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New Balance: real vs fake

Every New Balance checkpoint on this site states a measurement, an accept range and how we arrived at it. No comparison photos we didn't shoot, no certificates.

Real vs fake guides
Fake New Balance: Real vs Fake Tongue Tag, Codes, Widths 16 measured checks
Checkpoints covered
  • Tongue label QR code 1 verification QR code printed on the tongue label of any pair produced after May 2025; earlier pairs carry none
  • Width grade step 3 millimetres of ball width between one New Balance width grade and the next; published figures run 3 to 4
  • Width letters offered 5 width grades New Balance lists for the Made in USA 990v6: B, D, 2E, 4E and 6E
  • Style code characters 8 characters in a current New Balance style code; the run spans 7 to 8 across the four biggest lines
  • Model digits in code 550 digits inside a 550 style code that have to reappear on the shoe; 990, 2002 and 9060 work the same way
  • Style code prefix letters 2 letters at the head of the longest common New Balance prefixes: M, W and U run to one, MR, WL and BB run to two
  • 990v6 shoe weight 366 grams for one Made in USA 990v6 in men's US 9, measured in a laboratory teardown; 12.9 ounces
  • 990v6 heel stack 39.1 millimetres of heel stack on a cut open 990v6; the forefoot reads 23.8 and the drop 15.3
  • 550 shoe weight 452 grams for one 550 measured in a laboratory teardown; 15.9 ounces, with the tested size not published
  • 550 outsole thickness 6.6 millimetres of outsole rubber on a cut open 550; the same measurement on a 990v6 reads 4.4
  • 550 quarter perforations 4 perforations under the 550 print on the quarter panel; one published comparison counted six on the copies it examined
  • Made in USA content 70 percent minimum domestic value behind a New Balance Made in USA label, by the brand's own published standard
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