“On the shoulders of giants” may be overstating things by a bit, but it’s unquestionable that two of New Balance’s biggest modern lifestyle hits, the New Balance 1906R and New Balance 2002R, owe a lot to the 860v2. Borrowing their sole units entirely from the reformed runner, their overall ubiquity probably overshadows the New Balance 860v2 by a touch, with the silhouette becoming a surprisingly rare sight on the newswire in 2025.
Just one of a handful of looks that’ve come across our desk this year, the latest for the New Balance 860v2 threads the needle between metallic tech runner bonafides and earthier counterparts. This colorway delivers the former with silver leather overlays and the latter with sepia tones on the midsole and mesh foundation. It’s this sort of tonal aesthetic that the model has settled into as its time on the shelves has gone on, providing an easily-worn counterpart to some of the more flashy product in the NB catalog.
