Mafate 5

I am a big fan of the Mafate speed 4. And so i bought the 5. I was soooo disappointed! This is a totally different shoe. Soooo heavy and unsportive. I really hate this shoe. My toes also hurted: they are not even the same size. I just don't get it! Why not keeping it on the same track as the 4? The 5 has nothing to do with the 4. I really don't get it. I just sent them back. Really hate this shoe

Mafate 5 just came out and has an updated midsole to provide even more cushion and adapt to rocks and other technical terrain. If you like the Mafate series already, I’d check it out.

The new HOKA Mafate 5 is a dream. I highly recommend

The new Mafate 5 is a dream. Love running in that shoe

4s are my daily trainer and I love them. This looks like a major misstep for my preferences.

Not saying it's objectively "bad", but I 100% already know I don't want that stack underfoot.

HOKA said that because of the squish in the foam that their old drops were actually lower than they were supposed to be. As in, without a foot in the shoe the drop measured at 6mm but as soon as you stand in it the drop lowers to too low. Now they have a higher listed drop but the actual drop when you’re wearing it is effectively what it used to be listed as. Saw this in an interview at a running show, pretty sure it was with Conversational Pace. EDIT: wasn't an on-camera interview, but here's the video https://youtu.be/C38TYU2y7ak?t=242 link should take you to 4:02 where he talks about Mafate, Challenger, Clifton, and Bondi all getting a higher "unweighted" drop because of foam compression.

Hoka mafate speed 5s (good for my size 12 flat and wide feet) and a Salomon adv skin 12 liter, sunglasses are some type of Oakley, then I have a rotating set of brooks, boa and REI shorts. The one new thing I’m trying this year is tights which for me as a bigger dude have been a game changer, the extra pocket is great for organizing trash, and the lack of chafing is nice. For a hat I just use an old ball cap of whatever kind is my designated salt out hat since I’m a salty sweat kind of guy. Like to slip into my oofoos recovery slides while I sit in the back of my car at the trailhead rehydrating and shooting the shit. I also usually run at higher elevation and rock a sun hoody also REI brand but it gets the job done and has for years now. Sometimes I also carry a weed pen and lately I’ve really liked a stiiizy because it’s nice flat design fits into pockets well.

I’ve got a few runs in them. They aren’t noticeably heavier than the 4 in my opinion. The cushion and protection is great. Grip is comparable to the 4. I like them and give them probably an 8/10

You need to be more specific, Hoka shoes either perform shit or they are amazing Shit: Clifton 9 Amazing: Cielo X1 3.0 / Rocket X Trail But all of them are less durable than they should: sole delaminating, hoka lettering pealing off, foam just dying after 400km

I've checked and the place I bought them from are a recommended seller from the Hoka website themselves. I have friends who disliked the Clifton 9 (back in 2024). I have friends who liked it as a somewhat responsive daily trainer, not as a soft shoe. I disliked it compared to my Pegasus 38 (back in 2024). Durometer measurement is a durometer measurement. Except for marketing and a general mindset about Hoka's being soft with the general population (mostly non-runners) there is nothing actually backing up the fact that they are soft. I grant that back in 2024 shoes were firmer overal but you're even comparing it to a Vomero 18 and saying it was equal or better which is just 🤷 Edit: I also can't go re-try new Clifton 9's today obviously, but I have 4 pairs of Hoka in my current rotation that are way softer than the Clifton 9 was (both in independent testing and my perception). My current shoe rotation is 13 shoes (which is a whole other discussion), I have a big frame of reference, I know what I'm talking about, a shoe measured as firm (40.5 AC) doesn't magically feel soft... Edit 2: you only run 750km/yearly? Why do I even bother...

You used a couple of toxic words in there that I did not. Inexperienced /= unworthy my argument is that softness is not an opinion 40.5 AC shore hardness = very firm in 2026 = average in 2024 I had an opinion -> your friend disagreed and stated that I must have had a fake pair and thus based my opinion on an incorrect observation -> I further informed that when leaving out opinions a durometer measurement states that the shoe uses a firm midsole foam (sure lets call it average in its time) -> your friend keeps insisting it is a soft shoe even compared to a quite soft shoe in 2026 -> 🤷 I throw my hands up in desperation because you cant counter a measurement with an opinion and further conclude that someone wearing down 1 pair of running shoes a year might not be the most experienced shoe reviewer. It was a widely popular mainstream shoe, it was marketed and known as a soft shoe, it was on the other hand actually rather firm (see independent data), I was disappointed and annoyed when I bought it and shared this experience in a thread about Hoka build quality. I am amazed by the blind loyalty to one specific model shoe from years ago 🤣

Yeah I'm not impressed by the speedgoats, mafate 5 has some good qualities but for some reason the tongue is just 1cm/half an inch too short so its either bad lockdown or lacebite making it uncomfortable 🤷 I liked the Nike Zegama 2 in the all round trail shoe category, Kipsummit Max looks pretty sweet as well.

The Speedcross 6 is indeed a very firm technical shoe, not a pleasant experience for many. Speedgoat 6 and 7 are allround decent shoes, as are the Mafate 4 and 5. I would personally prefer to get any of them on a discount. Over these for a beginner wanting a do-it-all trail shoe I would recommend the Nike Zegama 2, there's a new model coming out soon so you should be able to pick them up fairly cheap around or below 100€/$.

Both Speedgoat and H1 might feel a bit faster on technical terrain, and if you run shorter distances (anything sub ultra) they might suite you better. However for long outings I much prefer the Zegama 2 to the speedgoat and the H1 (even returned my H1's after just trying them on). If I want fast I look towards Hoka Tecton, Kipsummit Race, Prodigio Pro, Cascadia Elite