New Balance KV554 Running Shoe (Infant/Toddler/Little Kid/Big Kid)

The media could not be loaded.  PROS: Rubber soles!!: have good traction, good weight, and durability (no foam soles). Construction of materials is solid. Wide-width options makes this a rock-star for us. Bonus: we like the color choices. What a sneaker SHOULD be but often is not.CONS: Sadly, a big one: the strap is far too short.We needed wide, z-strap shoes leaving our options limited. I knew going in that the straps had issues. Received the shoes today. Clearly a basic engineering/manufacturing problem.The shoes are built wide but the z-strap hasn't been adjusted to accommodate the wider size. The strap has been plunked on from a regular shoe fit. We loosened the strap to get it to fit on the foot but could only get it to secure across the top of the foot by tightening the strap waaaay up. Basically making the wider size moot because it's pinching and pulling across the widest part of the foot again.Otherwise, without the strap issues, it's a good fit. No heel rubbing. No pinching across the width.For the price I paid for these children's shoes--sad to see New Balance skin-flinting on the strap! If I'm gonna purchase corner-cutting shoes I'll go to a cheap discount store for one-third the price.

I had read the reviews that others gave about the velcro popping open, but since my daughter absolutely loved this color, we went with it. Also, being an engineer, I wanted to see what all of the fuss was about. (We're weird that way). The shoes fit very nicely, but after a bit of walking at the zoo - pop! the velcro came loose. She fixed her shoe, walked for another half hour and - pop!, it came loose again. Now it was my turn to try. As I put the velcro together, I could tell there was plenty of velcro, but the strap end that the velcro is attached to,is pretty stiff, and doesn't allow the velcro much contact area. So instead of getting over an inch of velcro "latch", you only get about a quarter of an inch. Not much if the kids are moving around.I compared to my son's older New Balance 688's and the strap end on that shoe is much more flexible. We never had a problem with his shoes popping open. Would I buy them again? Jury is still out. If I can work on the strap end to make it a bit more flexible, then I would consider it.

My son has a muscle condition and flat feet that require him to have good shoes, with good arch support. NB has always provided this for him. unfortunately we have not had this pr for 3 weeks and already the sole is falling off of the shoe. He actually tripped over it. Another thing we were not fond of is the Velcro portion. It has to be pulled over so tight the shoe was uncomfortable until it stretched a little. It should be more elastic like. I am exchanging them in the hopes that this was a defect. Otherwise we love NB for him.

I have boys that are tough on shoes and New Balance shoes are the only ones that have stood up to their wear and tear. The shoes fit great and are available in Wide widths which are nice for a better fit. These shoes are no exception to the great shoes I've gotten for them from New Balance. They fit well, look great, hold up to all kinds of abuse, and the Velcro is a nice touch for a kid learning to tie shoes but hasn't quite mastered it yet. :)

The shoe is being used by my 3 year old son. He loves it. He runs a lot and the shoe provides great support and cushioning. His feet are wide so finding a good shoe for him is not too easy. The construction quality is good.

This was a very nice shoe but compared to the NB shoes I usually wear they run a little large. If I were to order these again I would order 1/2 size smaller.

My son loves these shoes. They are very convenient cause he can slip them on and go. They don't show dirt like other tennis shoes I have bought. Great product! We love Newbalance!

We've had two pair of these shoes in recent times both had velcro straps that broke within a month or two of ownership. Our boys seem to want to pull the velcro tight and this in turn puts too much strain on the top velcro strip and it has snapped on both pairs we owned. We've had good luck with NB's in general but not so much this design.