Review: Hoka One One Clifton & Hoka Huaka

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Hoka One One Clifton

When I first heard of the Hoka One One Clifton, I got really excited. A sub-8oz max cushioned shoe? IMPOSSIBLE! Well, when I got my hands (and feet) on this shoe, I was blown away that Hoka had indeed created a game changing shoe. Compared to any other Hoka in the line, the Clifton is now my favorite.

After running some 30 miles in this shoe on training runs, I opted to slip my foot into this shoe for the ultimate road test, The San Francisco Marathon. I am happy to report that the shoe performed flawlessly. It’s light, it’s comfortable, the upper is thin and airy, the cushion is perfect. Really the only negatives are with the typical Hoka narrowness and the potential wear & tear issues after hundreds of miles.

As they are now, the Hoka Clifton are my go-to road runners. Yes, even more-so than the Kinvara 5. Get excited about this shoe, people! It’s changing Hoka’s game! (and I’m even MORE excited about the Hoka Challenger ATR trail version of the Clifton due out next year!)

LIKED:

DISLIKED:

QUALITY: 4/5
COMFORT: 5/5
PRICE: 4/5 ($130)
LOOKS: 4/5

TOTAL: 17/20

These shoes were provided by Hoka One One for review. All opinions are my own.

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Hoka One One Huaka

So the Hoka One One Huaka is an interesting and very likeable shoe from Hoka. In fact, it marks an awesome new trend from the manufacturer – lighter, cushioned yet responsive shoes – but also signs of branding overlap. I received this shoe around the same time as the Clifton for review and quickly fell in love with both, for very different reasons, but couldn’t help but notice the similarities in these and future versions of Hokas.

The Huaka is a lightweight, cushioned and responsive road shoe – at least that’s how it’s marketed – but I think that’s the wrong pigeonhole. I found myself running nearly all trails in this shoe. The outsole, while exposed EVA in most regions, has wonderful patches of decent chevron lugs right where you need ’em for trail running. I have to say that this shoe is an incredible trail option from Hoka and should be marketed that way.

I not only ran SoCal singletrack and technical mountain trails in this shoe (pacing Billy Yang for a 15 mile section of the AC100 course in my pair), but I also finished 50 miles of the Squamish 50/50 in this shoe – some of the gnarliest technical trails in the northwest – without any real issues.

The comfortable upper, soft EVA, lightness all contribute to a wonderful shoe. Really the major concerns are with the durability of the upper, the overlays, the laces and some lateral arch pressure. Other than that, these shoes get high marks from me and will continue to by my new favorite Hoka trail shoe (until the Challenger ATR come out!).

LIKED:

DISLIKED:

QUALITY: 4/5
COMFORT: 5/5
PRICE: 3/5 ($130)
LOOKS: 4/5

TOTAL: 16/20

These shoes were provided by Hoka One One for review. All opinions are my own.