Darkhorse boot of year

New Balance are not to be ignored. Year after year the Big N progressively improves their boots and because of that are making such an impact on the market it could be argued that they are the closest brand to breaking into the Big Three. This year has seen them introduce three new updates into their lineup starting with the 442 Elite, followed by the Furon V8 and now the Tekela V5. The 442 and Furon both have strong points to them, with the Furon in particular making its way into contention for my Top 5 Boots of The Year. The New Balance Tekela V5 Elite goes even further in some respects. It would not be surprising to see the Tekela making it into several Top 5 lists. But even beyond that, the Tekela is probably the darkhouse when it comes to the boot of the year because of its almost flawless execution of uncomplicatedness.

Fit and Feel

Obviously, the showpiece of the Tekela is the ridiculously soft and pliable Dynamic TouchTech upper. It is very soft out of the box, and it is up there with the likes of Silkywrap from ASICS’ X Fly Pro 3 and X Fly 6. The Dynamic TouchTech is on the thinner side compared with ASICS’ two boots. The upper on the Tekela also has this nice leather-like grain to it. And to the touch there is a slight roughness to it, somewhat mimicking a worn leather. There are also these little dots in high contact areas that help provide a little bit of grip on the ball. It is a small detail,but helps accentuate the look of the Tekela to stop it from appearing too plain.

Getting the boots on foot, it wraps the foot well, and there are no awkward gaps or creases when lacing the boot up. The overall fit is excellent, and it is nice to see that New Balance continue to nail the fit of their boots. Of course, what is handy is that New Balance offers a wide fit variation for those in need of a more forgiving fit. But for my medium to narrow width foot, the fit is just about perfect.

The break in time is very quick, with only about a forty-five minute session needed for the boots to feel fully ready to go. This is probably one of the best parts of New Balance’s boots is that not only are they comfortable, but the break-in period is pretty short.

Something else that has to be mentioned is how nice the insole is, and New Balance almost always delivers here. It feels premium and nicely cushioned without feeling overly thick. It is such a simple thing that a lot of brands seem to struggle with. The insole and hard ground soleplate means there is no stud pressure, no matter how tough the surface is.

Of course, as is natural with any review I write, we have to talk about the heel. The fit is excellent and has a great amount of cushioning and there has been no heel pressure. Like Kris’ Footy Kicks, I did find that the material at the top of the heel caused some rubbing, but this went away after a short while for me. Overall, the shaping of the heel is really good, and it feels that New Balance is one of the few brands outside of ASICS to be paying attention to the heel area.

There is a drawback with the upper material being so soft. It is that some people will probably prefer to have more midfoot structure. For me, I do not mind it as I am used to full leather boots that do not tend to have extra structure in the midfoot. However, for some who want that extra bit of structure to provide more stability when making hard cuts, it is something to be aware of when looking at getting the Tekela V5.

On the other hand, the lockdown is really good. The Hypoknit Stretch Fit is high quality, and offers a good bit of lockdown, even before tightening the laces. I do not recommend wearing the boots laceless. Rather, it provides a good base for the lockdown to be so good. What is impressive is that while I normally prefer my boots to have a deeper lacing system, this does not bother me on the Tekela V5 Elite. Part of this is due to the fact that the overall fit of the boot is so good, but obviously, kudos has to go to New Balance for designing the boot to fit so well. Lockdown should help accentuate the overall fit of the boot, not make up for it. And New Balance has obviously kept that thought in mind when creating the Tekela.

For sizing, I went true to size and found the fit to be perfect. The Tekela does have a shorter toebox height-wise, so it is understandable to go half a size up if you prefer to just a little bit less pressure on top of the toes. My medium to narrow fits perfectly with my true to size, which in New Balance is a US 8.5/UK 8/JP 26.5/EU 42.

On the Ball

The Dynamic TouchTech upper is very impressive in terms of touch on the ball as well. It is very thin and has an almost second skin feel on the ball. Because the upper is soft as well, there is not much between the foot and the ball. I would go as far as to say that in terms of thin uppers, the one of the New Balance Tekela V5 Elite is one of my favourites of the whole year so far. The touch is unreal and the slight roughness of the upper means that bringing the ball under control is easily done.

It would be a stretch to say the touch on the ball is barefoot like, as there is just enough thickness to the upper to be noticeable. However, I would argue that making the upper any thinner would make it too thin and potentially ruin that special softness the upper has.

Also, the little dots around the high contact zones do offer just that little bit extra on the ball. Nothing too crazy, but just enough to provide some extra quiet confidence when manipulating the ball. Speaking of which, the HG soleplate does have some texturing on the tips of the studs which means I thoroughly enjoy rolling the ball around with the bottom of my foot.

There is nothing too crazy going on when hitting the ball with power. Just that soft upper provides a direct feel on the ball. At the same time, I think the softness of the upper stops there being much of a pingy sensation when hitting the ball hard. The flip side is everything seems so natural. Like a lot of my favourite boots, you get out what you put in and while the boot is simple in a lot of ways, I appreciate how uncomplicated it is on the ball.

Dribbling is a similar experience. There are some of those dots strategically placed on the outside of the boot, but aside from the small role those play, how well you dribble in the Tekela is down to how well you dribble in general.

Grip

New Balance’s hard ground soleplate is not super advanced or anything crazy like that, but it is a solid soleplate and layout. There is enough grip and stability for a lot of surfaces. Naturally, a rounded stud will not provide as much grip as a bladed stud, but the rounded stud is safer for use on more surfaces, so I appreciate the utilitarianism of the soleplate.

On harder and artificial surfaces, the soleplate works without any fanfare, and I would argue that the HG soleplate matches the boot as whole better than the firm ground soleplate as the majority of the boot is fairly uncomplicated. The FG soleplate seems to be trying to be too much.

The other thing I want to mention is that there is a good amount of stability in the soleplate. It does not have any crazy snapback, but I appreciate the solidity found through the midfoot and heel. This means that there is no awkward twisting of the foot during play. Much like the insole, a good soleplate is not difficult to design, but so many brands seem intent on going as crazy as possible, for no reason other than marketing.

Conclusion

The New Balance Tekela V5 Elite is probably one of the simpler boots in terms of headline tech that I have reviewed this year. However, this uncomplicated approach serves the Tekela well. The boot does the things that it is supposed to do very well. No extras, nothing unnecessary in the boot itself, just a modest design that excels because it does all of those simple things so well. New Balance has taken a slightly different approach than the rest of the market but offers a glimpse of how superb a boot can be when the design is focused on delivering uncomplicated performance. The fit is excellent, the touch on the ball is excellent, the comfort is excellent, and because of this the Tekela pushes itself into serious consideration for boot of the year talks. Straightforward, yet exceptional.

If you like this review, please consider supporting by buying me a Ko-Fi or making a donation through the Support The Blog sidebar!

What do you think about the New Balance Tekela V5 Elite? Please share this with your friends and make sure to follow me on Instagram!

Also, check out the Football Boot Hour Podcast I co-host with Boot Wizard!

じゃあね！