New Balance Furon V7 Pro & Tekela V4 Pro Play Test & Comparison | A Day In The Life

Hi guys, welcome back to another video. So I'm in Boston, Massachusetts today. I'm actually here with New Balance going over to their headquarters and going to be testing out some of their new football boots, the Fiorans and the Tekelas, in a very special World Cup colourway. So looking forward to trying those out, seeing what they're all about. Early morning, heading over to the New Balance store in just a few moments, hopefully get to pick out some shoes and a bit of gear for the filming today, finishing my breakfast here. I'm having an acai bowl, so just fueling up, and yeah, should be a really good day. So let's go. The Sport Research Lab exists for two reasons. The first one is for testing and training our elite athletes. So if our athletes want to prepare for a competition in a high altitude environment, we have an environmental chamber where we can control the oxygen, they can do that training there. If our athletes want to know their aerobic capacity, so we can track their fitness over time. And then the second reason why this lab exists is just to do the traditional research and development activities that you'd normally see with products. So study athletes in their space, in their environment, doing the types of movements that represent their sport. We use those biomechanical, physiological insights to then make better products. What we're doing today is about the Headline Taker Pack. So two new models that you're aware of, so the Fioran V7 and the Tekela V4. So if we start with Fioran, obviously embodied by the likes of Raheem Sterling, Bukayo Sakae. We talk about their threat potential and that's threat potential, whether that's in possession or out of possession. When we think about this player, it's very impulsive, it's very instinctive in terms of what they're looking for. Effectively, they want the boot to feel an extension of the foot, distraction-free and working from left to right, you start to see how we create that. So one of the key technologies that we really want you to come away with today is the canopy. Essentially, it maximises that strike zone by shifting the laces to the lateral side. Similarly, when we talk about distraction-free and naturally when we talk about this kind of player, it's difficult to avoid the conversation of weight. And for us, it's about how we take the boot, strip it down to its component parts and really look to maximise the weight potential by just reducing through those margins. If we move on to the Tekela, we're talking to see it different. And they almost make it seem like they've got acres of time, acres of space to play when in reality, they haven't. More so than the Furon type player, it's about multi-directional movement, really sharp, quick turns, again, to give them that edge to buy that space to get a pass away. Okay, so we've had a tour of the facility, got to learn how they use all the technology here with their elite athletes. Amazing insight. Now, we're getting a good look at the boots here, so we've got the Furon's V7, beautiful. So this is their speed silo, and then we have the Tekela's. So this is more of their control, first touch boot. So as you can see, laceless, really can't wait to get these on feet. And we've got a few drills set up, so we can really test them out. Yeah. And then... I think they're just all about one size. Amazing. Thank you. There you go. Kitted out. Now, we're going to have an interview with some of the staff here at New Balance to talk about the boots, and we'll get them on feet and get out on the pitch, so should be good. Okay, guys, so we're very lucky to be joined here with Luc, a designer here at New Balance. Obviously, he played a heavy role in the finished product of the Tekela and the Furon, so thanks for joining us, Luc. Thank you. First thing, which player wears the Furon and which player wears the Tekela? Yeah, so the Furon is going to be more like players like Sadio Mane, Miguel Saka, Raheem Sterling, like, you know, instinctive players that just want to deliver the knockout strike. Because they play with so much instinct, we want to remove any distractions, and that's why we ended up with this construction of offset laces and floating canopy that ultimately creates the perfect clean strike zone. So this is the finishing touches, maybe the Tekela is more for the guys setting up for lethal players. Yeah, so this one is more on, like, the creator, a player who wants to find space, so trying to have cutting movements, rotation, we focus a lot more on the plate. So in terms of plate technology, we talked about amplified traction. We're in October 2022, when did the first kind of blueprint go out for these models? Yeah, we like to start, like, a lot earlier in the innovation process, so that start being in the lab, probably like two years before launch. So this is going to be about capturing insight, looking into new materials, capturing data you've seen this morning, all the tools that we have for that, and it's then about how do you translate the insight into a concept, then into a prototype, the first validation, changes, talking to the player, understanding what they like in the boot, what they don't like in the boot, and then ultimately just creating the best, the perfect boot that we can. So, and the other thing I would say is, like, creating something that is really different from