New Balance Vazee Pace v2

Name: New Balance Vazee Pace v2
Brand: New Balance
Rating: 4.4 (17 reviews)

Daily trainer · Neutral · Road · 8.2 oz · 24/18mm stack · 6mm drop

Discontinued — we no longer see this shoe in stock.

How it ranks

The New Balance Vazee Pace v2 trails most daily trainers in our data. Value and looks are its strongest sub-ratings. Cushioning scores well below its other sub-ratings. The rating is based on 17 runner reviews and 1 other rated shoe in the Vazee Pace product line.

Below average

Overall

Below average 67

Appearance

Good 84

Value

Good 84

Comfort

Below average 65

Durability

Below average 62

Cushioning

Bottom-tier 50

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

91 High

High 91

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.

Product line track record
Our ratings
External ratings

What runners say

“Light enough to race in, but sturdy enough to train in”

5/5 Full review 50 mpw training for a marathon came from the New Balance 890 v4

“Wears down fast—bottoms and toe box show large signs of wear after ~2 months”

4/5 Full review 60 mpw training for a half marathon came from the Nike Air Zoom Pegasus 34

“Feels somewhat flat and unresponsive, more "slap" than "pop" on footstrike”

3/5 Full review 75 mpw training for a half marathon came from the New Balance Fresh Foam Zante v3

“Maintains a firm ride with extremely responsive feel”

4/5 Full review 20 mpw training for a half marathon came from the Saucony Ride 8

“Runs small by about a half a size”

5/5 Full review 50 mpw training for a marathon came from the New Balance 890 v4

“Back of the shoe is very low, resulting in heel slipping”

3/5 Full review 25 mpw training for a half marathon came from the Nike Air Zoom Pegasus 34

“Toe box was too narrow and resulted in pressure points”

3/5 Full review 25 mpw training for a half marathon came from the Nike Air Zoom Pegasus 34

“Lightweight, minimal heel-toe drop, fairly supportive”

4/5 Full review 60 mpw training for a half marathon came from the Nike Air Zoom Pegasus 34

“Snappy, lightweight package with a firmer cushioning profile”

5/5 Full review 90 mpw training for a half marathon

“Each pair lasts around 500 miles”

5/5 Full review 70 mpw training for middle distance came from the Brooks Pure Flow 4

“Lasts around 400+ miles before needing replacement”

5/5 Full review 60 mpw training for a half marathon came from the New Balance Fresh Foam Zante

“Light shoe that can handle some mileage but lacks cushioning of a heavier shoe”

5/5 Full review 55 mpw training for a half marathon came from the New Balance Vazee Pace

“Responsive shoe with less cushioning and a stiffer sole plate”

4/5 Full review 60 mpw training for a half marathon came from the Saucony Kinvara 6

“Fits wider in the toe box and narrower in the heel”

4/5 Full review 20 mpw training for a half marathon came from the Saucony Ride 8

“Feel gravel and rocks through the shoe after around 250 miles”

5/5 Full review 70 mpw training for middle distance came from the Brooks Pure Flow 4

“Light and fast with medium cushioning”

4/5 Full review 16 mpw training for a half marathon came from the Nike Air Zoom Pegasus 33

“Light and comfortable enough for everything from fast intervals to long runs”

5/5 Full review 60 mpw training for a half marathon came from the New Balance Fresh Foam Zante

“Super lightweight and responsive”

5/5 Full review 30 mpw training for a half marathon came from the Brooks Pure Connect 3

“Fairly wide toe box, which is excellent”

4/5 Full review 60 mpw training for a half marathon came from the Nike Air Zoom Pegasus 34

“Relatively lacks durability mileage wise”

4/5 Full review 20 mpw training for a half marathon came from the Saucony Ride 8

“A little low cut, which might bother some runners”

5/5 Full review 30 mpw training for a half marathon came from the Brooks Pure Connect 3

“Calf tightness if worn exclusively for over a month or two”

4/5 Full review 60 mpw training for a half marathon came from the Nike Air Zoom Pegasus 34

“Forefoot of the shoe is wider”

5/5 Full review 50 mpw training for a marathon came from the New Balance 890 v4

Prefer this shoe over another

50% 7/14

Where to buy

No offers available

Affiliate links included. They never affect our ratings.

Prices updated daily. Last checked Oct 22.

