New Balance Fresh Foam X Hierro Hiker (GORE-TEX) Review
What we wear on shoulder-season trips where the trail is half mud, half snowmelt.
New Balance Fresh Foam X Hierro Hiker (GORE-TEX)
What we like
- Water proof fabric keep your feet dry in bad weather or wet terrain
- Thick soles and cushioning for comfortable hiking
- Option for people with wide feet - I have the 4E
What we don't
- Hiking shoes are pretty heavy - can add fatigue for long hikes
- Not cheap. You are going to pay for comfort and wide feet options
- The wide (4E in my case) are not as wide as walking/running shows
Route Check
I've been hiking since I was 19 years old - so a very long time. In my 20's and a good part of my 30's I've always just wore sandals - the Teva style ones. In fact that's pretty much all I ever wore: for walking, for work, for hiking, even for back packing. I'm not sure when the transition happened but at some point I started wearing hiking boots for longer trips and backpacking. I'm not sure why because they often hurt my feet after wearing for a long time. When I found shoes made for wide feet everything changed. I suddenly realized the biggest problem with shoes, including hiking boots, was they were too narrow. My pinky toes were literally permanently turned sideways - presumably from tight shoes. Well after severals years of only wearing wide shoes my toes are starting to starting to straighten out a bit. More importantly I can actually tolerate shoes with laces again!
I've been hiking in my normal walking shoes for the last 10+ years. They work great and have no problem hiking or backpacking in them. The big problems are: they get dirty and they were out quickly. So when I decided to buy a pair of hiking shoes again I needed to ones for my wide feet. Turns out there aren't too many. When I found these 4E hiking shoes online only (no local shoe stores had any wide hiking boots) I bought them without even trying on. That is something I normally would never do. But it turned out well. They fit much better then any other hiking boots I've tried on. I will say that compared to walking/everyday shoes -- they are not as wide. Even though they are 4E they still compress the front of my feet a bit so I usually tie them loosely.
But if you have wide feet and want hiking shoes, these may be your best bet. Keep in mind my review is mainly the wideness of the shoe. That's the selling point for me. They are great shoes, don't get me wrong. But if you don't have wide feet you could probably find just as good a shoe at a cheaper price point