Hoka - Speedgoat 5

good eye! Yes. they did well during the race. when I switched to the Speedgoats at mile 50 is when my feat started to hurt. maybe that was the speed goats, maybe it would have happened anyway. I don't know. but my feeet were feeling pretty good for the first 50 in the Mafate X.

Hoka Speedgoat 5, love them!!

I’ve run my last two pairs of Challengers into the ground. Probably a bit too much with my last pair at almost 1,400k! I have had bad “luck” with my previous Speedgoats where the inside of the back of one felt really odd and rubbed against my Achilles loads. No issues with a newer pair. My latest Challengers feel a bit less tight on my feet but maybe I need to change my lacing.  That happening twice to you doesn’t just feel like bad luck though. 

I’m on my third pair of Hoka Challengers as they’re great for the majority of what I do, with a pair of Speedgoats for harder terrain. They last pretty well too with my most recent ones going for 1,200k before I retired them and I still use them for walking.  (I’m not a Hoka fanboy but whenever I’ve been into a shop to try new shoes, I’ve still always preferred these ones). 

I have a love/hate relationship with Hoka. I've had two amazing pairs of Challengers and a pair of Speedgoats but I've also had a pair of each I've had to ditch because of severe rubbing on my Achilles. Same size and fit as what I've had before so can't find any reason for it. But I've yet to find shoes I like better than those models.

I use goretex running shoes as my daily walking / running shoes on rainy and snowy days. It used to be Adidas Supernova, which had amazing grip and survived for a long time until the midsole snapped in half. Then Hierro v6 which were super comfy, but started showing wear and tear of the upper after only 6 months. I moved to hoka speedgoats, which are not known for their durability, but I found 2 pairs in price of 1, so I thought a set would last me long enough. Indeed the vibram lugs after 18 months of using mostly on hard surfaces were destroyed on one side. And that may happen in general to trail shoes with big lugs instead of more asphalt oriented outsole. Despite some opinions, their traction on wet or icy asphalt is very good. The only specific situation when they turn into slipgoats is when I come from very low temperature and step on wet concrete like puddles of melted snow in a garage. There is yet another option. Couple of years ago my wife bought herself Reebok Work n Cushion. They were quite comfy, ridicuosly cheap and simple oldschool shoes. There are other brands making shoes for work. Something like Hoka transport, which can have interesting upper with its cordura lining plus the rich midsole.

The 5’s were my favourite trail runner hands down. Just the right balance between cushioning and stability. The 6 was a disappointment being too stiff. Such a shame.

I loved as well the 5th iteration of the speedgoat, and I have been enjoying the mafate speed 4 more than the speedgoat 6.

The last of my SG 5’s are toast, went the same route and ordered Prodigio. Scheduled to arrive tomorrow.

I saw lots of Speedgoats when I did it. If the Matafe are pretty much the same, go with them. Or just buy another pair of Speedgoats.

Never waterproof, they don’t breathe as well and if they get wet inside they take significantly longer to dry. There’s a very narrow set of conditions where they’re useful. Trail runners > boots, the majority of boots just don’t provide any meaningful ankle support. If you want to see boots that actually have decent support you can look at mountaineering boots, but you wouldn’t want to hike in those. The “meta” has definitely shifted to trail runners. I’m partial to Hoka Speedgoats but visiting an REI or a specialized running store will help you get fitted.