New Balance FuelCell Supercomp Trainer Running Shoe Review
Josh reviews the New Balance FuelCell Supercomp Trainer running shoes, offering a new carbon-plated running experience on a max cushioned platform to cut seconds off your personal best in comfort.
From the ground up, New Balance have engineered this tempo shoe to complement the carbon plate or Energy Arc technology, with the outsole reinforcing it against wearing out prematurely to ensure a snappy, propulsive feel even in the later life of the shoe.
You may expect a running shoe on an impressively high stack height to feel unstable at high speeds, but New Balance have found the ideal balance with a broader platform underfoot to inspire confidence when you’re shifting the pace up a gear.
Full-length FuelCell foam provides marshmallow-soft protection at no compromise to the responsive feel, catering to both midfoot strikers and heel strikers. The weight-saving upper with ventilated forefoot allows your feet to breathe and a gusseted tongue delivers a secure lockdown for high-speed training on the road.
Check out the review with full transcript below.
Hey guys, Josh here from Sportitude Running. I have a shoe review today and it's a super exciting one, super being a play on words because in my hand I hold the New Balance FuelCell Supercomp Trainer.
This is a completely new shoe for New Balance. It has come into their range in the midpart of 2022 and replaced the New Balance FuelCell TC which some of you would be aware of. It was a full-length carbon plate shoe that was a versatile number. It could be used for your tempo sessions and race day for some people.
The New Balance FuelCell Supercomp Trainer is very exciting with a lot of shoe underneath the foot. In today's review we're going to go over every single aspect of this shoe, talking about the outsole, the midsole and the upper. We’ll give you all the information that you need at home to potentially make this your next shoe purchase. Without further ado let's get stuck in.
Shoe Profile
The New Balance FuelCell Supercomp Trainer is a max cushioned shoe. We're talking 47mm in the heel and 39mm in the forefoot for a 8mm heel-to-toe drop. The shoe has a new carbon plate positioning throughout the midsole so the Energy Arc has a slightly different camber to what we're experienced with other carbon plates out there.
We are looking at absorbing as much of that energy, storing it through the midsole to generate a really snappy propulsive feel through the forefoot and that is certainly on play with this shoe.
Right from the entry to the release point this shoe feels soft. It gives you a nice little nudge and push back as you as you accelerate out of your gait cycle. The great thing about this shoe as well is it has a nice dialled in lightweight upper with that gusseted toe.
Outsole
In today's review we're going to go through all of that and more so let's start off with the outsole first. As you can see underneath the shoe there is a unique take on how New Balance have executed their outsole. There is a big vertical decoupled line through the central part of the shoe and they've exposed the carbon plate which is their new Energy Arc technology. We'll talk about that carbon plate in the midsole component of this review.
Talking all things outsole, we can see purple rubber which has been strategically placed on the lateral and medial side of that heel region of this running shoe to provide an element of protection for that midsole when the runner comes down on that entry point.
As we come through to the forefoot, that same philosophy goes around the border of that shoe through the front half. There is an outsole piece that sits right around the frame of the forefoot, as well as this metatarsal pod reversed on the base of the shoe. That has been strategically placed to give that carbon plate a little bit of protection because the carbon plate does dip down quite low in the forefoot of this running shoe. That will keep that carbon plate from showing some unusual wear over time.
The other great thing I love about this shoe and that I’d like to call it out is it is on a really generous stack height and the surface area is fantastic - you get a really large footprint. By being super cushioned you're going to get that tendency to maybe feel a bit unstable and that's certainly the case when you put this shoe on and you stand in it or even walk in it. It really doesn't have a stable feel.
However, it's not made for walking or standing. This shoe is made for running. Therefore, by increasing that surface area when you run in this shoe you're going to get a little bit more confidence with your foot placement. That's exactly what New Balance has achieved in executing that broader platform underneath the shoe with the outsole.
Upper
Let's dive into the upper of the New Balance FuelCell Supercomp Trainer. Less is more in this case. It's a bit contradictory because this shoe is on a max stack cushioning system, so therefore we were originally thinking more is more.
However, by taking out some components in the upper to make it nice, light and really breathable New Balance have nailed the brief. It has a really breathable open forefoot regarding the mesh configuration. The engineered mesh construction has been really well executed. I love what this shoe does for total ventilation through the front half.
As we come through to the middle of this shoe, there's no surprises here - the tongue itself is gusseted. You would expect that with a shoe this soft and with a carbon plate construction underneath the foot. There is going to be a quite a bit of velocity of movement through that mid-stance or toe-off region of your gait cycle with this shoe.Therefore, the gusseted construction plays a critical role with keeping your foot nice and stable on top of that platform.
The shoe itself isn't crazy tight. When I first got it out of the box and I saw that there was quite a bit of elasticity with this bootie construction, I was a bit nervous about how tight that would feel on top of my arch.
I have a pretty generous arch, falling between a D and 2E width from time to time depending on the brand. However, with this being a D width I felt really nice and secure so just keep that in mind.
Coming back to the rear of the upper, we have a good heel counter construction. There isn't a hard piece of plastic in the back which again I wouldn't expect because it is a slightly lighter upper. However, they have reinforced the construction to give a really good solid grab around the back of your heel and calcaneus region which is good.
