New Balance SuperComp Rebel v1 review
New Balance's SC Rebel has brilliant Infinion foam and a plate that works well. The fit is what made it a miss for me.
The New Balance SuperComp Rebel v1, or the SC Rebel as most people will end up calling it, arrived with more noise around it than almost any New Balance shoe I can remember. A 40mm stack, a brand-new foam, a propulsion plate, and a weight of 7.6 oz on my scale. On paper it is exactly the kind of everyday super trainer I want in my rotation.
Usually the interesting part of my reviews is the ride; this time, it's the fit.
Because the technical package here is genuinely strong. The foam is lively, the plate works, and the weight-to-stack ratio is excellent, yet I still couldn't get on with this shoe.
That gap is the whole story, so let's get into it.
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Key specifications
- Price: $200 at New Balance
- Weight: 7.6 oz (215 g) measured on my scale, US men's 9.
- Drop and stack height: 4mm drop, 40mm heel / 36mm forefoot
- Upper: FANTOMFIT engineered mesh with TPU reinforcement, gusseted tongue, structured heel counter, light-to-moderate collar padding
- Midsole: Full-length Infinion, a supercritical ATPU / TPEE foam, with a rockered geometry
- Outsole: Targeted rubber coverage, thin in places because of how low the plate sits
- Extra attributes: Bottom-loaded propulsion plate positioned very close to the ground in the forefoot, built on the racing-inspired FCRL-2 last
For context on why that 4mm number matters more here than it does in a lot of shoes, I break the whole topic down in running shoe drops explained.
Sizing and fit
They're true to size in length for me, but that is the least interesting part of the fit conversation.
The FCRL-2 last is low volume and racing-oriented, and the midfoot is surprisingly narrow for a super trainer.
The tongue is relatively rigid and does not flex all that well with the foot, which can create pressure across the front of your foot as you lace down and begin to move in them.
Left to right: rigid tongue build, soft albeit high collars, good heel lock down
The collars, although well padded and soft, sit a little high, which will be immediately noticeable if you have low ankle bones. Midfoot and heel lockdown is excellent.
If your foot is genuinely narrow through the midfoot and you like a snug, race-style wrap, you will probably be fine. Everyone else should try before buying.
Performance review
The Infinion foam is the real deal
I want to be clear about this before I get critical, because the criticism only means something if the praise is honest.
Infinion is a very good foam. The heel is soft and bouncy, and it firms up noticeably as you move forward through the midsole into a more propulsive forefoot. That gradient is deliberate and it works.
Energy return is strong, and it holds up over distance rather than going flat after twenty minutes. For a shoe carrying 40mm of stack, 7.6 oz is genuinely lightweight.
On foam quality alone the NB SuperComp Rebel belongs in the conversation with the shoes I picked in my best super trainers roundup.
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The plate does its job, but it sits unusually low
The propulsion plate here is bottom-loaded, sitting close to the ground in the forefoot. In places you can see it under the thin outsole rubber.
That placement is a smart design decision; it lets you feel the full depth of the foam on landing instead of the plate cutting the stack in half underfoot, and you still get snap on toe-off.
It is less aggressive than a race-day carbon plate, and that is the point. This is a shoe built to make fast feel routine rather than one built for a single hard effort.
Combined with the rocker, the transition is early and quick.
When the fit cooperates, this rides like a proper everyday super trainer and sits comfortably alongside the other options in my best super trainers roundup.
The arch placement is partly where it fell apart for me
Here is the problem, and it is not a small one for me personally.
The arch support sits too far forward. There is also a feeling of excessive arch support on the lateral side underfoot, and that is positioned too far forward as well.
That combination is awkward. Lateral arch build-up in the wrong place pushes against the outside of the foot at exactly the moment you want the foot to settle and transition, so the shoe fights your gait rather than supporting it.
For overpronators this is a poor match, because the shoe is adding shape in a place that does not correspond to how the foot actually loads. For neutral runners it is also a poor match, for the same reason from the other direction.
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If you need genuine support underfoot, this is not the shoe, and you would be far better served by something from my best stability running shoes roundup.
The narrow midfoot and rigid tongue compound the problem
A narrow midfoot on its own is a preference issue. A narrow midfoot plus a tongue that doesn't flex well is a pressure issue, even though it may hold you foot in the shoe better. And to be clear, you only feel the pressure when you step forward, it doesn't dig in when static.
Add the higher collars and, if you have low ankle bones like I know some of you do, there is a third pressure point before you have even started running.
The result is a shoe that feels a little clunky, which it should not
This is the strange part. On paper, nothing about a 7.6 oz plated super trainer should feel clunky.
But the ride is not just foam and plate. It is foam, plate, last, arch contouring, and volume working together. Get one of those wrong and the rest cannot compensate.
Underfoot the sensation feels forced rather than free. The geometry that is supposed to make the shoe feel fast instead makes it feel like it is steering my foot somewhere my foot does not want to go, and the excellent foam sits underneath all of it doing very little for me.
That is a hard thing to write about a shoe with this much genuine engineering in it.
Outsole traction has been very good
The outsole ruber compound appears to be very durable with very little wear so far, and traction have been very good; no complaints here at all, although for a trainer I'd prefer more coverage overall.
Breathability is ok
Worth flagging if you run somewhere hot. The FANTOMFIT upper with its TPU reinforcement is average at moving air, even though it wraps your feet very well.
Not a dealbreaker on its own. But it is one more thing on a list that was already too long for me.
Where my experience diverges from the wider coverage
I have read some of the other reviews out there right now; they are not wrong about the foam, the plate, or the weight. I agree on all three.
Where I differ is fit and underfoot geometry, and that difference is decisive rather than cosmetic.
A shoe built on a close, racing-oriented last with specific arch contouring will feel locked in and fast for the runners whose feet match it, and pressured and disruptive for the ones whose feet do not.
I fall firmly in the second group. I would rather tell you that plainly than average myself out with the consensus and give you a review that helps nobody.
My verdict
The SuperComp Rebel v1 is a polarizing shoe dressed up as a universal winner.
The technical package is excellent. Infinion is one of the better new foams I have run on this year, the bottom-loaded plate is a smart execution, and 7.6 oz for a 40 mm stack is a real achievement.
But the FCRL-2 last, the forward and laterally biased arch support, the narrow midfoot, the rigid tongue, and the high collars are not minor preferences. They determine whether this shoe works at all, and for me they meant it did not.
If you have a genuinely narrow foot, a neutral-to-supinating gait that suits forward arch shaping, and higher ankle bones, this could be one of the best training shoes you own.
However, if you overpronate, run neutral with typical midfoot volume, or have low ankle bones, I would be cautious at $200.
For a broader everyday super trainer that does not ask so much of your foot shape, I recommend reading my best super trainers roundup next.
And if what drew you to this shoe was the Rebel name rather than the SuperComp half of it, the New Balance FuelCell Rebel v5 is a lighter, simpler, less demanding shoe that gets closer to what the Rebel line used to be about.
Try this one on before you buy it. That advice applies to every shoe, but it applies to this one more than most.
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