When New Balance decided they were going to kill the series this shoe belongs to, and when they retired the A1 last, I wasn't happy. I've owned a lot of cross-trainers in my time, from many vendors, from before there were cross trainers.  I go back more than forty years in shoes like these, and just a good basic shoe I can walk four or five miles in twice a day, drop by the gym and lift in (I've done the equivalent of 400 lb hack squats in these shoes), and wear for casual wear (nothing says "old" like white New Balance walking shoes -- and nothing says "too casual for casual wear" either ...) has been increasingly hard to find.

Even with the new last, and the changes, the 608 series is a good successor.  The brown shoe works for casual wear where a tennis shoe is too casual.  It is comfortable and I'm on my second set (with a set of white ones two, my second MX608Vs in white as well).

I'm finally over the A1.