Minimus HI-REZ: Where Science Meets Design  Tucked away in the
historic Ayer Mill building in Lawrence, MA is New Balance's
clandestine, state-of-the-art research facility. New Balance's
Sport Research Lab routinely tests a wide variety of athletic
shoes to ensure they meet the company's rigorous standards in
performance, durability, comfort and technical innovation.
Sometimes that very innovation requires a whole new approach to
testing a shoe's technical features. This was true of New
Balance's forthcoming HI-REZ running shoe. Sports Research
Engineer Pedro Rodrigues was kind enough to walk us through the
testing they did that ultimately helped inform the shoe's unique
design. Pedro Rodrigues, Sports Research Engineer Ambitious in
both concept and execution, New Balance's Minimus HI-REZ is a
running shoe designed to help maximize underfoot sensation. From
early development to final product testing, the goal was always
to determine how much more sensation people could feel underfoot
in HI-REZ versus other mi