Latest revision as of 07:12, 13 August 2017

The New Balance Hanzo S is a Japanese racing shoe, which gives it a distinctive characteristic. Like other Japanese racing shoes, it's fairly light, and modestly cushioned, with outstanding grip for fast running on asphalt. The plastic knobs you find on this shoe and other Japanese racing shoes are almost like a track spike for the road, and I wish we had them on a wider variety of styles. There are two major weaknesses to the Hanzo S; the toe box and the upper. The cramped toe box that's common in many running shoes is exacerbated in the Hanzo S, as it is in many Japanese racing shoes. The upper however, is unusual in how high up the rear of the shoe comes, and I found it rubbed slightly on my outside ankle bone. The upper is also the fussy, stiff, and a little thicker than you'd expect from a racing shoe. As a result, I've rated the Hanzo S as "Worth Considering", as I think it will appeal to only a limited niche of runners. (I use The Science of Running Shoes as the basis of how I test running shoes and what you should look for in a running shoe.)

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  New Balance Hanzo S top view.

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  New Balance Hanzo S outside view.

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  New Balance Hanzo S bottom view.

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  New Balance Hanzo S inside view.

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1 Characteristics

• Cushioning . The Hanzo S reasonably well cushioned for its weight, though it's not up to the standards of the Asics Gel Hyper Speed which is both better cushioned and lighter. This shoe uses a different type of foam under the forefoot, but you'd never know it. It's not the kind of dramatic difference in cushioning you get between the rear foot and forefoot of a shoe like the Hoka Tracer.
• Drop. New Balance claim the Hanzo S is a 4 mm drop, but I found it a little less from that and effectively zero drop.
• Structure. As noted above, the Hanzo S has two types of foam, but there's nothing to interfere with your biomechanics. There is no stability structures, such as a cupped heel, and it runs very neutrally.
• Flexibility. The Hanzo S is moderately flexible, with some degree of spring in the forefoot. However, it's a shoe that wants to bend at a specific point. If you look at the images of the sole you'll see a curved line running across the forefoot, and that's the point where the bend occurs. I'm not a fan of shoes that have a crease like that, but I didn't find any problems in practice.
• Outsole. The Hanzo S has hard plastic knobs on the forefoot, and these provide good traction on asphalt. I found this works pretty well for High Intensity Interval Training, especially on wet pavement. These plastic knobs appear to be fairly hard wearing, and the rear of the shoe is protected by a few patches of harder rubber outsole. These orange rubber patches seem to wear rather more quickly than I would've expected, but are still far tougher than an exposed midsole foam would be. This also a rigid plastic "X" shape the you can see in a black on the picture above. This makes the midfoot a little bit springy, but that seems an odd place to put it, as your foot bends that the forefoot not the midfoot.
• Shape. The Hanzo S is a Japanese racing shoe, that shows in the narrow shape with a horribly constricted toe box. I found that cutting open the toe box works reasonably well, but the shape is a narrow enough that my toes are on the edge of the shoe rather more than I'd like. (I recommend cutting open the toe box of virtually all running shoes, with the exception of a few shoes like some Altra shoes. When you have some worn out shoes, you should try cutting open the toe box. I've found that it's a big improvement, allowing my toes to move naturally and engage for toe off, as well as reducing the possibility of blisters.).
• Upper. I really dislike the upper on the Hanzo S. there is too many synthetic leather overlays and unnecessary reinforcement points. But at the biggest issue I have is that the upper is not cut low enough around the ankle opening, and combined with the overly stiff material I found it tended to irritate the outside of my ankle bone.
  
  

  The upper backlit to show breathability and overlay patterns.
• Tongue. The Hanzo S has a normal tongue rather than a tongue-less sock style of upper, and the tongue is slightly padded towards the top. With the flat laces that are very closely spaced, I don't think runners will have an issue with pressure from the laces on the top of the foot.
• Lacing. The Hanzo S uses thin flat laces which stay tied. Laces have quite a bit of friction through the eyeholes, and the eyeholes are closely spaced. While this means you can precisely tweak the tension and fit, it also means you need to spend quite a bit of time getting it right.
• Heel Counter. The Heel Counter on the Hanzo S reflects the overall design of the shoe, and is quite hard, and could easily dig in.

2 A Comparison with other Recommended Shoes

If you're looking for "the best of the best" running shoe, here are my top picks. Of course, the answer will depend a little on what you're looking for, so I have recommendations for various categories. Best All Round Shoe. The Altra Escalante is my current all-round favorite. It has plenty of cushioning for its weight, it has a very springy midsole, it lasts well, and it has a shape that's closer to the shape of a human foot than most shoes. It's a great shoe for any runner, including those Starting to run. It's also a fairly easy shoe to find due to its popularity. Best Maximalist Shoe: If you want something massively cushioned, then I'd recommend the Saucony Kinvara 8. It's remarkably light and remarkably cushioned, beating Hoka at their own game. Best Optimal Shoe: For those looking to trade cushioning for speed, the Nike Zoom Streak LT 3 was my top pick, but the latest version (LT 4) falls short of it's predecessor. There are lots of great optimal running shoes, which provide just enough cushioning with light weight and minimal frills, but all have their weak spots. Probably the best option at the moment is the Altra Vanish-R, which offers great cushioning for just over 5oz/150g. Fastest Shoe: If you really want speed, then check out the Nike Vaporfly 4%. It's light, massively cushioned, and has a carbon fiber plate. Nothing comes close, not even the now defunct New Balance RC5000‏‎ or New Balance RC5000v2‏‎. There are a number of caveats; it's really expensive, it's really hard to find, and there's a significant injury risk. Best Minimalist Shoe: Merrell Trail Glove. I recommend the trail glove for road running in spite of the 'trail' moniker. It's not a fast shoe by any means, but it's comfortable and will last well. All Terrain Shoe. For trail running, I've become a fan of Altra, and I think their best shoe is the the Altra Timp, though the Altra Lone Peak is really close. Honorable Mention: It's not really a running shoe, but the Vivobarefoot Ra is comfortable, minimalist and can more or less pass as a dress shoe. I've worn mine to weddings with a suit and they've not looked out of place. You can run in the Ra, but the leather means it doesn't breathe well.

For a more detailed on running shoes see the Recommendations for Best Running Shoes. This table lists the key attributes of What to Look for in Running Shoes. For more detailed information, on the shoes see detailed shoe comparison.

It's not a running shoe, but I love the Hoka Tor Ultra hiking boot and I've tested the Altra Lone Peak Boot, the Hoka Tor Speed 2, and the Inov-8 Roclite 325 hiking boots
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