RENEE: The Mafate 5 is a beefcake. She’s gained a bit of weight (okay, more than a bit) and it seems like all muscle. I mean, I really want to believe it’s all muscle. Maybe she finally gave in to all of the social media influencers targeting middle-aged women about taking 5g+ of creatine and 100g+ of protein daily while lifting heavy? Her quads are massive and her glutes are thick, but she hasn’t been running as much. I might just be talking about myself here. Seriously though, the shoe feels bottom heavy to hold, but it runs so much smoother than I assumed.
I’m not sure where the weight could be cut, but I would like to see some effort in the next version unless Hoka plans to release a “speed” or “lite” version. To be fair, Hoka did remove the word “speed” from the shoe’s name. Rightly so. At least it’s lighter than the Mafate X. I don’t care for the rocker in the Speedgoat and the latest Torrent (v4) introduced a midfoot rocker that didn’t work great for me. If the Torrent reverts to a more traditional geometry, it’s by far the shoe I’d choose. At $185, the serious trail speedsters might opt for a pricey, yet faster shoe (and lighter). For us midpack, recreational runners, $185 is a lot of money. Finding a premium trail shoe for less than that amount is getting tougher each year.
And since Taylor mentioned the Merrell MTL Adapt, I’ll chime in that Mafate 5 is far more runnable for me in comparison. Yes, it’s heavy, but when looking at comparisons, the Mafate 5 runs the best gram for gram. That said, if you’re looking for a nimble shoe on technical terrain, the Mafate 5 won’t be quick or easy in terms of foot placement. At my slow paces, this means I’ll need to be even slower in areas where I’d like to be more nimble.
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