Shoe Review: New Balance FuelCell 890 v8
One of my favorite things about running is running shoes. I’ve always known I had a shopping addiction… but only recently has my addiction changed from stilettos to running shoes. Thankfully, after much reading and realizing a large shoe rotation was ideal to prevent injury, I decided I didn’t need any excuses to buy another pair of shoes. I mean, it is for my health, right?
Last month, I decided to go to Baton Rouge’s local running store Varsity Sports, to search for my new shoes. I’ve been coming here since I moved to Baton Rouge in 2011 because they really do have the best selection of the latest models of top running shoes.
This is where I discovered the New Balance FuelCell 890 v8. Now, if I had went to Academy or Dicks Sporting Goods and seen these shoes, I probably would’ve walked right by them. While they’re cute, I never would have put them on my foot to be a trainer for my short runs. Maybe because they were too cute to be running shoes? I don’t really know.
Anyways…
After trying on a million and one shoes, I decided to go with these and see what I thought about them after a month of running.
Also, as a quick rule of thumb for any New Balance shoe:
When you look at the numbers for a New Balance shoes, they directly correlate to their ride style.
Shoes 40 through 60 have the most stable ride, 70’s and 80’s are a light stability for neutral runners, and then the 90’s and 00’s are going to be their lightest models designed for competitions.
So…
Let’s talk about the specs (Women’s size 8)
Drop: 6mm
Weight: 7.4 oz
Buy your FuelCell’s here!
Ground contact REVlite outsole
Outsole on the forefoot creates a speedy, fast feel
Knit upper
Breathable and light support with an asymmetrical tongue that sits naturally on the top of the foot.
High-rebound FuelCell midsole
Ideal for tempo runs
Aesthetically pleasing
This shoe has a high arch, which I love because… same. My arches like all that attention that they usually don’t get. This shoe is also on the stiffer side, but not a hard ride at all. I do find that the toe box is on the smaller side, which for a tempo run is fine and doesn’t bother me too much; however, there is no way I’d be comfortable in these for longer than 8 miles.
So, if you you’re relatively flat footed and pronate, I don’t recommend this shoe.
For those high arched neutral runners, I say go buy some and try them out because I love mine.
So far I’ve really enjoyed learning how to run in these shoes and experiencing them the way New Balance wanted me to. The REVlite outer sole is definitely weird at first, but really fun once you get used to it. Definitely worth the purchase!
Final rating: 8/10
