New Balance MT814OD Review

[Addie Bedford]

Companion forum thread to:

New Balance MT814OD Review

[Mark Hurd]

Thanks Roger, excellent review as usual. Is the weight listed for one shoe or the pair?
– Mark

[Warren Greer]

That NB is moving in the right direction.

^^^^ I beleive that specified weight is per shoe.

[Evan McCarthy]

I jumped on Amazon.com to order a pair and noticed quite a few poor customer reviews for the quality and durability of the shoe, many suggesting it was far below standard for NB.

[John S.]

http://www.newbalance.com/products/MT814/#customer-reviews

[tom lakner]

Roger, thanks for the article. I tried a pair of these and found the shoe to be too narrow in the 13 4E I tried on . Too bad.I ended up with a pair of Treksta Evolution II low cut that fit my feet just fine. Hopefully BPL will review some of their stuff in the future.
Tom Lakner

[backpackerchick]

New Balance has LIGHTWEIGHT covered!

[Note: these come in men's versions as well. You should have no trouble finding them at RRS or elsewhere.] http://www.roadrunnersports.com/rrs/products/NBA1497/

I've been walking/running in the hills near home in the New Balance Minimus Trail. I love the feel of being so close to the earth and not having my heels jacked up in a typical trail runner! Up 'til now I've pretty much been a Salomon fan — usually the Wings with the RRS cushion insole. So the almost barefoot thing is pretty radical for me! The NB Minimus is flat — takes a bit of getting used to but oh the feel and natural "stability". I am recovering from a back injury and my posture and balance is so much better in flat shoes! Amazing! I have NOT tried them on a multi-day trip with a pack! Fit tip — low volume, snug; won't accommodate much of a sock, size up half or full size.

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I also have the road version and the casual version http://www.roadrunnersports.com/rrs/products/NBA1499/ which weighs in at 4.5 oz (128g) and might prove to be a great travel/camp/hut shoe (for those who indulge in such luxuries) — only thing is you need a hand to get into them and they wouldn't be terribly well suited for water.

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I'm also tooling around in the 101 at 6.5 oz (185g). This is a flat shoe with a very rigid sole with flat cleats. I am thinking that I am going to like this for backpacking. http://www.roadrunnersports.com/rrs/products/NBA1477/

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Recently got some Vibram Five Fingers Bikalas. Only very short stints so far. Waiting to read a thru hike report on these!

[Chris Hanson]

I recently purchased a pair of these and so far love them! I've put 20 miles or so on them walking the dog to make sure there weren't any issues with fit and so far so good.

I can't comment on the durability but they appear to be as well made as any of the other lighter weight trail running shoes I've seen.

Although Roger's review lists them made in China, my pair are made in the USA (with some foreign made materials) according to the info on the tongue.

[Roger Caffin]

Hi all

We are just back from walking the Via Alpina Red Route from Trieste to Oberstdorf (in Europe). 7 weeks continuous walking along mountain ranges and over high passes each day, 8+ weeks in all. Weather from heat waves to snow. More limestone country than you want to know about, and more limestone scree than you could believe. It clatters. I took the 814s as my only shoes.

Near Triglav in Slovenia – it's the highest peak behind us. Serious limestone country.

Very comfortable: did not need to take them off in the evenings. (However, staying in a mountain hut required that they be left at the door. Mud and all that.)

The soles lasted extremely well over all that rock, and gripped extremely well too.

The mesh sides of the shoe suffered some abrasion at the middle of the shoe where there is no upper rand strip. I will try to add a photo of this later. That was the only problem I had, and the abrasion did not affect the performace at all.

I will continue to wear these shoes now I am back in Australia. They are not worn out at all. Long life seems to be a feature.

Cheers

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