 okay first impression just slipping the fuel cell rebel onto my feet uh i already did the first one and the second one it's feeling very very much like a slipper just slipping on the foot there so wow more so than many other shoes that i've tried like it just kind of feel it feels uh like the upper is one piece of material which it is there's no separate tongue for the fuel cell rebel and as far as my expectations for the first run for the fuel cell rebel i don't know what to expect i don't know if it's a fast shoe i think it's a fast shoe but i'm not positive on that and the distance so i'm going to go eight miles today once again is it a three mile shoe is it a 20 mile shoe is it an eight mile shoe we are about to find out ladies and gentlemen what just happened okay this is just my first impression but let's just say at about miles seven i glanced at my watch and it said 550 a mile oh i was not supposed to go that fast okay i'm excited new balance fuel cell rebel first impressions coming at you in the studio oh whoa i was not expecting that at all and away we go first impressions of the new balance fuel cell rebel after my first run tonight of eight miles in downtown denver at 640 a mile okay and i bear i went i went all the way from like seven ten a mile down to at one point glancing at my watch and as i already mentioned it was a 550 a mile so i was moving pretty good and i was not expecting that it's been a big week of training for me i'm about to hit 100 miles so my legs are a little tired well i didn't feel the tired legs in these shoes tonight okay before my first impressions you can probably tell they're going to be good but let's get you a few specs real quick 24 millimeter stack height in that heel 18 millimeter in the four foot so a six millimeter drop you know how much i love that drop and for the weight we're looking at 6.4 ounces and my size or 183 grams very nice great weight for this shoe and a men's size nine you're looking at 6.9 ounces or 196 grams for the men's size nine for the upper so it's not the traditional tongue through the upper it's all one piece of material a synthetic mesh is what they're calling it and the collar is a little loosey-goosey we'll talk more about that in a minute uh in the eyelet chain is not really an eyelet chain at all as far as the traditional like where you put the the shoelace through the holes it's more of the shoelaces wrapping around a little piece of a cord i don't know what else to call it it's this red right here on the right above the toe box this red cord and i didn't notice any issues with it so i'm a little you know a little apprehensive i guess i would say because i'm not used to that but um so far so good for the eyelet chain and the upper uh i will come back to the collar here in a minute and for that midsole in the new balance fuel cell rebel it's well what they call the fuel cell foam also known as tpu foam it's not eva okay uh supposedly a little more uh long lasting and a little more pop to a tpu foam now what's really crazy and you probably don't know if you can see it there on this midsole it's got this flare here on the lateral side of the shoe so the outside of the shoe see that flare there i don't know if you can notice it as i'm holding the shoe up but basically as i was unboxing the shoe and putting the shoe on my foot it looked a little gimmicky and it you know it basically widens the landing area of the outsole and then all the way up into the midsole it just looks a little gimmicky but i tell you what i have never had issues with stability in running shoes like where i feel like i'm gonna roll my ankles on sharp corners i enjoyed okay i'll just say i won't say liked i enjoyed this little flare i'm not saying i was paying too much attention to it just on this first impression run but so far so good with this little flare on the lateral side of this midsole and i actually i frankly i've never run in a shoe with a flare that is that pronounced so keep that in mind you might like it you might like it and moving on to the outsole so once again pulling the shoe out of the box i was very concerned about this blue rubber on the outsole it felt a little too firm to me i felt like i was like oh man this is going to be a hard ride and i don't really love hard rides especially on pavement i would rather have a little more forgiveness but it was perfect like i didn't feel like i was pounding the pavement too much and there's a little plate just in the forefoot uh between the outsole and the midsole i don't know if you can see it in this shop but i'll get a closer shot for you it's that darker area there it's just a little plate to create a little pop in your stride in your gait cycle in your foot strike and i felt it tonight i don't know i was like i was okay so i did start off going a heel to toe just to see what that felt like and then as i started to pick up the pace as the as the run went on i started getting up on my toes and i was noticing a little bit of pop through that forefoot and i'm just wondering if it is this little plate i shouldn't say it's too little but it's just it's not the entire length of the shoe it's just right under the forefoot there so not too shabby i'm excited about it and for that fit for the fuel cell rebel i went true to size and we're we're good to go no issues with the length of the shoe no issues with too much scrunching up like i had in the in the in the beacon v2 here through the forefoot and the comfort it's a seamless upper okay so the entire upper is one piece of material so there's no seams to rub on the top of your foot to potentially create areas of potential blisters so no issues there as far as comfort with the upper again i'll come back to the collar here in a minute and the ride was spot on i guess i forgot to mention it almost feels like and you can kind of see it there it almost is shaped the midsole is almost shaped like a banana shape a little bit it just has a little bit of that rock motion to it kind of maybe you know maybe kind of like a hoka the meta rocker in the hoka it just has a banana shape and frankly it is smooth like i felt smooth in it and for the positive in the fuel cell rebel i'll have to go with a pop it felt it feels like it has pop to it and that's why i think i already mentioned this uh back in downtown denver is that i think i could use this for definitely a tempo day and potentially a threshold day so even faster than tempo uh so that's good for the positive the drawback um i think it's the okay i think it's the call it is the collar it's just a maybe for me we'll see after the 50 miles but maybe a little too loose through the collar area i usually like a little more um comfort not comfort a little more um lockdown through this collar area around that wraps around the ankle so that would really be my only drawback at this point uh yeah that's my only drawback and as already mentioned i will use this shoe for tempos and thresholds uh but i think you could use this shoe for a 10k half marathon i'm not going to say marathon but you probably could but if it's feeling like it's and here's a thing if you want to take this out in a race on the roads you're not going to i don't think you'll trash your legs that much because it does have a nice solid midsole like it's going to absorb a lot of that pounding so that is a bonus and moving on to that price 130 dollars i'll take it i also saw 140 uh euros just so i was on the euro for on the european website for some reason earlier so 130 us dollars 140 euros i think we're okay i'm okay with that i'm okay i'm okay nothing else to be said and my conclusion on the performance it i'm a little i'm stretching a little bit here but the first couple miles i was just thinking to myself am i wearing a faster beacon and that's a stretch but i tell you and maybe it's just because of the new balance like branding i don't know if it's just in my head but i was just i was going along and i was like man it kind of feels like the ride of a beacon but a little faster so that's it and i love the beacon so this is a good sign um and so okay rebel is the keyword question of the day all the new balance fans out there this is your time to shine down in the comments let us know uh what is your favorite new balance running shoe right now and or historically if you've maybe moved on from new balance for some reason what is a shoe from new balance that you've loved in the past or currently right now for me right now it's the beacon i love the beacon despite the scrunching up in the toolbox but watch out fuel cell rebel okay one last point i'm gonna have to do a comparison vlog very soon between the rebel and the zoom fly three from nikey i'm sensing a lot of similarities with respect to speed with respect to uh uh ride and even yeah even comfort to a certain extent but so anyway stay tuned for that all right that's vlog number two publishing today thanks for being here and uh time to go ahead and seek beauty work hard