New Balance Rebel v5 Review: Performance Breakdown and Sales Insights

Disclaimer: I am a collegiate runner and sales associate at a run specialty store. I paid for these shoes out of pocket and all of my thoughts on the product are based on my own experience using them, customer feedback, and how we (at the run specialty store) have internally positioned it against competing brands/products that we carry. My thoughts may vary from how New Balance views the product or what they aspire for it to be.

Introduction

Earlier this month, New Balance released the 5th iteration of its Rebel mode – a versatile daily trainer that New Balance claims can handle everything from longer steady runs to speed-oriented work. Having run in the first and third iterations of the model, I was pretty excited about the upgrades they made to it as well as the updated look of the silhouette. After hearing generally positive feedback from customers who tried it out shortly after its release, I thought I would buy a pair for myself and see just how versatile it really is. Given that I am also one of the people directly selling this product to customers, I thought it would be valuable to outline exactly how we sell this product and who is buying it in order to bring to light how customers are viewing this product at the time of purchase.

Product Positioning

From New Balance

“The FuelCell Rebel v5 was built to look and feel fast. With its streamlined, race-inspired mesh upper and colorblocking designs, the resulting silhouette boasts a modern style that inspires, surprises, and confidently stands out ahead of the pack. Incredibly lightweight, its blend of PEBA and EVA foams and considered midsole geometry provide a responsive and energetic underfoot, ideal for those miles you want to feel fast. Equipped with FuelCell midsole technology, this upbeat trainer can easily transition from long, steady runs to something swifter and more spontaneous”. 

How We Sell The Shoe

To put what New Balance says about the shoe succinctly, the Rebel v5 is a lightweight, versatile daily trainer. The shoe is cushioned enough to perform well enough as a daily trainer, while also being light and responsive enough to respond well to quicker paces.

Here is how we sell the Rebel v5 to different customer segments:

Segment #1: Beginner Runners

Runners who are just starting out are always fun to work with as the consultation can lead us in so many different directions to find a shoe that will suit them. Within this segment, there are two key sub-segments where I have found success in selling this shoe:

1. The Run Curious

The key detail that always leads me to recommend the Rebel to customers in this segment is them saying something along the lines of “I need a shoe that will get me excited about going on a run”.

As these runners continue to discover what their running journey will look like, be it all easy miles or some speed work mixed in here and there, they appreciate that the Rebel’s use cases are versatile enough to adapt to almost anything. Whatever their running looks like at this stage, this shoe’s responsiveness gets them excited about it.

2. The One-Shoe-Wonder

These runners are planning to follow a more structured plan to prepare for a race they are targeting (usually a 5k or 10k). They are not yet at the point where they see owning multiple pairs of shoes as a necessary investment, so they are looking for a shoe that is cushioned enough for everyday runs, but also responsive enough for their speed workouts and race day. For this segment, we sell this shoe as the one that can do it all. 

Segment #2: Experienced Runners

For experienced runners who have a rotation of a few training and racing shoes, it can be tough to fit a shoe in their rotation whose versatility impedes its ability to be the best shoe for any one job. However, there are two key use cases where I have seen this shoe do very well for this customer:

1. Long run workout shoe

While the Rebel v5 won’t perform better than a super trainer like the ASICS Superblast or the New Balance Supercomp Trainer, it delivers a lot of the benefits at a significant discount of $70+ compared to shoes in that category. The shoe packs enough cushioning to hold up over a longer run and is responsive enough to perform well in the workout portion of the run. Call it a budget super trainer. 

2. A shoe that doesn’t compromise groundfeel

As stack heights have increased drastically in the last 5-10 years, runners who enjoy feeling the ground  have been given the short end of the stick. The Rebel v5 does well at maintaining some ground feel while also delivering a lot of the benefit of higher stack and advanced midsole technology.

Rebel v5 Competitors

These are other shoes we sell at the running store that we will often bring up for the segments I mentioned above. My comparisons are limited to what we carry at the store and I have experience in testing myself and getting direct customer feedback on. Therefore, there are other competitors to the Rebel v5 that I cannot make an educated comparison to, like the Adidas EVO SL. Additionally, I have limited the comparisons to shoes that directly compete with the Rebel v5 as a versatile daily trainer. I am aware that as this shoe walks the line between a daily trainer and workout shoe, it is also competing with more cushioned daily trainers and more responsive PEBAX-plated speed shoes.

ASICS Novablast

While the Novablast is more of a daily trainer than a speed day shoe, it is responsive enough to go head-to-head with the Rebel v5 for beginner runners for the use cases I mentioned above. Based on customer feedback and my own experience with the shoes (I have logged a decent amount of mileage in both), here is how they stack up.

