New Balance Fresh Foam Vongo v2

Name: New Balance Fresh Foam Vongo v2
Brand: New Balance
Rating: 4.4 (7 reviews)

Daily trainer · Stability · Road · 11.5 oz · 4mm drop

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

How it ranks

The New Balance Fresh Foam Vongo v2 trails most daily trainers in our data. Cushioning and comfort are its strongest sub-ratings. The rating rests on 7 runner reviews and 4 other rated shoes in the Fresh Foam Vongo product line. Another 5 reviews would set the confidence on this shoe's own reviews.

Below average

61/100

Overall

Below average 61

Cushioning

Good 88

Comfort

Good 86

Durability

Good 84

Value

Decent 72

Appearance

Decent 71

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 will score low when we have few ratings or when runners disagree.

See the product line's history

Confidence

77/100

Moderate 77

What runners say

“Soft like a Hoka, roomy like an Altra.”

5/5 Full review 70 mpw training for a marathon came from the Altra Provision 2.5

“The cushioning is minimal enough to make the shoe feel fast, but not so minimal that you can't do an easy run.”

4/5 Full review 30 mpw training for middle distance came from the Nike Air Zoom Pegasus 33

“Loved first pair and put over 500 miles on them.”

4/5 Full review 20 mpw training for a half marathon came from the New Balance Fresh Foam Vongo

“Found myself running faster and feeling better in this shoe.”

4/5 Full review 30 mpw training for middle distance came from the Nike Air Zoom Pegasus 33

“Very good support, good for wide feet.”

5/5 Full review 55 mpw training for a half marathon came from the Mizuno Wave Inspire 14

“The 4mm drop feels comfortable and natural.”

4/5 Full review 30 mpw training for a half marathon came from the HOKA Gaviota

“Unobtrusive stability and good amount of cushion.”

4/5 Full review 30 mpw training for a half marathon came from the HOKA Gaviota

Prefer this shoe over another

33% 3/9

Where to buy

No offers available

Affiliate links included. They never affect our ratings.

Prices updated daily. Last checked Sep 14.

Pros

Comfort averages 4.7 out of 5 across seven reviews, and two reviewers praise the support and the room for wide feet.
One reviewer who strikes midfoot finds the 4mm drop natural.
One reviewer put over 500 miles on their first pair and is on their second.

Cons

The Vongo v4 scores 84 on seven reviews and the v3 scores 70 on twenty.
Averaging 10.7 oz across the men's and women's builds, it is well above the 8.9 oz median for daily trainers on sale.
Appearance averages 3.9 out of 5, the lowest of its dimensions.

Fresh Foam Vongo v2 rates 61. This shoe has moderate certainty. See how we rate shoes.

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

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

Rating

40 60 80 100

59 2017 61 2017 70 2018 84 2019 74 2021

Release year

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

Fresh Foam Vongo v5

2021 · 6 reviews

74 Decent

58 Confidence
Fresh Foam Vongo v4

2019 · 7 reviews

84 Good

75 Confidence
Fresh Foam Vongo v3

2018 · 20 reviews

70 Decent

90 Confidence
Fresh Foam Vongo v2 This shoe

2017 · 7 reviews

61 Below average

77 Confidence
Fresh Foam Vongo

2017 · 8 reviews

59 Bottom-tier

80 Confidence

Reader Ratings

7 ratings

5/5 3

4/5 4

3/5 0

2/5 0

1/5 0

See written reviews Write a review

Specs & fit

Sizing and ride details at a glance.

Weight: 11.5 oz
Release: 2017 Q3
MSRP: $135
Drop Height: 4mm

Runner reviews

Write a review

Fresh foam vongo 2

4/5

Overall

This is the second pair of Congo’s I’ve bought—loved my first pair and put over 500 miles on them. Second version is just as good so far.

Anonymous runner · Jul 10, 2019

20 mpw training for a half marathon came from the New Balance Fresh Foam Vongo

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

Soft but stable

4/5

Overall

I like this shoe for it's unobtrusive stability and good amount of cushion. I strike midfoot so the 4mm drop feels comfortable and natural.

Anonymous runner · Jul 2, 2019

30 mpw training for a half marathon came from the HOKA Gaviota

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

Reader review

5/5

Overall

Anonymous runner · Sep 25, 2018

30 mpw training for a half marathon came from the Nike Air Zoom Pegasus 35

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

Vongos: Fast and Comfortable

4/5

Overall

The Vongos have faired me well on roads and well-maintained trails. The cushioning is minimal enough to make the shoe feel fast, but not so minimal that you can't do an easy run. The fresh foam has a nice feel to it. I alternated this shoe with the Brooks Ravenna and found myself running faster and feeling better in this shoe. Have not done much track work in these but wouldn't hesitate to.

contiferous · Jul 3, 2018

30 mpw training for middle distance came from the Nike Air Zoom Pegasus 33