what's being offered on the market. On the Tekela, you won't find a plate technology like this in the market, and on the Furon, you also won't find a construction like this at the moment, so. Amazing. Okay, so final question for you, which silo resonates with you more as a player? I know you're a player as well. Yeah, so I would say I'm actually wearing the Furon, you really feel the, that clean strike zone is something you really feel, and as a designer, I actually really like the Tekela, because it has more challenges, you know, how do you create, like, the perfect laceless boot, how do you bring the rimstop technology, so I would say, like, I equally love both boots for what they bring, you know, the player as a designer, so, yeah, it's hard to pick between the two. We hope that, yeah, everybody's gonna have a hard time to actually pick between the two as well. Amazing. Well, thank you for all of that insight. I'm gonna finally go over now and get them on feet, and see which one I like the best. I will, I'm sure, they look amazing, so let's see how they feel. Thank you. Thank you, Luke. Nice to meet you, yeah. Appreciate it, thank you so much. So, we've got some drills going over here, I'm gonna get warmed up with them, looks like we're starting off with the Tekelas, so I'm gonna get these on feet, and get moving around. First impressions, unbelievably comfortable, they fit like a glove, it's like they're custom made for my feet. Feel on the ball is really nice, good bit of padding between the ball and your foot, so you feel very dampened with your touch, but the comfort is unbelievable. Gonna hop in some drills now, and test my first touch. So, we've got a few touches in the Tekelas, that drill was bamboozling, there was different colours in the goal, and then you receive it from a certain colour, very challenging, but that was a lot of fun. So, now we're gonna slip on the Furons, and I think they've got another drill for us, so we'll see what that one's all about. These are so light. Wow, so comfortable, again, I just feel like a glove around my foot. Wow, so comfortable once again, a new balance, I'm making moves in the football boot world for sure. Nice, very clean striking surface. Alright, we're doing some dribbling and finishing, I'm excited for this. Once you shoot, you're gonna turn, you're gonna play it in. Alright, receive, I'm just gonna let it off, you go and shoot, you go and shoot, you go and shoot, as you do that, underneath, yep, there we go, that one too, off you go. Alright, so you're in for three. Last switch, just change it up a little bit, so we'll go, you guys stay the same, so you're gonna become a defender. Alright, so once you shoot, you guys won't be one. On we go. Who says attackers can't defend? He has a family. The mic. I realise we're getting a full session here. I'm blowing. What a session. That was a lot of fun. Man, I really like the Furox by the way, it's like they're designed for my feet, they just fill in every nook and cranny in my feet, no space when I'm pushing off, it's responding in the moment, that's exactly what you want from a speed boot. The striking surface is really clean as well, so big fan of the Furox. Cookie? Testing out the Takellas and the Furons, really like both of them to be honest, and as far as laceless boots go, some of the best I've had, I would actually probably wear those in a match and be absolutely fine, they're really responsive, but just had some lunch and we found out tonight we're actually going to watch the Boston Red Sox play, which if got a really old fashioned stadium as well, so I can't wait for that to be honest, I'm not a big baseball fan, but if you're talking about quintessential American sports experiences, it doesn't get much better than that, so we're going to go back to the hotel, shower, and then we'll get over to the stadium. So I'm back in my hotel room now, and what an amazing day, getting to go over to the New Balance headquarters, not only to test out the new boots, which were fantastic, but also get to see how much detail they put into the development of their products, you guys saw we got a really deep insight today on all the testing, the data that they collect, the feedback that they get from the elite athletes that they work with, they really put as much detail into their products as they can to make sure they're just top performing, and you can see that in what they produce, those boots were amazing, you can tell they've really covered all the bases, they've thought about fit, feel, and performance, and I think they look pretty good as well, so I hope you enjoyed that, a little bit of the behind the scenes, and I want to say a huge thank you to New Balance for inviting us out, absolutely incredible experience, huge thank you to Unisport for setting up the opportunity, as that's who I'm here on behalf of, representing them here, so I really appreciate them for that, and I want to say a huge thank you to you guys, because of course without your continued support here on the channel, I wouldn't get these opportunities in the first place, so hope you enjoyed it, tried to share as much of it with you guys as I could, and as I get more of these opportunities, I'll be sure to share them with you as well, so hope you enjoyed today's video, and if you did, make sure you smash the like button, hit that subscribe button for weekly training videos, and I will see you guys in my next video.