New Balance Women's WX797BP3 Cross-Training Shoe

I guess I am too naive about women's shoes. After spending hours in a shoe warehouse looking for ANY cross-trainers in wide widths and leaving with no options, I did some research online, then came to Amazon where I spent even more hours reading reviews. I purchased four pairs of cross-trainers and not a single one worked. Learn from my mistakes.As a reference, my bigger foot (left) is 9.5" from big toe to heel, the ball is the widest part of my foot at just over 4" and my heel is 2.5" wide. I typically wear a size 7.5. I have a bunion on my left foot, very high arches, and my pinkie toes are a bit hammertoed from years in ill fitting high heels. I am making a concerted effort to wear better shoes, even if it costs me more. Unfortunately shoemakers refuse to recognize women with foot widths over 3". I ordered all these shoes in 7.5 D because I didn't see them any wider. That may have changed by the time you are reading this. Zappos tells me I should have ordered a size 8. Take my review for what it is: my one-time opinion.Pair 1: NB 797 7.5 D. As I took these out of the box I knew they were doomed. Seriously, these don't look like "wide" shoes at all, I wish I'd gotten the "normal" B width to compare. This must be a joke, right? After putting them on I noticed what is a constant problem for me. The toe box of the shoe is too narrow, while the heel/opening is gargantuan. Pinkie toes are pinched and bunion is sensitive. Length is also cutting it close, like half a thumb left up front. Seems low on the sides but that's probably for the lateral movement. Also, the insole seems to be floating in the shoe. It's not too narrow, it's just not glued down so it seems like it might keep coming out every time I take the shoe on and off.Pair 2: NB 711 7.5 D. These are the cutest in my opinion. I seriously want these to work. But they look so narrow. What. the. heck. Ah, super lightweight, not a lot of seams, narrower heel for sure. Also less padded around the shoe opening than #1. After leaving it on for just a few minutes, my bunion is throbbing slightly. That does not bode well. Length is cutting it close. If this came in an 8 4E, it would be a keeper.Pair 3: NB 20 Minimus 7.5 D. These are definitely the least appealing to me. I mean they aren't bright white, but not my cup of tea. Anyway. Definitely the widest of the bunch. Ample room on the outside of the foot, it's weird, they sort of lean in, in a way that makes my bunion feel the bottom seam of the shoe. So it's not the pressure from the top or side that is irritating it, it's the lip of the shoe insert. Oh, there's no insert. Well I guess just where the upper and lower parts of the shoe meet. Looking at it you would be able to tell what I'm talking about; it definitely leans. The sides and back come up a little higher on the ankle, still not above the outer fibula bone-end, or the interior navicular bone-bump, so I like it more. I'm also clearly a dum-dum for ordering a 7.5. Still, this feels the best so far except for lean and it's effect on my bunion. Is the lean important to "minimal" shoes? Also, the box mentions running, which is not what I'm interested in. The listing online says cross-trainer.Pair 4: Asics Gel Unifire 7.5 D. These are also a joke. The leather detail work on the uppers irritate my bunion from the start. The toe box is too narrow for the rest of my digits too. Actually the length on this seems better, but that is the only thing that is okay with this shoe. It feels nicely padded, I'll give it that. A big nope, all in all.So all four of these go back, what a delight. This isn't a waste of my money and time at all, nooooo. I have now ordered NB Mens 623s and 608 in both 2E and 4E. I've also ordered from Zappos the Asics Gel 180 in 2E for women and the Asics Gel Acclaim in 2E for men. I think the biggest problem is Amazon's lack of selection (not even color-wise, just pure options!) at wide widths, and potentially no standardization of sizes, just like clothes. Are wide shoes just the unicorn of footwear or does Amazon just not care?

This is the first time I've bought New Balance for myself; I'm usually a Reebok or Nike wearer. I needed something black for work, though finding 100% sneakers is hard, and most are plain ugly. I decided to try to get away with a little white and color, and bought these to replace some black Reeboks with gel insoles. The deciding factor was the blue. I am NOT a "pink girl". I hate pink, and I haven't been able to buy any sneakers with blue on them in a while. I like the low profile of these shoes. By that I mean, they sit lower around my ankle than my previous athlete shoes did. They are also amazingly lightweight. I was surprised the first time I picked them up. They don't feel heavy on the feet, which is especially important over the course of a long workday or spending the day at a theme park, which happens often in this family since we live in Florida. The only con I have to the shoe is the crappy insoles that are standard. There is absolutely no arch support or shock absorption in these shoes. The problem is fixable however. The insoles that come in these pop right out (unlike the gel ones in the replaced Reeboks), allowing you to put in any insole you need. I bought a Dr. Scholl's 16 Hour work insole. After cutting down to size, it fits into the shoe perfectly, and doesn't shift at all. (Honestly, I may end up having to replace the replaced insole, because I'm on my feet on concrete and tile floor all day, and by the second or third day in a row of working, by just 3 or 4 hours in, all I want to do is get out of my shoes and be barefoot, so I may not have bought the right insole for my feet, though the package SOUNDED just like what I need.) I wanted to mention this though, for you all to be prepared that you too may have to replace the insole inside these New Balance if you need more cushion or shock absorption. Otherwise, it's been a couple months now, and they're looking new still, which is a plus. I have had many bad shoe experiences, especially with my teenage son, where his shoes seem to literally fall apart in a matter of months, leading me to have to drop $40-50-60 on darn shoes every 3-4 months for him.

UPDATE as of 03/2014Someone commented on my review that the pair they received is NOT made in the US. Note that my original review was from January 2013... It's been well over a year and is entirely likely they moved the manufacture of this shoe once it became an "old" model. My review was never intended to mislead - at the time I purchased mine (in the Blue - perhaps color is a factor in manufature location as well), they were most definitely Made in the USA as my review stated. They were great shoes and served me well for about 7 months - I'm hard on athletic shoes and have to replace every 6 months or so under normal circumstances. I got my money's worth out of the ones I bought in Jan of '13.Original review:I've had my eye on these at my usual shoe site for quite some time, but was waiting around for my old shoes to thoroughly wear out before buying new ones. Turned out Amazon had better pricing (and free 2-day shipping with Prime!) so I finally purchased last week and I love them. Though Amazon doesn't have the country of origin listed in the description, these ARE made in the USA (of imported materials), if that's something that's important to you. The shoes are super light and breathable, a "minimal" shoe without being too far down that end of the spectrum. There's still a nice modest heel cushion and they provide good overall support. I wear these for cross training and (very) light running a couple days a week, as well as twice daily walks with my dog. I already want to buy a "back up" pair in case they're not available by the time the current ones wear out.

Bad quality!! I bought it in August 2015- three months later the bottom started to peel off.