The New Balance Numeric 306 – A skate shoe well earned!
The New Balance Numeric 306 is the end of a journey that started when Jamie Foy left Diamond footwear. There we a few rumblings in the skate rumour vortex about where he might end up. I thought initially, given the Deathwish connection, that he could possibly end up on Emerica, makes sense, then, of course, it could have been Nike SB. But no, turns out New Balance Numeric was his destiny, and I have to say I think it is a great fit. New Balance Numeric has a great mix of skateboarders on their team and they are building their skate program in a really nice way. They are committed to quality edits and have been releasing them regularly in conjunction with major shoe releases such as the Marquise 420 last year. They are constantly improving the product, utilising the immense wealth of knowledge and history from their archive and they tell the technology story well, which is good to see as this often gets forgotten or sidelined.
Designing the shoes sole unit
The New Balance Numeric 306 was designed from the ground up, working closely with Jamie to design a skate shoe that fits his requirements, which as it turns out are quite demanding. Quite rightly he wanted a shoe that could take a hammering, Jamie is one of the gnarliest skateboarders of the modern era and so designing a footbed that would give him support and impact protection was a key feature of this shoe. However, the caveat is always the requirement for board feel. Now, this is hard to achieve at the same time as increasing the amount of padding in the footbed, but New Balance have done a great job and the low profile vulcanised outsole coupled with the custom moulded EVA footbed offers excellent cushioning and support whilst remaining grippy and flexible.
A durable skate shoe built to last
The New Balance Numeric 306 was designed from the ground up, working closely with Jamie to design a skate shoe that fits his requirements, which as it turns out are quite demanding. Quite rightly he wanted a shoe that could take a hammering, Jamie is one of the gnarliest skateboarders of the modern era and so designing a footbed that would give him support and impact protection was a key feature of this shoe. However, the caveat is always the requirement for board feel. Now, this is hard to achieve at the same time as increasing the amount of padding in the footbed, but New Balance have done a great job and the low profile vulcanised outsole coupled with the custom moulded EVA footbed offers excellent cushioning and support whilst remaining grippy and flexible.
Stylish branding and logo details
There are some great little branding touches too that really finish the shoe. There is a debossed logo around the heel moulded into the foxing tape of the sole unit which gives a unique look, plus a branded woven label on the tongue. The branding is prominent but also has not been overdone, you know this is a New Balance Numeric shoe but it is not too in your face either. Overall we love this shoe and think it will become one of New Balance Numeric’s more popular styles, and thoroughly deserved, we often see skateboarders with signature shoes and wonder why, this one is well and truely earnt. Bravo!
