If true 4E tennis shoes produced again, post here

ByeByePoly

G.O.A.T.
I am under the assumption at this point that the tennis shoe industry made a conscious decision to quit producing the true 4E widths. I played 4E NB for decades, and then 1-2 years ago NB 4Es were too narrow in toe box. I called TW and asked what the widest tennis shoe was that they sell (1+ year ago). It was the new NB 806 I had just bought ... wasted $100+ still sitting in my closet. The only shoe I found that was still true 4E width was the Costco Kirkland "Athletic Shoe", and now have a closet full of them (afraid I would run out of comfortable tennis shoes for tennis).

If anyone discovers the major manufacturers producing true 4E again, please post here.

@TW Staff
 
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ByeByePoly

G.O.A.T.

I did not try other brands at the time because TW said none of them were wider than he NB 806. At that time, I did notice Adidas had a new wide shoe. The TW website has this marked as New, so maybe it's a brand new shoe? The pic looked promising, wide square toebox. The "Wide (E)" is confusing ... used to seeing 3E or 4E, or EEEE?
 

widefoot

New User
This is a huge problem. With wide feet I'm reduced to playing in Nike Monarchs. New Balance 4E's are not really that wide. Nike used to make a number of cross trainers and basketball shoes in 4E, but its been forever since they made a tennis shoe (for a while you could get the Vapor in the NikeID custom in wide, but that is gone. The VaporX in wide is not very wide). Given the range of foot sizes, the aging population still playing sports and the inevitable widening of feet with age, you would think there is a market. Yet manufacturers do nothing or make only their most basic/cheapest models. I've even resorted to Nikes new FlyeEase basketball shoes. It's great that Nike is making basketball shoes for people with physical challenges, but how about tennis shoes for us. Asics stopped 4E several years ago. TW or manufacturers if you are listening there is a wide market open! (and good luck stretching a nylon shoe. Best, Evan
 

Ronaldo

Bionic Poster
I've never tried them but some people use shoe stretchers.
Found out I had a natural shoe stretcher. Let my grandson wear my dress shoes. Forgot he weighs 275 at 6'3". Now must wear three pr of socks to avoid the shoes slipping off my feet. Must be a shoe stretching job out there.
Btw, there are the Uncle Drew/Lil Jimmy shoes in 6EEE,
DREW-44935_Black%20Clf_41Q1QGG-XCL.jpg
 
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ByeByePoly

G.O.A.T.
Found out I had a natural shoe stretcher. Let my grandson wear my dress shoes. Forgot he weighs 275 at 6'3". Now must wear three pr of socks to avoid the shoes slipping off my feet. Must be a shoe stretching job out there.
Btw, there are the Uncle Drew/Lil Jimmy shoes in 6EEE,
DREW-44935_Black%20Clf_41Q1QGG-XCL.jpg

6E ... whoa ... we have TTW Hobbit foot trophy winner.
 

GeoffHYL

Professional
Big 5 Sporting Goods used to carry a NB court shoe in 2E width. Bought a pair earlier this year. These are wide enough even though I usually opt for 4E when I can. Big 5 no longer carries them and mine are just about worn out, even with a few tubes of Shoe Goo to prolong the tread life. I tried the Adidas Barricade Court 3 in 2E, but it wasn't wide enough. I'm going to try some of the NB 2E shoes from TW to see if they fit, will post if I find something wide enough.
 

Ronaldo

Bionic Poster
Big 5 Sporting Goods used to carry a NB court shoe in 2E width. Bought a pair earlier this year. These are wide enough even though I usually opt for 4E when I can. Big 5 no longer carries them and mine are just about worn out, even with a few tubes of Shoe Goo to prolong the tread life. I tried the Adidas Barricade Court 3 in 2E, but it wasn't wide enough. I'm going to try some of the NB 2E shoes from TW to see if they fit, will post if I find something wide enough.
To be blunt....................................Kiwi Shoe Patch absolutely lasts longer than the Goo. Eternal Toe is the best but only find it lately for boots in brown. BITD shoes wore so poorly that these products were necessary.
FOWO6S3G9BWNRAL.LARGE.jpg
 

MC London

New User
When you cannot find a good fitting shoe I appreciate your life becomes a misery. Over the years I have had a few NB 4E shoes including the 806. I currently play with Diadora Speed Blushield 2 AG which I believe are at least as wide. Although not officially classified as extra wide many people say in reality they are effectively a 4E width with a wide toe box.

Every little helps, have you considered skipping the bottom eyelets altogether and lacing directly up for an eyelet before normal criss crossing ? I found this gives just a bit more room in the toe box.

