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The best way to describe this shoe is the skyward X with a trail sole. Both the skyward and this shoe have a super high stack, and is super plush. What does that mean? It means you're running with pillows on your feet and a carbon plate. Ultra squish and responsive. Is this a trail shoe? Yes but this is the trail shoe for the casual trail runner, and not the hardcore trail runner.
Let's compare Hokas to Hokas. We are on generation 6 of the speed goat, and version 3 of the Tecton X. Speed goat is still my favorite overall, with the Speed goat 5 probably is my number one all the time. Reason for that, it has great grip for wet grass, slimy rocks and slick mud.
The Tecton X, and unpopular opinion I like the first version best, is a lower drop and gives you a better ground feel. Now with the Mafate X, I could step on small roots and gravel and not feel a thing. If you're the casual runner this is good, if you want to feel the ground this is bad.
When we finished our run, The Hoka sales rep asked if we were team pizza or team taco. Why? Because it's fun. This is a very fun shoe The soul is pizza and tacos, and did work well in soft sand, rocks, and a little bit of mud that was on the course.
Bottom line: if your trail running in parks, this is a great shoe. If your trail running off trail wherever you want, look at other shoes in the hoka line.
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