New Balance Fresh Foam

CUSHIONING WITHOUT ENERGY LOSS

All the comfort. All the miles.

Fresh Foam is a unique cushioning material which is used in most midsoles of New Balance running shoes. This foam provides cushioning without loss of energy. Simply put, Fresh Foam is made of small beads of foam which are very resilient and allow you to cover a good number of kilometers in a comfortable fashion. Recently, New Balance further developed its Fresh Foam material. The updated Fresh Foam has become even lighter and softer and is now called Fresh Foam X.

MAKING GREAT SHOES EVEN BETTER

Prototypes that turned out even better than expected; that’s how the story of Fresh Foam came into being. In 2013, New Balance developed five pairs of new track spikes for Kim Conley, an Olympic Track and Field athlete. After extensive analysis of her running and landing patterns the shoes were produced with a 3D printer. Just a few test-trainings later and one pair immediately stood out. After qualifying for the world championship, Conley told New Balance that she wanted to take the prototypes she’d been training with onto the world stage. This took the designers of the shoes by surprise: the shoes were actually designed to last just a few workouts. This positive feedback from Conley was the deciding factor for New Balance engineers: they were going to use this newly developed foam in all their road and trail running shoes. And that’s how the Fresh Foam era arrived. In 2020, New Balance updated the original Fresh Foam and also adapted the name to Fresh Foam X. By analyzing running-data of thousands of runners, this updated version has been made even softer, lighter and more vibrant than the original material.

The image shows the New Balance Fresh Foam 1080v9 on the right (in black) and the 1080v11 on the left (in yellow). Drag the line back and forth to see how Fresh Foam developed.

ALL NEW BALANCE FRESH FOAM RUNNING SHOES

1080v11

Do you want optimal comfort? Then the Fresh Foam 1080 from New Balance is perfect for you. This neutral shoe ensures a soft landing without losing a direct feel for and contact with the ground.

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More v3

The New Balance Fresh Foam More v3 are neutral, all-round running shoes that provide a lot of cushioning. This running shoe is perfect for medium-paced runs but also for during recovery runs.

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880v11

The Fresh Foam 880, also known as New Balance’s workhorse. With these neutral running shoes you can cover any distance you want whilst staying comfortable and enjoying a lot of responsiveness.

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Vongo v4

The Fresh Foam Vongo from New Balance is a stability shoe that doesn’t have a traditional post or correction on the inside. Instead the inside has smaller foam beads that create a higher density and thereby know to create extra stability.

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Tech Talk

EVA material

Fresh Foam is a unique type of cushioning material found in the midsole of New Balance shoes. Fresh Foam is all about providing cushioning without losing energy. Instead of losing energy in the cushioning process, Fresh Foam knows to actively return this energy to you. Two elements in particular make Fresh Foam so effective. First, there’s the EVA material. EVA is an abrasion-resistant synthetic material that has been added to the midsole. By using innovative technologies, New Balance managed to create a unique composition and named it EVA. EVA material has exactly the right characteristics for providing perfect cushioning and energy return. The refined formula ensures a springy as well as a stable feeling when running. By compressing the midsoles with heat the material is made even lighter and lets it provide even more cushioning. The new EVA foam flexes more dynamically than traditional EVA, thanks to this it can match or counteract the natural flex patterns of feet.

Tech Talk

3D structure

The second unique element which makes Fresh Foam so successful is the 3D structure of the sole. By using software and computers the midsole features various geometric patterns. Depending on the shoe’s function, lasers have been used to further refine the design of the soles. Thanks to this combination of geometric patterns and laser processing, the soles have a softer structure and can provide the ultimate soft landing, without wasting the energy of that landing on cushioning or sideward movement. The sole is divided up in different zones. Certain parts of the sole have a denser structure and other parts a more open structure, all depending on the compression and impact that that part of the sole has to absorb during landing and take-off. This results in a very responsive feeling while running. Compared to the RevLite material that New Balance often used before, Fresh Foam is slightly harder and denser in structure. As a result, it has a higher durability and it allows you to go on for longer. It however also gives a much softer feel and a springier ride.

”Bring serious softness into everything you do.
New Balance Fresh Foam gives a soft and energetic feeling while running. The material made of small beads under your entire foot is very resilient and returns a lot of energy. In the past, people lost at least 50% of the energy that was released during landing. On average, the composition of modern midsoles returns 70% of the energy released during landing back to the runner, while 30% of energy is still lost. Thanks to this enormous increase in energy return you’ll experience a safe and stable feel.

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