About

New Balance 2002R: the number that is not a year

At New Balance you quickly read a model number as a date, especially next to a neighbor called 1906. But the 2002 did not come from 2002: it appeared in 2010, as a flagship in the running line. The number is more a series name from the days when the brand gave its best runners four-digit codes, and even then the model leaned on the sole family of the 1906.

That kinship only got more literal at the reissue. Since 2020 the shoe is called 2002R, and just like on the 1906R the R stands for remastered: the familiar upper, with the complete sole unit of the 860v2 underneath. So under a 2002R and a 1906R sits the exact same sole. The difference between the two runs from the laces to the heel, but never under your foot.

The upper is the classic side of that story. Suede panels over open mesh, perforations in the toe, and on the flank the number 2002 with a cursive R set apart. N-ERGY is pressed full into the sidewall, in the heel the ABZORB cushioning chambers glimmer through like windows, and on top of the heel counter sits a small reflective triangle, the kind of detail you only notice with the shoe in front of you. Where the 1906 chooses metallic and science fiction, the 2002R chooses the soft materials of a classic runner.

The reissue became famous through damage. The Protection Pack from 2021 brought versions that look factory-fresh as if they already have a life behind them: deliberately unfinished, fraying edges and layers that look snipped loose. It grew into one of the most talked-about New Balance releases of recent years and drew a parade of collaborations, from Salehe Bembury to GANNI and Joe Freshgoods. In the titles you spot the Protection Pack by codes starting with M2002RD, the code gives away more here than the product photo. For wet weather there is also a version with a Gore-Tex lining.

In the archive the 2002R stands between two worlds. The 990 line is the tidy American standard, the 9060 the blown-up rebuild, the 1906 the shining futurist, and the 2002R is the quietest of that company, which may make it the easiest to wear every day. If you are torn, simply pick an upper: you get the 1906R’s sole either way.

On this page you can see which versions of the New Balance 2002R are running hottest right now according to the Hypescore, from what price they’re available, and how many shops have them in stock.