Most comfortable shoe I have purchased to date.

Great Shoe - I love this shoe. This is my 2nd pair (I also own the black pair). It is not too wide and bulky like some running shoes can be. Feels comfortable. I mostly use this as a cross trainer.

I’m in the military and clock a lot of miles running. I bought these because I get mild shin splints if I wear anything other than New Balance. These have the right amount of stability to keep your ankles straight without being bulky and heavy. I started running in them the first day I had them with no problems or pain. Very good shoe for overpronators (foot rolls to inside). As always, very fast shipping, too.

Arch in a weird place - I love my New Balances 1224s (size 8.5D; I'm now on my second pair) and bought these 749s because I wanted something that fit the same as the 1224s, offered decent support, but didn't cost as much. I wanted something that I didn't have to worry about getting dirty, so I could save my 1224s for the treadmill/gym. And I wanted something in black because very few women's running shoes are black. This shoe does not fit the way other New Balance shoes fit. The width of the toebox was a little narrower than the 1224. The length inside the shoe is a little longer, which is weird because the sole is shorter than the 1224, but it was still fairly comfortable (due to the lightweight, stretchy mesh uppers) in the toe box. I would have kept them, except the arch was positioned oddly... the posterior part of the arch extends too far into the heel region; the anterior part doesn't go far forward enough. It's like the whole arch is positioned about 1/2-3/4" too far back. This is really uncomfortable to have the arch so far backwards because it means the arch is sitting under part of your heel and it doesn't support the front of your arch. It's further compounded by the arch being made of the supportive, shock-absorbing material that has much less give in it. So you have a stiff, non-giving material under your the anterior, inside part of your heel. I think if you have a short heel (front to back, I mean), then this would be less of a problem. If you like the comfort of the 1224s, it's well worth the extra money to get those. The 749s do not fit the same way at all. It's like these two styles were designed for completely different feet!

These are great shoes but I expect nothing less from NB. I wear them for working out, running, walking, even tennis. Not sure why it's so hard to find black shoes for women but these are decent looking and very comfortable. I would recommend getting black laces to put in them to cut down on the overall flashiness of the shoe.