Customer Reviews New Balance Fresh Foam X 1540v4

This update to the 1540 is a disaster. It is nothing like v3. This fit is different. Your toes feel like they are hanging off the edge of a cliff. The tongue is very thin-no padding. The laces are cheap. The fit is completely different. The quality is horrible. I would pay a higher price for the V3. I will never buy V4. This forces this long-time New Balance customer to look to other brands for my shoe needs. Poor decision, New Balance. Not everyone wants cheap shoes.

I waited so long for the new 1540v and very disappointed that they discontinued the narrow width in my size. The 12 B were huge and the 11.5 were too short. The new style and colors are much better but they’re no longer on my podiatrist “legal” list for my very flat feet requiring motion control. The price is crazy.

Everyone has different needs. For me this one is the closest I have found and I have tried so so many. I have high arch, high instep and recovering from plantar fasciitis. With high instep I need volume in the toe box which forces me to buy wide. Usually the heel slips. This does not due to the hole pattern allowing me to adjust the heel using the strings. Some complain about the tongue being thin; it is. They mentioned cheap string holes cut; they are. But I would give all that up for a good fit. They are a great fit for me.

These would work except that the toebox end has a hard shell over it that hurts my toenail. It looks like soft fabric but there is something inside, probably to hold the shape of the toebox, that is not designed with toenail trauma in mind, or the health of the toenails in mind. This is a running shoe New Balance; I would like the older style soft toebox all around. I initially ordered my size 6 Wide, then 6.5 EE, and returned both only because of that little shell thing lining the end of the toebox.

I have narrow feet and this is the first time I tried women's shoes. I guessed the correct size I needed and they are very good so far

This New Balance Fresh Foam X 1540v4 has an oddly foreshortened toebox. I got size 6 EE, which specifically in the toenail area is not deep enough. It has no more toebox depth, is no wider and no more foot shaped than most size B, C or D toe boxes. I am not sure where New Balance believes they have included extra width in this shoe - maybe just in the lace up area, but not where I am trying to allow roominess for my right foot big toenail trauma to heal. I am ordering a 6.5 EE to see if it has any more depth, length, or room up there. I am comparing it with the Saucony Guide 18 in a size 6 D; the Saucony has more depth and width in the toe box than this New Balance 6 EE, but I dislike the large white paddle heel that protrudes at the back; the New Balance actually looks a little more low key stylish to me. The New Balance has no heel loop. Sigh.

Width and length didn’t feel right. The shoes felt flimsy.