HOKA ONE ONE SPEEDGOAT
Earlier this year, Hoka One One, the French/US company released
the Speedgoat. This shoe was co-designed by Karl Meltzer, one of the great US
runners over the past decade. Meltzer has won dozens of 100 mile races in the
US. His favorite shoe was the Hoka One One Rapa Nui. I too, am a fan of the Rapa
Nui and have been looking forward to trying this shoe on my local trails of Mt.
Diablo in Northern California.
Like the Rapa Nui, the Speedgoat does not have the huge midsole
of the Stinson, Bondi and other Hoka One One shoes. Runners with poor form and
who don’t have normal to high arches should not buy this shoe because it is not
a stability shoe, although it is stiffer than the Rapa Nui. Some runners who
supinate have stated in their reviews that the midsole was too soft on the
outside of the foot resulting in a noticeable lean to the outside. For myself
this wasn’t an issue. I would suspect that lighter runners would be less likely
to experience this than heavier runners.
There are two big differences between this shoe and the Rapa
Nui. First, the toe box of the Speedgoat is noticeably narrower than the Rapa
Nui. For myself, I liked not having my does slide around, especially when I was
running through rock gardens. I normally wear a thick Drymax sock, but, for
those runners who find the toebox narrow, I would recommend switching to the
Drymax thin socks.
Second, the vibram sole has nobs that are huge. I loved the
sole, going uphill with these was like having 4 wheel drive. The shoes gripped
the loose sand stone on the trail which made for a much more efficient stride
which of course equals more speed with less effort. But, it was on the
downhills where I noticed a big difference between the Speedgoats and the Rapa
Nui’s and Solomon shoes I used to wear. The sole gripped the rocks and loose
sand stone soil and I was much more confident and was able to relax and run
downhill much faster.
I give this shoe a grade of 4 and a half stars. I took off a
half a star because the colors are a bit clownish. That said, I would recommend
this shoe to most runners.
