Light and unplated
New Balance FuelCell Rebel v5
The Rebel has always been the light one, and the v5 adds foam without adding much weight. No plate, no drama, just a trainer that gets quick when you ask it to.
New BalanceThe numbers
- Category
- Daily trainer
- Stack height
- 35 / 29mm
- Drop
- 6mm
- Weight
- 215g
- Plate
- None
- Midsole
- FuelCell
- Surface
- Road
- Best for
- Daily miles that turn into a pick-up somewhere in the middle
- Price
- R3 499
The shoe
Two more millimetres of foam than the v4, and a FuelCell midsole reblended with PEBA in it, which is where the extra bounce comes from. There is no plate and no shank, so the ride is all foam and geometry: 35/29mm of stack, a 6mm drop, and 215g. New Balance also put more rubber across the midfoot, which was the part of the v4 that wore through first.
What the foam actually is
One foam, all the way through
Primary foam
FuelCell
EVA blend
- Energy return
- 59.8% heel, 67.3% forefootLab measured by RunRepeat
New Balance calls this a PEBA and EVA blend, and the lab split is roughly 20 percent PEBA to 80 percent EVA, so it sits closer to a good EVA than to the PEBA in a racer. That is also why it costs half what the plated shoes do.
Where to buy
Shop the New Balance FuelCell Rebel v5 at Bash, opens in a new tab
Shop the New Balance FuelCell Rebel v5 at Sportsmans Warehouse, opens in a new tabNew BalanceShop the New Balance FuelCell Rebel v5 at New Balance, opens in a new tabPrices and stock move around, so check a few before you buy.
Slow Miles review
Coming soon
We only give a shoe a verdict once we have run in it ourselves. The numbers above are the facts. The opinion lands when the miles are done.
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Other shoes to look at
Daily trainerAsics
Novablast 6
The trampoline shoe grew up. Megablast foam in the forefoot gives the Novablast the pop it always promised, without losing the soft heel.
- Stack
- 41.5 / 33.5mm
- Drop
- 8mm
- Weight
- 249g
- Foam
- Polyolefin + ATPU pod
R3 299
Daily trainerPuma
Deviate Pure Nitro
The first Deviate with no plate. Puma kept the PEBA foam that makes its racers bounce and took the stiff bit out, which is where the weight went.
- Stack
- 38 / 30mm
- Drop
- 8mm
- Weight
- 220g
- Foam
- PEBA
R3 199
RacedayNew Balance
SuperComp Elite v6
Twenty grams lighter than the v5 on New Balance's new Infinion foam. Built to hold its shape in the last hour of a marathon.
- Stack
- 40 / 32mm
- Drop
- 8mm
- Weight
- 190g
- Foam
- Infinion*
R5 499