Where the Rebel wins:

• More durable outsole: The outsole on my Novablasts was starting to wear down before I even hit 100km

• Feels more natural: I much prefer the groundfeel in the Rebel. The Rebel also feels a lot more accommodating to uneven surfaces like grass or trails.

• Speed: The rocker and energy return on the Rebel make it a lot more adaptable to speed work. While the trampoline-like feeling of the Novablast is nice for easy runs, it is more of an upwards bounce as opposed to the feeling of being propelled forward that the Rebel provides.

Where the Novablast wins:

• Cushioning: The Novablast has a higher stack height by about 6mm and less groundfeel, making it more suited for runners willing to sacrifice a bit of speed for a more softer ride.

• Hype: ASICS has done well at building a very loyal following around the Novablast model – it is consistently one of our best sellers at the store with core sizes selling out in a matter of weeks. Having run in a few of the Rebel models over the last few years (v1, v3, and now v5), I can say from experience that the shoe has changed pretty significantly over its lifespan so it feels like it hasn’t really found its footing until now. It will take some time, but I can see potential for the Rebel to build up a similar following.

HOKA Mach 6

While this is a solid shoe in its own right, it doesn’t have as much excitement around it as the other two options. The only area where this shoe beats the Rebel (in my opinion), is in price ($165CAD for the Mach vs $190CAD for the Rebel).

Wear Testing

With the shoe being designed to be versatile in its use cases (daily trainer, speed shoe, and streetwear), I tested it out myself in a few different sessions and on some different surfaces to see how it would perform in each.

Here is how it performed in each:

Day 1: 1hr Easy Run (14km)

Summary: 

The shoe performed well. It made for a fun and comfortable run.

What I liked:

• The toe box has plenty of room in it

• The cushioning felt great throughout my run

• The responsiveness from the cushioning and rocker made for a fun ride

• The shoe responded well as my pace progressed in the second half of my run (going from 4’30” down to 4’02” per km)

• I preferred the more natural ride from the lower drop and stack height compared to the Novablast

Day 2: 5x Mile @ 5:05-5:10

Summary: 

These were done on a slightly rolling road loop in Toronto’s High Park. I did my best to assess this shoe as it was (ie. adding a PEBAX plate to make the shoe more responsive is not a useful suggestion given that the shoe is designed to be a daily trainer) and overall it did well in this use case. I was pretty happy with how responsive the shoe was at the quicker paces, but would have liked a bit more from it on the last few reps when I was tired.

What I liked:

• A fun mix of groundfeel and responsiveness

• Handled tight corners well

What could be improved:

• More responsiveness in the forefoot would have been nice at the quicker paces and helpful at the end of a long session

Day 3: Wear to Work

Summary:

To my understanding, New Balance wants this shoe to double as a lifestyle/streetwear shoe (like the Adidas EVO SL). Overall I think this shoe looks great and the cushioning felt like walking on a mattress all day. 

What I liked:

• The design of the shoe is cool

• Midsole is very comfortable

What could be improved:

• My only complaint with this shoe is that I found the rocker to be a bit too aggressive for casual wear; my shins were a bit sore after my toes had been in the air all day. With that said, I was on my feet for almost 8 hours straight (more than most people would be I assume) and I would rather the shoe keep its rocker to maintain the ride it has on runs than it be better suited for day-to-day wear. So, this is more of an observation than criticism.

Day 4: 8x 600m trail hill repeats

Summary:

Being a competitive cross country runner, I often find myself in a weird middle ground between trail runners and road runners. The surfaces I train on in the late summer and fall are too uneven for most road shoes but not uneven enough to merit trail shoes. This job used to be done by traditional low to the ground racing flats, but as brands seem to be phasing this category out, finding a good shoe is becoming increasingly difficult. 

With that said, this could be my go-to shoe for cross country workouts. The shoe felt nimble enough to handle the uneven surface and was responsive enough to handle the workout. The traction also felt great and I never felt like I would slip out on tight corners or slick surfaces.

What I liked:

• With a good amount of groundfeel, the shoe felt adaptable to the uneven surface and I was never worried about rolling an ankle

• The traction felt good in the shoe; I had no issues with slipping even though it had rained the night prior

• The midsole felt responsive even on the softer ground

Summary

New Balance was right on the money with the Rebel v5. The shoe not only looks great, but is a fantastic versatile daily trainer that can perform well in a wide range of use cases. Runners across all different experience and ability levels will find something to be excited about in this shoe. Based on how much each iteration of the model has changed, my only fear with this shoe is that New Balance will try to change too much about it in future iterations. My hope is that New Balance will focus on building a following around this model before it tries something new with it.