Yay or Nay: Four New Running Shoes Worth a Second Look This Season

Introduction

With the season’s launches stacking up, four new running shoes landed on the shortlist this time: the Nike Vomero 17, the New Balance FuelCell Rebel v3, the Adidas Adizero SL, and the New Balance 860 v13. Each one targets a different slot in a training rotation, from cushioned daily miles to lighter tempo work and structured support. Here is how they stack up, and which ones earn a pick versus a pass.

Nike Vomero 17

The Vomero 16 was a long-time favorite: reasonable cushioning, a hint of stability, a serviceable outsole, and enough comfort to double as a long run option. The Vomero 17 brings a big round of changes, as expected once a shoe reaches its second iteration on the same midsole formula.

The heel profile appears less present, with reduced padding, and the tongue looks like it has been lifted straight from the Invincible Run. The upper is simplified with only a couple of lace loops either side of the tongue, and parts of the toe box use a chainmail-like material similar to the Vaporfly Next% 2, which should make several areas more breathable than the Vomero 16.

The midsole is the interesting part. There appears to be a Zoom-type section on top of a lower foam layer, whose textured, creased appearance resembles earlier Nike trail and foam compounds. The paint line separating the sections looks rough, which is not a great sign, but the overall concept is promising. Waffle-like outsole sections split the forefoot, with the largest piece running through the heel to midfoot, and a heel cutout reminiscent of the Pegasus 39. The Vomero 16 earned plenty of goodwill, and the 17 looks worth picking up when it drops.

New Balance FuelCell Rebel v3

The Rebel has always been a slightly confusing proposition. It started as a low-stack responsive speed shoe, but the Rebel 2’s squishy FuelCell application without a plate made it feel more like a soft daily or easy-day shoe. Past a certain distance it became taxing, closer to a two-thirds Invincible Run than a genuine tempo tool.

The v3 looks like a subtle iteration: a very similar midsole profile, similar heel flare, similar lacing, and an upper using race-like mesh from the SC Pacer and SC Elite 3. Weights appear to have gained a gram or two, nothing meaningful, and the midsole drop seems unchanged. The outsole has been switched up, which matters because the v2’s outsole was a debris magnet and wore down alarmingly quickly despite decent interest from runners.

The honest verdict is that not much seems to have changed. Without a clear reason to upgrade or a defined slot in a rotation, this one sits firmly on the fence. It may suit runners who missed the Rebel v2 entirely and want a soft, unplated daily option, but for anyone already owning the previous version, the case is thin.

Adidas Adizero SL

This one has been rumored for a while and has now surfaced on a few online stores. The profile looks very similar to the Adizero Adios Pro 3, essentially a more daily-use version of that shoe without a full Lightstrike Pro midsole. Here the midsole is mainly Lightstrike, with what appears to be a Lightstrike Pro section in the forefoot, visible through two cutouts on the lateral and mid front of the outsole.

Grip looks strong too, with the same grooves and trenches pattern as the Adios 7. The claimed stack is 35mm at the heel and 25mm in the forefoot for a 10mm heel-to-toe drop, which positions it against shoes like the Pegasus, the Cumulus, and the Velocity Nitro. It fills a genuine gap in the Adidas lineup: something lighter for more regular use that does not rely on Boost, a slab of which was a major letdown in the Adizero SL 20.2.

For daily mileage with a little more snap, this looks like the most interesting newcomer of the bunch and an easy pick, particularly for runners in markets where it should launch soon.

New Balance 860 v13

The 860 v13 is a freshly launched stability model using Fresh Foam X in the midsole. The upper appears to be the same style used in the 1080, designed to reduce irritation with fewer stitched areas, which should help with rubbing in sensitive spots. Stability comes from a medial post to add control at foot strike, aimed at daily runners who want a little extra guidance, for example with slight overpronation.

There are reasons to hesitate, though. The outsole spacing between rubber segments recalls the long-gone Beacon model, and on routes with loose stones that gap design tends to trap debris. Several design elements, including the medial post and the overall profile, also recall the Nimbus 24. The bigger issue is weight: at 309 grams or 10.9 ounces in the sample size, larger sizes push toward 340 to 350 grams, which is heavy for a daily Fresh Foam X trainer. Unless you specifically need that stability support, this is an easy one to leave on the shelf.

Which Ones Are Worth Picking Up

If you want a cushioned daily-and-long-run workhorse with fresh design changes, the Vomero 17 is the confident pick. If your rotation lacks a lighter, non-Boost daily trainer with good grip, the Adizero SL is the other clear yes. The Rebel v3 only makes sense if you never owned the v2, and the 860 v13 is best reserved for runners who genuinely need a medial-post stability shoe and do not mind the weight.

Conclusion

Four shoes, three very different calls. The Nike Vomero 17 and Adidas Adizero SL earn picks for filling clear roles with promising updates. The New Balance FuelCell Rebel v3 plays it too safe to justify an upgrade, and the New Balance 860 v13 is a pass unless structured stability is a priority for your daily running. Matching the shoe to the slot in your rotation remains the smartest way to decide.