Pros

Eight reviewers call it light and responsive, and use it for tempo work and faster runs.
Four reviewers find the toe box roomy.
Value averages 4.4 out of 5 across seventeen reviews, and one reviewer finds pairs for about $50.

Cons

Cushioning averages 3.5 out of 5, the lowest of its dimensions, and three reviewers would use something else for long runs.
Durability averages 3.8 out of 5, and three reviewers say the outsole or toe box wears quickly.
Two reviewers find the heel collar low, one fighting heel slip unless the laces are at maximum.

Vazee Pace v2 rates 67. This shoe has high confidence. See how we rate shoes.

Better Shoes Rating of prior versions of the New Balance Vazee Pace

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

Rating

40 60 80 100

72 2015 67 2017

Release year

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

Vazee Pace v2 This shoe

2017 · 17 reviews

67 Below average

91 Confidence
Vazee Pace

2015 · 6 reviews

72 Decent

81 Confidence

Runner Ratings

17 ratings

5/5 9

4/5 6

3/5 2

2/5 0

1/5 0

See written reviews Write a review

Specs & fit

Sizing and ride details at a glance.

Weight: 8.2 oz
Men's / women's: Men's 8.6 oz · Women's 7.8 oz
Release: 2017 Q3
MSRP: $110
Stack: 24/18mm
Drop: 6mm

Runner reviews

Write a review

3/5

Overall

The back of the shoe is very low, which results in heel slipping in the shoe unless you tighten the top laces to the max to reduce this. Also, toe box was too narrow and resulted in pressure points. Otherwise, this would have been a good tempo shoe.

Anonymous runner · Jul 10, 2019

25 mpw training for a half marathon came from the Nike Air Zoom Pegasus 34

Comfort: 3/5
Cushioning: 3/5
Durability: 3/5
Appearance: 4/5
Value: 4/5

Great HS trainer

5/5

Overall

Used this shoe for ~2-3 years or about 7-8 seasons of HS track and XC, I love it because it is durable, and provides the support I need, but it definitely is fast enough to use for speed work, tempos/thresholds, etc. I rotate between two pairs of these every other day and they seem to be good for about a season each, recently have had two stress injuries, one in my fibula, and one in my talus, can't say whether or not this was due to the shoe because I have had no problems in the seasons prior, but I feel it is important to include.

Anonymous runner · Sep 30, 2018

45 mpw training for middle distance came from the New Balance Fresh Foam Zante V2

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

Good fast trainer

4/5

Overall

Overall a good shoe for the price. It's light and fast with medium cushioning, sometimes I would like it to have a bit more since I did almost all of my traing in it but for my fast runs it was perfect. It has held up great and yet no serious damage. I would recomend it for your fast/mediumu runs but when it comes to long runs I would proberly choose another shoe.

Anonymous runner · Aug 28, 2018

16 mpw training for a half marathon came from the Nike Air Zoom Pegasus 33

Comfort: 4/5
Cushioning: 3/5
Durability: 4/5
Appearance: 4/5
Value: 4/5

Vazee Pace

5/5

Overall

I first bought this shoe over a year ago and haven't run in anything else since. I'm a high school runner averaging anywhere between 50-70 miles a week and find that Vazee Pace v2 can still last me around 400+ miles before needing replacement and still be light enough and comfortable enough to handle everything from fast intervals to long runs

Anonymous runner · Jul 19, 2018

60 mpw training for a half marathon came from the New Balance Fresh Foam Zante

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

If a sock had support!

4/5

Overall

I've loved this shoe, it's lightweight, minimal heel-toe drop, fairly supportive. It's been great for normal running (sometimes I use orthotics), but I also have friends that will wear it on longer tempos. There is a fairly wide toe box, which is excellent. On the downside, it's lightweight nature normally creates some sort of calf tightness if I wear this shoe exclusively for >1 month or two (I run anywhere between ~50 to 70 miles a week) I have worn at least 8 pairs. This gets to the bit that I loathe about this shoe- it wears down fast. Like super fast. Both the bottoms and the toe box tend to show large signs of wear after ~2 months. But, then again, you can normally find these shoes on the internet for ~$50.00

Anonymous runner · Mar 9, 2018

60 mpw training for a half marathon came from the Nike Air Zoom Pegasus 34