Also I use Falke 4 grip socks - they take a bit of getting used to and can a bit difficult to put on at first, but they are very tight wrapping around your foot. i.e. very minimalist compared to say Thorlo socks and have a great grip. Expensive but I wouldn't use anything else nowadays.
 

mhkeuns

Hall of Fame
My feet are wide and have tried the 4E widths from New Balance. What I find as one of the most comfortable shoes for my wife feet are the Babolat SFX3. It is light, supportive and super comfortable for my duck feet.
 

WestboroChe

Hall of Fame
Just a thought but if you were able to get enough people together you could design a simple 4E shoe and have it made by some from a jobber factory in China and you could all have enough to keep your duck feet happy for the rest of your lives.

There are also custom shoes available. Expensive but if you order several identical pairs it may not be too bad.
 

ByeByePoly

G.O.A.T.
Just a thought but if you were able to get enough people together you could design a simple 4E shoe and have it made by some from a jobber factory in China and you could all have enough to keep your duck feet happy for the rest of your lives.

There are also custom shoes available. Expensive but if you order several identical pairs it may not be too bad.

Duck off. :p
 

GeoffHYL

Professional
My feet are wide and have tried the 4E widths from New Balance. What I find as one of the most comfortable shoes for my wife feet are the Babolat SFX3. It is light, supportive and super comfortable for my duck feet.
Read the reviews and watched the video review, seems like the lateral support isn't great in this shoe. I put a lot of lateral stress on my shoes, so this shoe probably isn't for me.
 

ByeByePoly

G.O.A.T.
Strap-on,
628-E-velcro-black_540.jpg

Is that a SAS? 83 year old mommy :love: just got her first pair of SAS. She was a seasoned 3.5 tennis athlete for decades ... so she would not tolerate any sas. Now she introduces everyone to her first "old lady shoes". She did not go for the sissy Velcro option ... she ladied up and went for laces.
 

widefoot

New User
Curious about custom tennis shoes. Have certainly seen custom dress shoes and semi-custom like NikeID where they haven't had wide tennis shoes in 8 or 9 years and never 4E, but haven't seen custom tennis. Can you point me?
 

om panda

Rookie
Diadora Speed Blueshield 2 is definitely wide enough for my feet. Usually i wear asics 11.5 4e and can fit comfortably in that diadora size 12
 

Ronaldo

Bionic Poster
Is that a SAS? 83 year old mommy :love: just got her first pair of SAS. She was a seasoned 3.5 tennis athlete for decades ... so she would not tolerate any sas. Now she introduces everyone to her first "old lady shoes". She did not go for the sissy Velcro option ... she ladied up and went for laces.
Have a pr of SAS shoes in black. Wear them before my Senior matches.
 

dlcpa

New User
I did not try other brands at the time because TW said none of them were wider than he NB 806. At that time, I did notice Adidas had a new wide shoe. The TW website has this marked as New, so maybe it's a brand new shoe? The pic looked promising, wide square toebox. The "Wide (E)" is confusing ... used to seeing 3E or 4E, or EEEE?
Mail order or in the stores?
 

GeoffHYL

Professional
Ordered a 1/2 size up New Balance 696v3 in 2E, will see if that works since my current NB shoe is a 2E and is wide enough. Will post again once they arrive and I have tried them on.
 

dlcpa

New User
I am under the assumption at this point that the tennis shoe industry made a conscious decision to quit producing the true 4E widths. I played 4E NB for decades, and then 1-2 years ago NB 4Es were too narrow in toe box. I called TW and asked what the widest tennis shoe was that they sell (1+ year ago). It was the new NB 806 I had just bought ... wasted $100+ still sitting in my closet. The only shoe I found that was still true 4E width was the Costco Kirkland "Athletic Shoe", and now have a closet full of them (afraid I would run out of comfortable tennis shoes for tennis).

If anyone discovers the major manufacturers producing true 4E again, please post here.

@TW Staff
Is Costco still selling these 4E Kirkland tennis shoes?
 

GeoffHYL

Professional
Well, the 696v3 in 2E arrived. They are slightly narrower than the current NB 2E shoes that I bought from Big 5 (the Big 5 shoes seem to be about a 3E width even though they are marked 2E). I have worn them around the house for a while and they seem to have stretched slightly and don't feel like they are pinching anywhere, so I think I will keep them. Just won't be able to wear them with my thicker socks.
 

dlcpa

New User
Hit and miss ... they disappeared, and then I saw them back once. I have not been there recently. Check their website, I bought most of my pairs off the website.
I went their yesterday and all they had were black shoes that looked like they were designed for climbing in mud. Online there was nothing.
 

