ended up preferring wearing the MX20v3s without socks; much less squishy-feels, more sure-footedness. The shoe itself can nearly be compared to a padded sock with laces. The MX20s have no removable insole and feature antimicrobial treated inners much like minimalist offerings from Vibram and others.

Vibram actually provides the outsole under a thin layer of foam attached to the uppers. Sporting some bug-screen style mesh on the heel-sides, these measure a 4mm heel-to-toe drop and are made-in-USA from imported components.

NewBalanceSkull&CrossbonesLaces — #ImpulsePurchase

What else at the store? In line I spotted some sweet skull ‘n’ crossbones flat laces en route to checkout. The Minimus’s came stock with black 54″ athletic (oval) laces which I did try lace-locking and felt it was too constricting for this type of shoe. Without the extra holes laced, the tips sometimes swiped the ground (A Popdiatry no-no). I swapped them with the 45″ skulls and I’m a happy urban camper.

NewBalanceMinimusWskullLaces — Rule of Toe: NB Minimus, no socks, 45″ laces

I use the Minimus’s for handball and other hard-ground excercises. I wouldn’t choose these to walk around all day in a big city, but I can definitely see packing them in luggage for use at a hotel gym. They’re definitely less attention-getting than toe-shoes, and I’d consider wearing them in close-range coffeeshop or foodshopping situations where I wouldn’t wear FiveFingers or SkeleToes.

HEADS

Elsewhere off the path, thanks to Michael from Cambridge Massachusetts for sending us pics of this ridiculously fresh made-in-USA “Birds” snapback.

If you’ve never seen the original Birds by Alfred Hitchcock, put it in your queue.

* Thanks to Kathy from Brockton for the tip on the New Balance store.

Gotta run.. stay tuned for more posts. -Chris

boots, footwear, ingenuity, Shoes, sports

Shoes that Grow Up

October 26, 2014 Chris Nesti Leave a comment

Have you heard of Because International– the shoe that is meant to be adjustable from size 5 to a size 12?

A still of a sketch from Vimeo.com/TobinRogers

African kids try out some prototypes of adjustable size shoes. Still from Vimeo.com/TobinRogers

The creator of these wants a lasting shoe that can be adjusted according to the growth spurts of school-aged children with the use of straps and snaps. It’s a great idea. I’d be interested in seeing if it can be achieved in a non-janky manner.

Check out their crowdrise video to hear for yourself.

Some day, touch screen devices will be able to transmit a true sense of touch. You’d be able to run your finger over this shot of the collaboration Viberg Boots did with Leffot (Manhattan) and feel the eye-catching grain of the triple bullhide.

These beasts went available for pre-order on Leffot’s site Saturday. Are you on the list?

“Joe leaves big shoes to fill – on and off the field… “ said Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn about Joe Maddon, who announced Saturday he’d be opting out as the Tampa Bay Rays baseball team coach for 2015.

Which reminds me; I was flicking through the Zappos app the other day and saw these New Balance MU950 (made in China) “umpire” shoes. According to NewBalance.com the 950 series is the official on-field footwear of Major League Baseball umpires. I like the look of that sole; I’d call it ‘cleat lite’. They even have other styles with big pads over the lace deck. Surely a hit for your umpire Halloween costume.

Random

A still of some Birdman shoes from the Rich Gang video for "Lifestyle" — Rapper Shoes: A still of some Birdmans from the Rich Gang video for “Lifestyle”

There was something else I was going to write about but I have to hop off now. I’ll leave you with this authentic robo-crafted piece of spam-poetry. Think of it as an online fortune of sorts: Click to enlarge.

footwear, humor, pop, sneakers, sports

The Captain’s Socks or Horween New Balances

September 26, 2014 Chris Nesti Leave a comment

Attention: Used Derek Jeter game socks are on sale from Steiner Sports Memorabilia for only $409.99. Peep the screenshot.

Since you bought a baseball player’s sock for so much, it put a huge dent in your basketball sneaker budget and you can no longer afford $240 for these new Titolo Reebok pumps. No problem because Shaquille O’Neal now has his own inexpensive brand of high-tops available at Walmart.

It’s no secret that Nike is chomping their competition in worldwide sneaker and apparel sales. Rival Adidas went and hired three Nike design vets and will stick them in a Brooklyn design studio in hopes they can carve a bigger piece of the North American pie.

Since you bought that Jeter sock, you won’t have enough for a pair of these $400 New Balance Horween leather models

Bus to Philly for a chance to buy some of these limited edition U.S. made NBs on October 1st: $11

It appears the New Balance Berry-compliant 950v2 models we talked about earlier this year may be closer to hitting real ground.

Members of congress visited a New Balance biomechanical research/prototype lab in Lawrence, Massachusetts last month to see how an athletic sneaker is made entirely in The United States using US materials. The Department of Defense is expected to make a decision soon about enforcing a rules that states new military recruits should buy products (sneakers) made in the USA with their vouchers. Read the full article in Navy Times.