Does the New Balance 9060 run true to size? Should you size up?
We checked, on 16,874 real feet. We worked out the inside measurements of the New Balance 9060: the length, the width, and the forefoot volume (ball girth). Then we virtually fitted 16,874 real feet from our earlier in-store 3D foot scanners, the way someone shopping online would: New Balance's size chart for length.
New Balance size guide score
48/100
New Balance's size guidance online gave the right size for 48% of 16,874 feet.
Does the New Balance 9060 run true to size?
For about half of feet. If you follow New Balance's size guidance online, the 9060 fits true to size for 48% of feet. Here, true to size means the size New Balance's online guidance gives you is less than a full size away from the size that fits best, with enough toe room and enough forefoot volume.
New Balance's size guide on the 9060 page lists a foot length for every size, so shoppers can match a foot measurement to a size. New Balance's width chart is on the same page, but the 9060 comes in the standard width (D) only, so the width chart can't help with the 9060, and a different size is the only way to change the forefoot volume. In our fittings, most of the misses came from forefoot volume, not from length.
Should you size up or down in the New Balance 9060?
Here is where every foot landed in the 9060 when we followed New Balance's size chart.
Following New Balance's size guidance online
- Right size from the size chart48%
- Sized up for more forefoot volume25%
- Sized up for toe room only5%
- Sized down for less forefoot volume22%
Share of 16,874 feet. Each foot is counted once.
- Right size from the size chart: 48% of feet got a size that fit both their foot length and their forefoot volume. New Balance's size chart worked well for this group in the 9060.
- Sized up for more forefoot volume: For 25% of feet, the 9060 had too little forefoot volume at the size the chart gave. The 9060 has no wide version, so going up a size was the only way to get more forefoot volume, and the bigger size also adds length in front of the toes.
- Sized up for toe room only: 5% of feet had enough forefoot volume, but the length the chart gave left their toes very little room. If your foot is near the long end of your size on New Balance's chart, consider half a size up in the 9060.
- Sized down for less forefoot volume: For 22% of feet, the 9060 had too much forefoot volume at the size the chart gave. The 9060 has no narrow version, so a smaller size was the only way to get less forefoot volume, with less room in front of the toes.
How we measured
We measured the 9060, which comes in one width, and virtually fitted 16,874 real feet from our earlier in-store 3D foot scanners. Out of 17,311 foot scans, those 16,874 feet fall in the size range of the 9060 (US men's 4 to 17). For every foot, we followed New Balance's size guidance online: the length chart, in the standard width. A difference of a full size or more between New Balance's size and the size that fits best counts as a miss. These numbers show how the 9060 fits a large group of feet, not how the shoe feels on your feet.
