New Balance Fresh Foam Zante

Name: New Balance Fresh Foam Zante
Brand: New Balance
Rating: 4.5 (22 reviews)

Daily trainer · Neutral · Road · 7.5 oz · 6mm drop · 23/17mm stack

Discontinued — we no longer see this shoe in stock. The New Balance Fresh Foam Zante V2 replaced it

How it ranks

The New Balance Fresh Foam Zante is one of the strongest daily trainers in our data. Value and looks are its strongest sub-ratings. Durability scores well below its other sub-ratings. The rating rests on 22 runner reviews and 3 other rated shoes in the Fresh Foam Zante product line.

Exceptional

98/100

Overall

Exceptional 98

Value

Exceptional 99

Appearance

Exceptional 98

Comfort

Excellent 96

Cushioning

Decent 80

Durability

Below average 67

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

96/100

Very high 96

What runners say

“Virtually no support; back doesn't reach the heel; very unstable”

2/5 Full review 45 mpw 978 miles in this shoe training for a marathon

“Fits like a racing flat with snug midfoot but ample toe-box room”

5/5 Full review 60 mpw training for a marathon came from the New Balance Fresh Foam 980

“Horrible durability. They do not last.”

2/5 Full review 45 mpw 978 miles in this shoe training for a marathon

“Fit is great, very snug but not suffocating; runs a half-size short”

5/5 Full review 80 mpw training for a marathon came from the adidas adiZero Adios Boost 2

“Full-length sole is smooth and quiet with good traction, but tacky feel scrubs off energy”

4/5 Full review 35 mpw training for a marathon came from the Brooks Pure Flow 3

“Super slippery—not recommended for trails or wet conditions”

4/5 Full review 40 mpw training for a half marathon came from the Mizuno Wave Sayonara

“Super light, feels very fast, with enough but not overly soft cushioning”

5/5 Full review 60 mpw training for a marathon came from the New Balance Fresh Foam 980

“Very light and feels fast, yet comfortable enough for a marathon”

5/5 Full review 55 mpw training for a marathon came from the New Balance 1080 v4

“Durability better than expected for weight; outsole wore evenly”

5/5 Full review 60 mpw training for a marathon

“400-450 miles before wearing through the outsole where you push off”

5/5 Full review 55 mpw training for a marathon came from the Brooks Pure Flow 3

Prefer this shoe over another

67% 20/30

Where to buy

No offers available

Affiliate links included. They never affect our ratings.

Prices updated daily. Last checked Sep 14.

Pros

At 7.5 oz, reviewers find it fast for tempo runs and racing.
Reviewers praise the snug, sock-like upper with room for the toes.
Many runners use it for everything from easy miles to marathons.

Cons

Durability is the weakest dimension at 3.9 out of 5, and two reviewers wear through the outsole sooner than they expect.
Two reviewers find it firmer than they expect from Fresh Foam.
Two reviewers find it slippery in the wet and on trails.

Fresh Foam Zante rates 98. This shoe has very high certainty. See how we rate shoes.

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

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

Rating

40 60 80 100

98 2015 99 2016 65 2017 70 2018

Release year

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

Fresh Foam Zante v4

2018 · 34 reviews

70 Decent

95 Confidence
Fresh Foam Zante v3

2017 · 29 reviews

65 Below average

94 Confidence
Fresh Foam Zante V2

2016 · 9 reviews

99 Exceptional

96 Confidence
Fresh Foam Zante This shoe

2015 · 22 reviews

98 Exceptional

96 Confidence

Reader Ratings

22 ratings

5/5 15

4/5 5

3/5 1

2/5 1

1/5 0

See written reviews Write a review

Specs & fit

Sizing and ride details at a glance.

Weight: 7.5 oz
Release: 2015 Q1
MSRP: $100
Stack Height: 23mm heel - 17mm toe
Drop Height: 6mm

Runner reviews

Write a review

NB Zante - love it for the TM

3/5

Overall

The New Balance Zante is a great lightweight trainer, most would likely describe the cushion as plush - however for me, they are some of the firmest in my lineup. The thing I love the most about the Zante is the slipper-like upper. It's super comfortable and form fitting to my foot (I have a generally wider forefoot as well). The outsole has a consistent pattern throughout and will work very well for the roads and smooth paths, I mostly use the Zante for treadmill running where the cushion is pretty perfect for anything I do 30 minutes to an hour on the mill. If there is one criticism, I'd say the laces are a little annoying with how wide they are - but they seem to stay tied, so not too bad there. I'd recommend!!

Anonymous runner · Jul 25, 2018

10 mpw training for a marathon came from the Altra Torin 2.5

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

Great All Around Shoe

5/5

Overall

Best combination of support and cushioning for a neutral shoe runner that I have ever seen. Can be used as a trainer on any type of run and also lightweight enough to race in (5k and up).

Anonymous runner · Jan 10, 2018

60 mpw training for a half marathon

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

Reader review

2/5

Overall

This was my first running shoe. I bought it online w/o advice b/c I needed cheap running shoes. Initially, I loved these shoes b/c they were comfortable and light. They felt sort of like a bootie that fit nicely around my feet. I started running a lot more (45+ mpw) and kept wearing the same shoes. After way too many miles on one pair, I bought another. These shoes have horrible durability. They do not last, and they also have virtually no support. The back of the shoe does not even reach the heel. They are also very unstable. I ended up getting a fibula stress fracture in these shoes. I am very light, but even these shoes did not have enough support for me.

Anonymous runner · Apr 4, 2016

45 mpw 978 miles in this shoe training for a marathon

Comfort: 4/5
Durability: 1/5
Appearance: 2/5
Value: 3/5

Reader review

5/5

Overall

I have about 120 miles in the shoes. I have been running about 30 miles per week(slowly building from 27ish to 35). I run 3-7 miles per day at about 7 minutes per mile. These are my favorite running shoes in a long time. They are softer than average in the heel and firmer in the fore foot. They feel lighter than they really are but are pretty light for their comfort and cushioning. They are fairly neutral but they do have a mid foot hump as a few other brands use so they feel slightly supportive. I was right on the edge of 8.5-9 so these shoes run fairly true or maybe just a touch small.

Neilgmiller · Mar 31, 2016

30 mpw training for a half marathon came from the Saucony Velocity

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

Reader review

4/5

Overall

Anonymous runner · Mar 6, 2016

55 mpw 836 miles in this shoe

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

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Analyses

New Balance Fresh Foam Zante

Exceptional