The other piece I love about this shoe is the internal collar around the ankle and your Achilles. You can see the differences in colour from the green to the purple. The purple lining offers a little bit of extra padding and foam to provide a bit more comfort and New Balance have got it right. It comes up a little higher at the back, not like we've seen the last couple of seasons with huge Achilles flares. It has a tiny Achilles flare to provide a bit more comfort.
Midsole
Last but not least the fun part of this shoe is in fact the midsole. As we have touched on in the intro this is a max cushioned, max stack or high stack shoe. This shoe has got a lot of foam underneath your foot, that's the easiest way to say it.
Just to touch on those statistics again, it features 47mm in the heel and 39mm in the forefoot for a variance of 8mm. The full-length FuelCell cushioning underneath the body is a very soft but snappy foam.
If you've run in the New Balance FuelCell Rebel, Rebel v2, the Rebel v3 that's coming or other shoes like the New Balance FuelCell RC Elite with FuelCell technology, you'd have noticed it's a really soft but super responsive foam. In using it in the New Balance FuelCell Supercomp Trainer with a higher stack height, New Balance have really taken into consideration a lot of key factors.
To offer such a high stack you need to re-stabilise that midsole and they've been able to do that using this Energy Arc carbon plate technology. I'm going to do my best to explain to you at home what they have done.
The majority of the time when we see carbon plates they start out on a neutral, parallel line from the base of the shoe to where the ground is and then they'll dip down through to the forefoot to generate that speed and propulsive feel from midstance to toe-off.
The Energy Arc technology that New Balance has offered in the New Balance FuelCell Supercomp Trainer actually starts a little bit lower in the heel. It comes up so we actually ascend up towards the arch of the foot and then it dips down through to the metatarsal region.
Therefore, I have found when running in this shoe that it has a more an enhanced rocker feeling through mid-stance to toe-off. I haven't found the heel itself to be uncomfortable at all. Keep in mind I'm a midfoot runner and I can't speak on behalf of heel strikers in this shoe, but New Balance have designed this shoe to cater for heel strikers as well.
They would have done their due diligence and made sure the carbon plate performed just as well for heel strikers as it did for midfoot strikers. However, for me being a midfoot runner I found this shoe to be incredibly comfortable and smooth once I was moving. The cushioning system is really soft underneath the foot. I haven't experienced a New Balance shoe to feel so cushioned before.
We usually talk about Fresh Foam X with your New Balance Fresh Foam 1080v12 that has a totally different softness regarding the compound of foam underneath your body in comparison to the FuelCell. The New Balance FuelCell Supercomp Trainer has almost like a marshmallow squishiness to it. However, you get that real push and kickback which is exactly what this running shoe is designed for and what it is targeting.
We didn't touch on what foot type this is designed for because it is a niche shoe. It is your session tempo shoe for that person who wants to get a little bit more support. However, New Balance have not injected any medial support or assistance with our blended support construction on this shoe. There is the same density of FuelCell on the medial side as the lateral side.
This cutout in the outsole works by compressing the foam and storing as much energy as it possibly can through that entry point and then generating that propulsive feel on your toe-off. In this running shoe there will be quite a bit of movement from that lateral landing to that max pronation point. Whether you are an overpronator or a neutral foot type, everyone has a maximum pronation point.
There will be a bit of velocity because it is on a higher stack. However, the transition of this shoe is all about going on that Z axis and pushing you through your toe-off region of your gait cycle.
As we touched on it is a very soft high stack shoe. I personally love what this shoe does for me underneath my foot on those slightly progressive runs when I want to pick up the pace as I get longer into my training session. I haven't used this for really targeted tempo sessions program, however I know it would cater quite well for those people who'll be searching for a session shoe and just want a bit more support underneath the body.
The Wrap Up
In summary, the New Balance FuelCell Supercomp Trainer is exciting, it's niche but it's exciting.
It's not going to be for everyone. I just want to just call that out because it is such a high stack shoe and if you haven't ran in those higher stacks and we're getting up to that 40mm mark or above, it is so different.
It's not going to be everyone's cup of tea. However, if you're a person that's been running in lighter weight tempo shoes and carbon plated shoes like the Saucony Endorphin Speed 2, the old Asics EvoRide and Asics GlideRide and you want to experience something that's going to give you more pushback but offer some protection, I would certainly throw this shoe into that conversation.
I have said it with the group downstairs and have some feedback from all of our staff members that if you're looking at a Hoka One One Bondi X or an Asics GlideRide 3, you're probably going to have a sneak peek at the New Balance FuelCell Supercomp Trainer as well.
Talking to the team at New Balance, this shoe is designed for those quicker and progressive runs for people who want some protection. I wouldn't even rule this out for a race day shoe for someone who's not going to be breaking world records and jumping on the podium because being over 40mm this shoe is illegal. However, that doesn't mean you can't use it and have some fun.
There you have it guys, that’s my take on the New Balance FuelCell Supercomp Trainer, it's quite unique. If you have any questions about this shoe or want to chat further please contact our Sportitude shoe experts and we’ll jump on any questions you may have.
If you haven't subscribed to the Sportitude YouTube channel please do so to stay notified and we'll keep pumping out shoe reviews for you the running community. Until next time be kind to one another, happy running and we will see you on the road. Take care.
FEATURES
- Support: Neutral
- Upper: Mesh
- Midsole: New Balance FuelCell
- Heel Height: 47mm
- Forefoot Height: 39mm
- Offset / Drop: 8mm
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