GeoffHYL

Professional
Well, the 696v3 in 2E arrived. They are slightly narrower than the current NB 2E shoes that I bought from Big 5 (the Big 5 shoes seem to be about a 3E width even though they are marked 2E). I have worn them around the house for a while and they seem to have stretched slightly and don't feel like they are pinching anywhere, so I think I will keep them. Just won't be able to wear them with my thicker socks.
Played in the 696v3 today for the first time today. Wore a fairly thin pair of socks. The snugness of the shoe wasn't an issue while playing. Will have to get more time in them to see how my feet really like them, but the initial impression was good.
 
I'm the exact opposite. I need a 8.5AAAA. I Have worn out AA heel cups to the bare plastic and my poor heels get blisters so easily when I try inserts.

Sent from my LM-Q610(FGN) using Tapatalk
 

stevan

New User
So the NB 806, Diadora speed blueshield, and Babolat SFX3 are the widest to be found? I tried the NB 1006 last week in 4E and way too narrow. Do any of you have a direct comparison of these 3 against that shoe?
 

BenC

Professional
So the NB 806, Diadora speed blueshield, and Babolat SFX3 are the widest to be found? I tried the NB 1006 last week in 4E and way too narrow. Do any of you have a direct comparison of these 3 against that shoe?
For what it's worth, I found the 806 9 2E toe box wider and roomier than the 1006 9 2E but also noticeably heavier.
 

GeoffHYL

Professional
Looks like TW now has the 696v3 in 4E in a couple of different colors. Wow, wish I had known they were going to stock these, would have waited and not bought the 2E.
 

stevan

New User
I ordered several pairs from TW. I got the New Balance 696V3 in 11 and 11.5, the 806 in 11, the 1006 in 114E(not from TW), the Diadora Speed Blueshield, and the Adidas Barricade 4E(also not from TW).

My foot is a little over 10.5(not quite 11) and a 4E width. I'm also on the heavy side and have problem with my metatarsals, and I tend to run on the balls of my feet moreso than heel to toe, so cushioning and support is important to my feet, especially in the forefoot. I use a Powerstep Pinnacle Plus insole for added arch support, heel cushion, and a metatarsal pad.

My take on these shoes.

Diadora: The lacing was fixed, which I didn't like, and couldn't even fit my foot in there anyway. Way too narrow. Next...

Adidas Barricade: These were a bit tight, but not overly so. I had to really cram my insoles in there, to the point where they may not have been sitting in the shoe properly. They were made of a weird rubbery/plastic material that I did not like and it didn't look like it would be stretching out at all to accommodate any extra width. It also appeared to not be very breathable. Still, they were well cushioned with plenty of support and stiff soled. A good shoe overall, but I can't get past the material and I suspect they would never have enough give to really fit.

NB 696V3. The reviews said to order these in a 1/2 size larger than normal. I ordered 11 and 11.5. The 11.5 was too long and my heel was slipping in them(forward and vertically). Even with heel grips, this wouldn't work. The 11s were a little tight width-wise when I first put them on, but seemed to fit to my feet pretty well with a few hours of wear in my house. I had to squeeze my insoles into the shoes, but not cram, to get them to fit. My heel still slipped vertically in these, but it's because of the raised heel from my insole. The lift was minor and could definitely be resolved with a heel grip. I did not test the shoe without my insole. Even with my insole, I experienced some metatarsal pain when walking in these shoes. There just isn't enough cushioning or support in the forefoot. Otherwise a very good shoe.

NB 806: These were the roomiest shoes, width wise, of the bunch. They were a little tight when first putting them on, but felt really good on my feet after a few hours. They are nice and stiff and have much better forefoot padding than the 696. This shoe also had some heel lifting when walking, but it was minor and due to the insole and can be resolved with a heel grip. They

NB 1006: These shoes were tight width wise but they loosened up some within a few hours of indoor wear and were comfortable enough. They were very light and seemed like they would breathe nicely. The mesh material allowed my feet to move within the shoe comfortably. They did not offer the same support or cushioning as the 806 throughout the shoe, but especially in the forefoot. The tradeoff being support for weight, I guess. This might be a better choice for a lighter player, or one without any foot problems, but for me it wouldn't work.

The NB 806 shoe was a clear winner for me by a wide margin. It's a little heavier than the next closest shoe, but offered everything that is most important to me personally. I'd rank them 806, 696, 1006, Barricade.
 

Ronaldo

Bionic Poster
The 1006 will continue to stretch, spread ifyouwill the longer you wear them. Ever try shoe stretchers?
 

stevan

New User
The 1006 will continue to stretch, spread ifyouwill the longer you wear them. Ever try shoe stretchers?

I didn't need stretchers. The 1006s loosened up on their own within a few hours of wear just walking around inside my house. The problem was that the shoe lacked the support and shock absorption I need, especially in the forefoot. Width wise they were fine with some wear.
 

