I got the New Balance SC Elite v6 as my Ljubljana Marathon race day shoe, directly from New Balance. I wanted to publish this review after testing the shoe on marathon day, but since I got injured and had to change to a half marathon instead, I decided to write and publish the review now.
Despite the fact, that I got the shoes from New Balance, I will do my best to give you my honest thoughts on the shoe. New Balance has no editorial control over this review.
What does New Balance say about this shoe
When hundreds of training hours come down to a couple of seconds, there’s no detail too small to consider. Our best race day shoe has the same mindset. The updated SC Elite v6 features a lightweight composition of our new Infinion foam, providing race-ready enhanced cushioning and energy return.
A fine-tuned carbon fiber plate shape provides a propulsive feeling with every stride, while a translucent mesh upper combines a barely there feel with the support of a glove-like fit. It’s a new standard of innovation-led, high-performance tech, built for competition.
Before I dive more into the shoe another important fact: you can also find reviews of two previous version of the New Balance SC Elite on my webapge. But I will do the best not to compare this model to the two predecessors.
How I used the New Balance SC Elite v6
Till today I ran a bit more than 100 kilometers in the shoe. Before I write a shoe review, I normally do quite some runs in the shoes, from easy recovery runs up to tempo runs, intervals and a long run.
Since this is a racing shoe, intended for Marathon running, I did a 10k easy run in the shoe first, two longruns with segments at current half marathon pace, a few tempo runs at half marathon pace and two interval session at faster speeds.
Fit of the shoe and upper
The shoe for me fits true to size. But for a marathon I recommend to go half a size up in the shoe. New Balance tends to make race day shoes a bit short. I find it perfectly ok for distances up to half marathon but when running a marathon I prefer a bit more room in the toe box. The upper, called Fantomfit hugs the foot nicely and there is no problem with the lockdown.
The toe box is quite roomy and comfortable for a marathon race shoe. The heel cup has a little bit of structure with just enough padding for a secure lockdown. I could not feel any heel slippage, had no blisters or hot spots during my runs.
The tongue is gusseted and very thin, with extra padding in the upper part and along the center to prevent lace pressure. Not only the tongue is thin, so is the whole upper. Actually you can see your socks in the shoes. On one of my runs in windy conditions I could even feel the wind on my feet.
We all know, that New Balance produces also great looking lifestyle shoes. I know it has nothing to do with the performance of a race shoe, but thi model is probably as close as a race day shoe can get to a lifestyle shoe.
Midsole, Outsole and Performance of the shoe
First a bit about the midsole. For a lot of runner the most important part of a running shoe. The midsole of the New Balance Elite v6 is called Infinion. A modern and responsive material with high energy return, combined with a new carbon fiber plate shape is thicker and stiffer towards the forefoot for a propulsive feeling as you push off with every stride
The faster I was running in the shoe, the more I got back from the midsole and the more fun it was to run in the shoe. Despite the race setup, the shoe is not over aggressive and I was able to run in it the way I wanted. Transition from heel to toe is smooth and fast. During toe off I could feel the energy return of the foam and the carbon plate, that added forward propulsion.
Personally I found the shoe very good across a variety of paces. It performed best from marathon pace up to 10k pace. I did a few faster workouts in the shoe, 1k and 400m repeats. For those kind of runs I missed a bit bounce from the midsole. That’s when the New Balance SC Pacer works better.
The rubber coverage of the New Balance SC Elite v6 is thin. While unboxing the shoe and looking at the outsole I was not sure how long it will last. There is enough coverage in the mid and forefoot area, with two stripes at the back. However, after more than 100 kilometers in the shoe the outsole looks almost the same as after my first run.
Grip in the shoe was good. Even while running through some tight corners at speed. Honestly we didn’t have much rain lately and I was not able to run in the shoe in wet conditions. So I really can’t say, how the grip is on wet surfaces.
There is a big cutout in the midsole. Could be an issue for bigger stones. But to be honest, I wouldn’t use the shoe on any other surface as road. So somehow this should not be an issue.
How will I use the shoe
I will use the shoe as my half marathon race day shoe next week. Since there is still a lot of life in the shoe, I will keep using it during my longruns with faster segments. If all will go to plan, I tend to run a few half marathons early next year. And in one of these half marathons I plan to use the New Balance SC Elite v6.
Somehow I think that the mid and outsole of the shoe will last for quite a few more kilometers and that I should be able to run in the shoe as planned.
Would I recommend the New Balance SC Elite v6
This shoe is a big step forward from last years model, the New Balance SC Elite v5. The foam in more responsive and despite the fact, that the drop stayed the same, the setup is geared more towards faster runners. It’s still a shoe, that will work for a lot of runners, but for those running half marathons slower than 1.45 or marathons slower than 3.30, the New Balance SC Rebel might be a safer option.
Longruns at slower paces will probably not feel the most comfortable in this shoe. I used the shoe during my whole longruns, even the warmup and cooldown. On both of the runs I had the feeling that I hold back during slower paces.
Your footstrike will not be an issue in the shoe. I’m a heel to midfoot striker and had absolutely no issues. But you will get most out of the shoe when striking the pavement with your mid or forefoot.
All in all the New Balance SC Elite v6 is a modern and long lasting race day shoe. You can do all your faster workouts while training for a race in the shoe and also use it on race day.
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