Hoka ONE ONE Speedgoat 4
Type: Trail
Drop: 4mm
Weight: 10.9 oz (M), 9.2 oz (W)
In recent years I steered away from the maximal crazy that seem to be hitting all the major brands after Hoka came onto the scene. Not for any real reason, they just seemed like so much shoe and I wasn’t sure how I would feel on the trail with something that has an impressive stack height from toe to heel.
Those feelings were displaced pretty quickly with my first test run in them a few months ago as they felt soft and secure on all the wet, tricky and rooty trails I could throw at them in the wilderness out in Sooke, BC.
Over the coming months, I have put in several different efforts in these shoes from steep ascents to fast-ish forested fire roads and have been very impressed with the overall durability of the construction and surprised at the integrity of the sole despite the amount of rocky and rooted efforts I have put into these shoes thus far. I can say that even with some of the faster efforts I enjoyed the soft cushioning and felt that the shoe responded quite well to both flat and fast trail efforts and the more technical descents.
Of all of the updates from previous models, I have to say I really liked the traction these shoes gave me on both wet and dry surfaces. Anyone that runs on the “wet” coast knows that finding a shoe that can handle the trails in a sloppy mess really helps keep you vertical. The shoe also drained quite well after plunging through streams that are inevitable during the spring.
My only real complaint about the shoe is the weight. At 10.9 oz for men this shoe is significantly heavier than any shoe I have owned in a number of years and it took some time to adjust to that. I assume that the extra weight might have been part of the reason for the shoes excellent durability.
Overall I was very impressed with the shoe as a day to day trail trainer. The bottom line it provides great protection and handles technical trails with ease so you can log those ultra-long runs in plushy comfort.
The Speedgoat 4 shoes are available at Hoka One One for $190CAD or $145.00USD