Ronaldo

Bionic Poster
I didn't need stretchers. The 1006s loosened up on their own within a few hours of wear just walking around inside my house. The problem was that the shoe lacked the support and shock absorption I need, especially in the forefoot. Width wise they were fine with some wear.
Agree, wore the 1006 two-three yrs ago and loner worn the more they stretched out, became more flexible, and lacked arch support. If the 806 is as good as the prior 800 series shoe it should be supportive.
 

ByeByePoly

G.O.A.T.
I ordered several pairs from TW. I got the New Balance 696V3 in 11 and 11.5, the 806 in 11, the 1006 in 114E(not from TW), the Diadora Speed Blueshield, and the Adidas Barricade 4E(also not from TW).

My foot is a little over 10.5(not quite 11) and a 4E width. I'm also on the heavy side and have problem with my metatarsals, and I tend to run on the balls of my feet moreso than heel to toe, so cushioning and support is important to my feet, especially in the forefoot. I use a Powerstep Pinnacle Plus insole for added arch support, heel cushion, and a metatarsal pad.

My take on these shoes.

Diadora: The lacing was fixed, which I didn't like, and couldn't even fit my foot in there anyway. Way too narrow. Next...

Adidas Barricade: These were a bit tight, but not overly so. I had to really cram my insoles in there, to the point where they may not have been sitting in the shoe properly. They were made of a weird rubbery/plastic material that I did not like and it didn't look like it would be stretching out at all to accommodate any extra width. It also appeared to not be very breathable. Still, they were well cushioned with plenty of support and stiff soled. A good shoe overall, but I can't get past the material and I suspect they would never have enough give to really fit.

NB 696V3. The reviews said to order these in a 1/2 size larger than normal. I ordered 11 and 11.5. The 11.5 was too long and my heel was slipping in them(forward and vertically). Even with heel grips, this wouldn't work. The 11s were a little tight width-wise when I first put them on, but seemed to fit to my feet pretty well with a few hours of wear in my house. I had to squeeze my insoles into the shoes, but not cram, to get them to fit. My heel still slipped vertically in these, but it's because of the raised heel from my insole. The lift was minor and could definitely be resolved with a heel grip. I did not test the shoe without my insole. Even with my insole, I experienced some metatarsal pain when walking in these shoes. There just isn't enough cushioning or support in the forefoot. Otherwise a very good shoe.

NB 806: These were the roomiest shoes, width wise, of the bunch. They were a little tight when first putting them on, but felt really good on my feet after a few hours. They are nice and stiff and have much better forefoot padding than the 696. This shoe also had some heel lifting when walking, but it was minor and due to the insole and can be resolved with a heel grip. They

NB 1006: These shoes were tight width wise but they loosened up some within a few hours of indoor wear and were comfortable enough. They were very light and seemed like they would breathe nicely. The mesh material allowed my feet to move within the shoe comfortably. They did not offer the same support or cushioning as the 806 throughout the shoe, but especially in the forefoot. The tradeoff being support for weight, I guess. This might be a better choice for a lighter player, or one without any foot problems, but for me it wouldn't work.

The NB 806 shoe was a clear winner for me by a wide margin. It's a little heavier than the next closest shoe, but offered everything that is most important to me personally. I'd rank them 806, 696, 1006, Barricade.

Really nice review ... thanks.
 

stevan

New User
Really nice review ... thanks.

I know the shoe I liked is the one you started off this thread saying wasn't a good match for you. I guess you really are hobbit++, as these were definitely the widest. I have been wearing Brooks Beast running shoes to play recently, and they are plenty roomy. They're pretty stiff in the soles, and with my insoles, they offer a decent amount of support underfoot, but nothing laterally. They are a true 4E. They're my everyday shoes and have been a blessing for my toes. I'm now getting worried that I should buy a bunch of pairs for when Brooks follows suit and narrows their 4E.
 

GeoffHYL

Professional
Played for 3 hours yesterday with my NB 696v3 in 11 2E width. Again, I normally wear NB in 10.5 4E. With thin socks I am fine with the 696v3 in 2E, a half size larger. I need that extra length in this shoe, a 10.5 would be too short. Wish I had waited for the 4E width, could wear thicker socks with the 4E.
 

stevan

New User
Played for 3 hours yesterday with my NB 696v3 in 11 2E width. Again, I normally wear NB in 10.5 4E. With thin socks I am fine with the 696v3 in 2E, a half size larger. I need that extra length in this shoe, a 10.5 would be too short. Wish I had waited for the 4E width, could wear thicker socks with the 4E.

I really liked that shoe. They were very light and stable. If I somehow manage to shrink or stop running on the balls of my feet, I'd buy them in a heartbeat.
 
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