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{{DISPLAYTITLE:Hoka Mafate Speed Review}}The Mafate Speed is only available as a trail version and it's the heaviest, thickest and least flexible of the Hokas, and probably any running shoe made. Even when you're used to running in other Hoka shoes, the Mafate seems like it's a huge beast. I don't think the extra thickness and weight is worth it, and I prefer the [[Hoka Clifton]] which has the best weight to cushioning ratio or the [[Altra OlympusHoka Bondi]]that is nearly as well cushioned. The Mafate does have a more has an aggressive outsole than the trail [[Hoka Stinson]] , which works okay on road surfaces, but it's not enough for me to recommend the Mafate over the Stinsonlugs may wear quickly. However, if you want the most cushioned shoe, with an aggressive outsole for the trailsoft surfaces, the Mafate is well worth considering. {{H:WhatToLookForInShoes}}{| class="wikitable"|- valign="top"|[[File:Hoka-Mafate-2-Low-top.jpg|none|thumb|150px|Hoka Mafate 2 Low top]] |[[File:Hoka-Mafate-2-Low-bottom.jpg|none|thumb|150px|Hoka Mafate 2 Low bottom]]|[[File:Hoka-Mafate-2-Low-inside.jpg|none|thumb|150px|Hoka Mafate 2 Low inside]] |[[File:Hoka-Mafate-2-Low-outside.jpg|none|thumb|150px|Hoka Mafate 2 Low outside]]|}
=Characteristics=
* '''Why you'd buy it'''. You're after the most cushioning availableand want an aggressive outsole.* '''Cushioning'''. The Mafate has the highest level of cushioning of any shoe I've tried, with the soft ride that Hoka of famous for. It sometimes seems that However, the gap in cushioning between the Mafate softens up during and the first mile or two of a run, possibly due other Hokas seems to have narrowed with the foam warming up, or it might be my imaginationlatest versions.* '''Drop'''. Like other Hoka shoes, claim the Mafate is not a zero 4mm drop shoe, and but I measured it as only 1mm. I also measured the rear is about 6 mm midsole as thicker than the front. ThatHoka claim, so maybe they don's only about half t include the drop of a standard running shoelugs in their measurements. The Mafate has a less abrupt taper at the very front of the shoe than the Bondi, but not as gentle as the Altra Olympus. The very rear of the shoe is cut away slightly to create a rocker shape that's almost identical to the Bondi. The midsole wraps around the lower part of the foot for additional stability, offsetting some of the problems of a thick sole creating a stilt like instability, which is especially a problem with a sole as thick as this.* '''Structure'''. This shoe is made of a single type of foam.(There is mention of using [[RMAT]] foam in the midsole, but I've seen no indication of that.)
* '''Flexibility'''. The Mafate has no real flexibility, but it's so thick it does deform a little. It's the least flexible shoe I've come across, and similar to a hiking boot.
* '''Outsole'''. The Mafate has aggressive lugs for grip on soft surfaces, and some of these are made of hard, durable rubber at all contact points. However, most of the outsole is made of the softer [[RMAT]] foam, and I'm not sure how well this will wear. In the pictures above, the hard rubber is black and includes some substantial lugs for gripthe RMAT is red. You can see that Hoka were concerned about the RMAT wearing as they added the harder rubber in the highest abrasion areas. The Mafate outsole is reasonably happy on roads, though I've found the outsole sometimes lacks grip on wet asphalt* '''Shape'''. The Mafate has the typical Hoka shape, which includes a horribly constricted toe box. In fact, the Mafate seems a little worse than most Hokas. The Hoka toe box tends to cause a distinctive pattern of blisters, so it's critical to [[Shoe DissectionModifications| cut open the toe box of any Hokas]].* '''Upper'''. The upper is thicker than most shoes, with several layers and quite a bit of stitching. It, but it's less flexible than most uppers, probably to help keep the stilt like midsole stablereasonably breathable and has few seams. * '''Tongue'''. The Mafate has a classic tongue rather than a tongue-less sock style of upper. The tongue is thickly padded along its entire length, which is rather nicequite thin and unpadded.* '''Lacing'''. The Mafate uses round their speed lacing system, but you can replace it with normal laces. These speed laces are thin plastic that uses a plastic locking mechanism rather than being tied. This can make it quicker to lace up the shoes, but I've not had any problem with them coming undonegenerally find it harder to get the tension right. * '''Heel counter'''. The Mafate has a firm moderate heel counter, similar to other Hokasthat's softer than I expected for such a large shoe. It's an external 'exoskeleton' approach that doesn't cause problems.
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=Compared with Original Mafate=
Hoka has made a number of changes between the original Mafate and the Mafate Speed. The update is rather mixed, with some improvements and some declines. Overall, I think I prefer the original version, but it's close.
* A large portion of the outsole is now made from the softer RMAT foam.
* The upper is thinner and has far fewer seams.
* The laces are now the Hoka "speed laces", which is probably why they added the "speed" suffix.
* The toe box seems slightly worse, as it's even narrower.
=Compared with Altra Olympus=
The [[Altra Olympus]] is much thinner, lighter, and more flexible than the Mafate. The Altra toe box is shaped for the human foot, and it's zero drop, which makes it better shoe. However the Olympus has nothing like the cushioning of the Mafate.
=Compared with the Hoka Clifton/Bondi and Stinson=I think it's reasonable to put these four While the Mafate has more cushioning, the [[Hoka shoes on a spectrum; Mafate to Stinson Clifton]] is much lighter, and the weight difference translates to reduced effort for running. The Clifton. As will work quite well on rocky trails, so unless you go along need the list aggressive outsole for grip on soft terrain, I'd recommend the Clifton as a much better shoe.=Compared with the weight Hoka Bondi/Stinson =The [[Hoka Bondi]] and [[Hoka Stinson|Hoka Stinson Lite]] have nearly as much cushioning go downas the Mafate, and flexibility goes up. Other characteristics, such as shape and drop but are quite similara little lighter. As noted in If you want more cushioning than the review of Clifton, I'd suggest either the [[Hoka CliftonBondi]] and [[Hoka Stinson|Hoka Stinson Lite]], it can be thought of as a better Bondi, with similar cushioning at a lighter weight.
=Gallery=
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