Customer Reviews New Balance Classics ML501

The color: not "blue". More like purple when you get it out in the sun.

Great sneaker but the blue is more purple than blue......

The red and gray were cool but ran too small even in wide.

Only lasted 3.5 months before the interior was worn through and the newly exposed material was causing blisters. I'm surprised since my general experience with New Balance had previously led me to associate them with longevity.

I ordered a 12 but shoe ran smaller and slimmer. Returning. Orange sole not nearly as neon as the picture would have you believe, more like a dark orange brown.

These shoes are the most stylish you can find in terms of a wide toe box. These shoes are designed with the new balance sl-2 last which is narrow at the heel and wide in the toe box. New Balance was making some of their models in this shape long before altra, topo, lems, or any other shoe company that now makes a low heel to toe drop wide toe box shoe. This is what I would call minimalist footwear before there was a term for it. The retro look of this shoe will never go out of fashion. Sadly, the midsole is so stiff and hard that they are simply too hard to wear. New Balance should replace the midsole with revlite in order to achieve a more wearable version of this shoe. They did it with the 696 re-engineered they should do it with the 501 as well or even the 574 as these are the best looking retros with a wide toe box.

I was not impressed when received. I got the wide shoe model and although width was good, the shoes felt to be a good length but the heel would not catch. It felt like I was wearing sandals. I returned them.