The New Balance 306 has been one of our best-selling shoes for years now. It looks good, skates great, lasts a decent length of time and is endorsed by Jamie Foy, who has to be one of the best street skaters of all time. I don’t think that is unfair to say, is it?
Sole construction and boardfeel
From New Balance’s marketing for the new 306c, you would be forgiven for thinking this shoe is just a straight swap out from vulcanised sole to cupsole, especially when the 306c sole has been styled to look ‘vulc-esque. Faux foxing moulding on the toe area and a sharp 90-degree edge along the bottom, like (dare I compare such a thing) a DC Pure, makes it look and skate in many ways like a vulc.
Vulc, Cup… what is the difference?
If, like most people, you have no interest in shoes beyond whether they look good, you may be ignorant of the difference between a cup sole and a vulcanised sole. This is not the place to go into such nerdery, but it can be summarised like this:
- A vulcanised shoe is made by baking the sole onto the shoe upper using an oven. The Rubber tread is pretty much the only thing between you and the floor. Good for board feel, bad for impact… unless you have some good insoles.
- A cup sole is poured into a mould and sewn/glued onto the upper. It is often made up of multiple rubbers and foams. This is good for impact protection and is more durable; however, the tradeoff is less board feel.
Note: Watch a skate video from the mega-bulky shoe era of the late ’90s, like Osiris ‘The Storm’ or éS ‘Menikmati’ and see if those guys were struggling to skate because of board feel. They seem fine to me.
A note about board feel
Dare I say, ‘board feel’ as a concept may be overrated? The term only made its way onto the scene when the trend for vulc soles came along. Honestly, the rise of slimmer vulcanised styles was more to do with the move to skinny jeans than anything else. Check out the Emerica riders during the beginning of the shift to skinny jeans. Their puffy shoes made them look like massive human golf clubs. An unsustainable look if you ever wanted to find a girlfriend…or even friends.
Sole build quality and comfort
When it comes to comfort, the insole is doing all the heavy lifting in vulcanised shoes, and the original 306 is no different. However, it does have a serious insole. Not “Vans comfy cush” serious, but still pretty decent. It is actually thicker at the back than the toe area, whereas the new cupsole has an entirely flat insole since foam in the sole unit itself is absorbing impact too. This is going to make these two styles feel even more different as you will stand flatter in the 306c, presumably regaining the much-desired board feel.
In terms of build quality, the 306c is not made of crate construction, which is full of air gaps, but then filled with foam for improved impact absorption. Cup sole shoes normally need a little more time to break in, but the rubber material is slightly softer on the 306c sole, which also has little notches around the ball of the foot, making it flex more easily. This has been done for decades on cup skate shoes with varying degrees of success, but it works well here.
Personally, I also look to add Footprint or Remind insoles to my shoes, but then, my feet have already endured 30 years of skating.
The upper design
Both 306 and 306c have a rubber layer beneath the suede toe, adding to the shoe’s life span and keeping the suede from stretching out and going baggy. Not only does a flappy, baggy shoe look bad, but it also means it is no longer supporting your foot, so a rubber underlay is a good thing.
At first glance, the upper of the shoe looks much the same as the original 306, but there are significant differences. The vent gap running around the eyelets at the top of the toe on the 306 vulc is gone. Perhaps New Balance believe the average cupsole wearer has less sweaty feet and therefore does not require such complications. Perhaps they built this shoe to a specific budget to align with the vulc pricing and had to delete a feature or two? Just a thought.
The cupsole comes out a little longer as it has more rubber at the heel and toe. You can also see that the cupsole’s toe box is slightly longer. I don’t know why. Perhaps it looked stubby with the original toe on a cup outsole? It also has a heel cup, which adds rigidity and should help keep your heel in place and supported. In addition, New Balance have added foam throughout the upper. Not “2006 style” bulk, but enough to keep your feet happy when your board scythes down on top of your foot, as it is sometimes prone to do.
Conclusion
In summary, these shoes look alike but are not alike. It is less that they have improved the 306, and more that they have made an entirely new shoe that looks similar. There are far more differences than the sole unit, and for me, the new 306c is one of the best skate shoe styles for 2026. It has the added comfort and protection of a modern cupsole, whilst keeping that slimmer look Mr Foy gave us with the original 306. Well done Jamie and New Balance – in the words of Borat, “Great success”!
