Shoe Reviews

Our first ever HOKA Mach review, will not be out last. One of HOKA’S nicest rides to date. The Mach 4 is a shoe designed as a sort of cross between a daily trainer, and lightweight speed shoe. It is lightweight, durable, and fast.  In the HOKA range, it fits somewhere between the Rincon and the Clifton. We whacked 84K into our pair, below is the rundown.

Nike are the kings at marketing, among other things. And few shoes exemplify this more than the Infinity React. Nike’s marketing machine had people spinning with talk about injury risk reduction. They cited an external study by the British Columbia Sports Medicine Research Foundation (BCSMRF) on 226 runners using the Nike React Infinity Run as well as the Nike Structure 22. It indicated that runners using the former had a 52% lower injury rate. It’s an area in which more research is required. So, is this all complete BS, or are the shoes legit? Runner’s Tribe took them through 310kms and below is our unpaid for review.

If there is one shoe that HOKA is known for, it would have to be the Clifton. HOKA'S go-to every day neutral trainer, it is worn by thousands across the globe. Hell, even the Australian 1500m champion trains in them...

The most famous daily trainer of them all, the Nike Pegasus, is back with their 36th edition. For those who loved the Peg 35 then you can rejoice, as the 36 has only some very minor tweaks.

For those who are still to learn about Hoka, the Rincon is a sleeker version of the Hoka Clifton (the brand's best selling high mileage neutral trainer). The main differences is the Rincon is slightly cut back making it lighter and faster. The Rincon is more versatile than the Clifton, it can used for long training runs, but is also suitable for speedy thresholds or even a faster session/interval type of a workout. It can be classed as a lightweight neutral everyday trainer.

When a pair of HOKA ONE ONE Carbon X 2’s rocked up at RT HQ, we were pretty stoked. Once dubious of the brand, we are now loyal fans. Great running shoes without the in-your-face marketing BS that we see from so many other brands. And free shoes, hell yeah. The Carbon X 2 is HOKA’s go-to road racing shoe. With a full-length carbon plate and light, bouncy foam, it is HOKA’S answer to Nike Next% or Saucony’s Endorphin. Furthermore, HOKA have made some key upgrades from their original Carbon X.

Brooks Adrenaline is up to its 21st iteration, a successful shoe, no doubt.  Brooks really lead the way in durability; the Adrenaline GTS 21 is another tough, absolute workhorse of a shoe. The Adrenaline GTS 21 is a support shoe, designed for runner’s who want some traditional stability control.  It’s reliable daily trainer designed to provide maximum stability to correct overpronation for runners of all levels and abilities.

Runner’s Tribe – Running Shoe Reviews As with most Nike shoes, the Pegasus 35 Turbo comes with a lot of hype. Loaded with a new...

HOKA ONE ONE, the brand known for its max cushioned shoes and metarocker midsole geometry, were second to the table. In 2019 they dropped their Carbon X road racing shoe, all reports indicate they sold like hot cakes. Now zoom to the end of 2020, and HOKA have just launched the Rocket X (dropping soon in Australia). It is to be viewed like the Carbon X, but slightly faster, subtly better.  Its stack height is slightly lower, and the shoe is lighter.   Running in the Rocket X feels more like a traditional shoe than a HOKA. The wide base of a Clifton (and most models) is gone, trimmed down to increase performance. The midsole foam used by HOKA is still their proprietary EVA, they haven’t switched to PEBAX foam used in a few other road racing shoes. The midsole foam found in the Rocket X is the lightest foam that HOKA has ever produced.  The EVA foam works for HOKA, and if it ain’t broke…. Runner’s Tribe took the Rockets through three sessions (15km in total).

ASICS is today announcing not one but two high-performance running shoes that take the power of human-centric design to the next level. In an industry first, METASPEED™ Sky and METASPEED™ Edge have each been scientifically designed with a distinct type of running style in mind. The new racing shoes help elite athletes to reach the top of their game, because they don’t have to adjust their running style to fit the shoe anymore; instead, ASICS is giving them high-performance shoes that support their running style.