Well, if you’re a regular visitor to Average Guy, you probably have noticed a trend in the footwear reviews that Zak, Moira and Ken all provide. While excellent reviews, they all deal with minimal, everyday training footwear and as such get nice and techy and very deep into things like stitching and flatlock seaming and burrito tongues (sound delicious right?). Well, what about those of us who don’t exclusively train in minimal, au natural? (wait, do those people even read reviews on shoes?). As a runner who competes regularly and wants to go FAAASSTTT, I decided I’d do a review on a shoe designed for that end, a shoe with some zip in its tires.
When we opened Elite Feet last July, we had a partnership with New Balance to help sponsor our store team. One of the toughest things for me when dealing with a sponsorship is making sure the products that I am required to wear are compatible with my comfort and goals for running. If the shoe doesn’t seem to help with my racing, then I’m inclined to turn down the opportunity to race for a sponsor. Well, much to my delight, the New Balance lineup has certainly jumped leaps and bounds forward in the last 2-3 years. With the addition of the Minimus line and add to that shoes like the 890, New Balance has found the Fountain of Youth and reversed their image of an aged brand. This partnership with New Balance and Elite Feet also coincided with my foray into semi-elite marathoning last fall and as luck would have it, New Balance released a new racing flat called the RC1400 that showed promise to serve my needs for a longer race. I’ve worn the shoes now for multiple races, from 5ks up to the Detroit Marathon and now offer up my much delayed, highly anticipated debut in the shoe reviewing world.
Look:
While not a huge part in how a shoe performs, I personally
have to have to be encouraged to pick the shoe up and try it on and the look
certainly plays a huge part in that. My first pair was a bright blue and orange
combo that certainly looks fast and edgy but it was my second pair, and the
pair I ultimately wore for Detroit, that truly takes the cake. This pair is a
lime-yellow midsole with a deep, dark purple for the upper with light purple
over-lays, truly unique color scheme for men’s shoes. I love when a shoe flirts
with that edge and shouts out with color. I find this shoe to be one of the
best looking shoes I’ve ever worn for running.
As the shoe is for racing and workouts, it better fit
perfect, as every little nuisance can add up for 26.2 miles of hard running. My
feet have given me trouble in the past, with two stress fractures in college
and as such I always try to take care of them and pamper them a bit. With the
1400s, I found a great blend of that snug, glove like fit that screams speed
and the wiggle room for the inevitable swelling that occurs in the late miles
of the marathon. My left foot is slightly wider and more apt to feel cramped in
shoes with too slim a toe box and at the end of long runs and races, I
sometimes feel that there is a tiny bit of discomfort from just not enough
room. My right foot has never given me an issue though so I’ll call the fit a
wash. The heel fit though, is amazing. For me, I usually find shoes too wide in
the heel or that companies add too much padding back there to make up for poor
fit by encompassing the foot in a pillow of padding, which just takes away from
true ‘shoe fit’ that I feel makes a shoe truly standout. The 1400 seems to fit
the heel shape, somewhat wrapping the heel much like a Vibram shoe does. I feel
this makes the shoe seem more shapely and better for racing in. The last
feature of the 1400 that I enjoy is the minimal stitched overlays, with most
being similar to the 890 training shoe, using a high level glue instead. This
takes away weight and also leads to less irritation during wear.
Performance:
The most important feature of any racing flat is how the
shoe performs. The 1400 is amazing on this level. The shoe has great ground
feel with full ground contact and a slightly curved outsole to promote the
tracking of the foot from mid-foot strike to toe off. Many racing flats feature
a weird outsole with those grip-like rough pegs that supposedly add traction
but I always feel this just adds to premature wear. With this shoe, I found the
outsole to perform on a wide variety of surfaces with great handling and high
durability. The shoe is a firm feeling platform featuring just enough cushion
to allow you to achieve high return on your energy investment without losing
power to the spongy feel of soft shoes. I feel I can do speed workouts as well
as tempos in this shoe, firm enough for speed, forgiving enough for 20 miles. I
have ran at least 15 20+ milers in this shoe, a testament to how great a ride
this shoe features. I ran my first marathon in 2:31 in this shoe as well as my
second fastest ever road 5k in 15:03, my fastest road 10k on icy streets in
31:19 and one of my best high-level races ever with a 1:41 30k in Hamilton,
ONT. I love this shoe and have purchased 4 pairs of the same shoe just because
of the performance. With my next marathon looming in Duluth, MN, I already have
a pair in the hot new color on order.
Overall:
Not to sound too cliché but this is truly the best shoe I
have ever worn. Love the feel of the shoe on my foot, love the response on the
road and love the look. My review may seem soft compared to other bloggers but
I think this is just due to the great shoe I choose to review. This shoe will
always have a place in my heart for being my first marathon shoe ever.
The New Balance RC1400 is available from Elite Feet Brighton right now! Thanks to Mike for his great review and to New Balance and Elite Feet for sponsoring our team.
The New Balance RC1400 is available from Elite Feet Brighton right now! Thanks to Mike for his great review and to New Balance and Elite Feet for sponsoring our team.
2 comments:
I just started wearing the 890BOSV2 and they perform way better than my Adidas F50v2 (which really sucked)! now I want a lighter, faster shoe and prolly pick up the 1400 after reading this review. I don't like the dark colors, but maybe they will change for next year. in person, the 1400 really feels thin and light. I was concerned that they are not durable and I was not convinced that the sole pattern would last due to the tiny shapes. Been hearing a lot of "this is my favorite shoe..." so I plan on trying them out soon.
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