HOKA Mach X 2 Road-Running Shoes - Men's review
Last week, after spending ages picking out the right running shoes, I finally got to hit the streets with my HOKA Mach X 2 Men's Road - Running Shoes. I've clocked over 20 kilometers in three runs so far, and I'm stoked to share my first thoughts on these shoes. They've got some really cool features, but they also have a few things that aren't so great.
The midsole of these shoes is hands - down the best part. They use a ton of peba material, and it makes the shoes super springy and gives you this awesome rolling feeling when you run. And get this, they're way more stable than I thought they'd be. You can run at a bunch of different paces in these things. I'd give the midsole a solid 9.5 out of 10.
Now, the upper part of the shoe, that's a bit of a mixed bag. The shoe is kind of narrow, and the mesh on it doesn't stretch at all. The back of the shoe is really simple, too. All of this makes your foot feel really locked in and the shoes are light, but they're not as comfy as some other shoes out there.
This design of the upper part causes a problem. It's not very friendly to different foot shapes. When I was buying these shoes, I started with my normal size 10.5, then tried 10.5 wide, and finally ended up with size 10 wide. You can barely tell the difference between these sizes just by looking at 'em, but when you put 'em on, it's a whole different story.
There's another problem that a lot of people talked about in their reviews, and I ran into it too. The back of the shoe rubs against your heel. But after running a couple of times, I found that if you wear running socks and tie the laces tight, it doesn't bother you as much.
