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We really liked the New Balance Propel V4 but we love the V5!
When a light and comfortable all round racer trainer shoe with a propulsive plate gets bouncier, lighter and more comfortable, you have to be stoked in them. Add eye catching style updates and a lower price point than most other shoes in that category, and you have a real winner.
As you'll hear in our review, the Fresh Foam cushioning is now lighter and springier while the TPU plate provides a stable platform. This plate delivers a more natural stride transition to the forefoot than more aggressive carbon plates so it suits a wider audience of runners who like a lighter training shoe you can do faster runs as well as race in.
We spent some time running alongside London Olympian Tanith Maxwell to hear if a faster & fitter highly experienced thoroughbred runner concurs with our review sentiments. She did entirely and in her post Comrades drive to go faster into her veteran racing years she agrees that this shoe fits the bill.
It's much more than a groovy colour update. While the midsole stack height remains at 31mm/25mm with 6mm drop and the shape unchanged with a PL6-R last, this popular shoe is now lighter at just 280g in size 6, which is over 20 grams less off an already light feeling shoe.
The weight reduction was made possible by the introduction of a less dense FuelCell midsole which increases energy return via a softer, less dense PEBA. The same V4 TPU plate sits between two layers of this high rebound foam over the energy arc split sole for max rebound effect.
Another key change is the structured lightweight upper, which utilises the same material as v4, is a custom design pattern for foot fit structure and similar breathability.
They opted not to use a gusseted tongue which most modern shoes do but it sat plush & didn't move around so not an issue with comfort.
Combine the reasonable price of R2 799 with the improved lighter tech and sweet new colourway and we believe that New Balance have a winner here.
Shop the range here.
