New Balance KV695 Running Shoe (Little Kid/Big Kid)

These shoes fit well. We haven't had them very long, so I can't say anything about how fast they wear out. The strap design is nice - instead of a stretchy single strap, it actually threads through a piece of plastic that has the velcro on it. It's hard to describe, but you can see it in the main picture on the Amazon page. The effect is to have the strap actually act like lacing, which works well. The only problem is that since the "lacing" is not stretchy, you don't get the best result. When you pull on the end piece to latch the velcro, the plastic piece usually has to be moved a couple of times to get the lacing tight. If the lacing part were stretchy, it would work much better. My son had some shoes when he was little that had this lacing scheme with stretchy lace and they were great for getting on a little kid's squirmy feet. Too bad New Balance didn't make these that way. The lace is the only reason that I gave it four starts. It's just a pain.

My daughter loved the look of these shoes and they fit well; however, I wonder how durable they are and how long we will have them. As other commenters have noted, the only thing that closes the shoe is one strand of the rainbow ribbon. A velcro tab hangs off and slides along a single strand of the rainbow ribbon. The velcro tab connects to one side of the show and is the only closure for the shoe. If the ribbon breaks, there is no way the shoe will stay closed. The picture is a bit "misleading" as you assume that all of the rainbow ribbons are used to close the shoe. In reality, the top most ribbon (the blue and green one in the image used at the time of this posting) is the only thing that opens and closes.

Our 4-year-old has extra wide feet. These NB sneakers are the best for him. This is our third or fourth pair and we keep ordering because the toe-box is really wide enough for wiggle room. Other sneakers we've bought labeled as XW were much narrower than these.My only complaint is that the stitching at the toe wears down very easily, especially on a toddler/preschool boy who is always crawling on the concrete and dirt. But even if the stitching gives, the shoes wear fine. These have a plastic loop than holds the laces to the velcro fastener. It's different than previous versions of this shoe. So far (2 months) it's wearing just fine.Overall, we love these shoes and would recommend!

According to the kiddo, it's comfy (which is not easy to hear from a kid with wide feet) and easy to put on and off, but he's a but upset that the blue "laces" are fraying. I thought that it was because of the velcro touching the material when you take the shoes off, but it doesn't see to be because even the top of the laces, where the velcro doesn't touch, is fraying. I guess the friction from the hem of the pants is causing the issue. It makes the shoe look a little bit more worn out than it should, but definitely not a big deal. I'd buy it again and recommend the purchase.

As other people have stated the stitching quality is poor. After just 2-3 weeks the stitching on the Velcro strap came undone as well as the stitching on the front toe. I contacted New Balance and they offered to replace the sneakers if I shipped them with a tracking number back to them, which I did. They initially told me it would take several weeks for the sneakers to be reviewed before approval to send me new sneakers, but I received them less than 2 weeks later including the time it took me to ship them there. Although I am not happy to have had to send them back to begin with, I am very pleased with their customer service and willingness to replace the sneakers. New Balance is one of the only companies that makes XW sneakers for young boys and this is the first time I have had an issue after many years using them.

I purchased this shoe for my 5 year old son. He loved them and wore them almost everyday for a year, until the Velcro strap finally broke off from the wear and tear. I immediately purchased another pair though because the colors went with everything and he was able to put them on by himself. We will most likely buy another pair in the future. My son has a medium width foot and the Velcro piece fits just right. I'm not sure it would work for a wider foot.

She loves rainbows and purple so this pair was perfect for her. Lengthwise they fit her perfectly with a little room to grow. They were wide for her feet and because of the z-strap closure it is difficult to get them tight enough because of this. Overall they are cute shoes and a well-made for her growing feet.

My 6-year old son loves his new sneakers. They are very light and comfortable. We've only had them a few weeks so I can't quite say how durable they are (they do seem less well-made than other NB sneaks we've bought) but so far good. Will update at a later date if my opinion of this shoe changes.