New Balance Fresh Foam Boracay

Name: New Balance Fresh Foam Boracay
Brand: New Balance
Rating: 4.3 (10 reviews)

Daily trainer · Neutral · Road · 9.0 oz (men's) · 22/18mm stack · 4mm drop

Discontinued — we no longer see this shoe in stock. The New Balance Fresh Foam Boracay 3 replaced it

How it ranks

The New Balance Fresh Foam Boracay ranks below most daily trainers in our data. Comfort and durability are its strongest sub-ratings. Cushioning scores well below its other sub-ratings. The rating is based on 10 runner reviews and 2 other rated shoes in the Fresh Foam Boracay product line.

Decent

Overall

Decent 73

Comfort

Decent 76

Value

Decent 73

Appearance

Decent 71

Durability

Decent 71

Cushioning

Below average 66

Confidence

How settled the rating is against every other rated shoe. A shoe can rate high on confidence with relatively few reviews of its own when its product line has a long record and external ratings from retailer sites agree. Confidence is low when we have few ratings or when runners disagree.

See the product line's history

Confidence

89 High

High 89

Based on

The bars show roughly how much each source contributes to this shoe’s rating. Their influence depends on how many reviews we’ve collected, how many earlier versions are in the product line, and the external ratings available.

Brand rating
Our ratings
External ratings

What runners say

“Enough cushioning for 17–18 mi long runs, light and responsive for 6 min/mi progression runs”

5/5 Full review 80 mpw training for middle distance came from the Nike Air Zoom Elite 8

“Comfortable, soft ride but not too heavy or cushy”

5/5 Full review 40 mpw 556 miles in this shoe came from the Saucony Kinvara 5

“Relatively light; keeps turnover quick with stable, solid footstrike”

5/5 Full review 80 mpw training for middle distance came from the Nike Air Zoom Elite 8

“Cushioned enough for 13 mi runs yet light enough for fast running”

4/5 Full review 45 mpw came from the Saucony Kinvara 5

“Very cushioned and grippy; still grips well when worn down”

4/5 Full review 35 mpw training for middle distance came from the New Balance 1080 v4

“Low drop with a flat chunk of foam on the bottom”

5/5 Full review 80 mpw training for middle distance came from the Nike Air Zoom Elite 8

“2 mi in, bottoms of feet hurt and burn”

3/5 Full review 70 mpw training for a half marathon came from the Mizuno Wave Inspire 11

“Upper tears at the seam between upper and midsole around the ball of the big toe”

5/5 Full review 40 mpw 556 miles in this shoe came from the Saucony Kinvara 5

“Does not wrap foot; leaves gaps under the arch”

3/5 Full review 70 mpw training for a half marathon came from the Mizuno Wave Inspire 11

“Doesn't maintain comfort after about an hour at a time”

4/5 Full review 32 mpw came from the Saucony Kinvara 5

“Feels like it's dying after ~250 miles”

4/5 Full review 35 mpw training for middle distance came from the New Balance 1080 v4

“Around 450 miles before cushioning wore out”

4/5 Full review 45 mpw came from the Saucony Kinvara 5

“Fresh foam is kind of hard when cold”

4/5 Full review 32 mpw came from the Saucony Kinvara 5

“Comfortable but wears quickly”

4/5 Full review 15 mpw came from the Saucony Ride 6

Prefer this shoe over another

50% 6/12

Where to buy

No offers available

Affiliate links included. They never affect our ratings.

Prices updated daily. Last checked Oct 23.

Pros

Reviewers find it light enough for fast runs and cushioned enough for long ones.
Comfort draws consistent praise from reviewers logging base training miles.

Cons

Several reviewers say the cushioning flattens somewhere between 250 and 450 miles.
Reviewers report the foam feeling hard in cold weather.
Value draws the lowest ratings of any dimension, at 3.9 out of 5.

Fresh Foam Boracay rates 73. This shoe has high confidence. See how we rate shoes.

Better Shoes Rating of prior versions of the New Balance Fresh Foam Boracay

Each dot is one version of the Fresh Foam Boracay, placed by its rating and release year. The gold dot is this shoe.

Rating

40 60 80 100

73 2015 82 2017 76 2017

Release year

We use the reviews of past versions to inform this shoe’s rating. See why.

Fresh Foam Boracay v3

2017 · 5 reviews

76 Decent

70 Confidence
Fresh Foam Boracay 3

2017 · 1 review

82 Good

50 Confidence
Fresh Foam Boracay This shoe

2015 · 10 reviews

73 Decent

89 Confidence

Runner Ratings

10 ratings

5/5 4

4/5 5

3/5 1

2/5 0

1/5 0

See written reviews Write a review

Specs & fit

Sizing and ride details at a glance.

Weight: 9.0 oz (men's)
Release: 2015
MSRP: $120
Stack: 22/18mm
Drop: 4mm

Runner reviews

Write a review

4/5

Overall

phiwho40 · Nov 30, 2015

45 mpw training for a marathon came from the Brooks Pure Flow

Comfort: 5/5
Durability: 5/5
Appearance: 5/5
Value: 4/5

5/5

Overall

So I'm on my high school xc/distance team, and for most of my career I've run in kinvaras. I decided to try out the fresh foams, and I chose the boracay over the Zante because the Zante has a weird lump on the outer ridge of the insole for some reason and just fit kinda weird. The folks at the running store suggested buying a half size down from what I have been wearing, so I bought a 10 rather than a 10 1/2. I ran in these from August pre-season work all the way past states, and I loved them. Comfortable, soft ride but not too heavy or cushy, and they look sweet. The only reason I replaced them is because the upper started to tear around the ball of my big toe, at the seam between the upper and the midsole. This was due to a combination of the tight fit around the forefoot and the excessive track running we did. I'm sure if you run primarily on the roads or trails, you should get a lot more life out of them. Overall a great shoe, 10/10 would recommend

tkjordan · Nov 23, 2015

40 mpw 556 miles in this shoe came from the Saucony Kinvara 5

Comfort: 5/5
Durability: 4/5
Appearance: 5/5
Value: 5/5

5/5

Overall

Anonymous runner · May 11, 2015

80 mpw training for a half marathon came from the Brooks Ghost 7

Comfort: 5/5
Durability: 5/5
Appearance: 4/5
Value: 5/5

5/5

Overall

Switched over from the Kinvara to try something new. It's pretty similar but more cushioned.

Anonymous runner · Apr 10, 2015

60 mpw training for middle distance came from the Saucony Kinvara 4

Comfort: 5/5
Durability: 5/5
Appearance: 4/5
Value: 4/5

3/5

Overall

A bit shapeless, does not wrap my foot and leaves gaps under the arch. Felt good running a bit at the store, but then 2mi into my regular run the bottoms of my feet began to hurt and burn a bit.

kilkee · Mar 22, 2015

70 mpw training for a half marathon came from the Mizuno Wave Inspire 11