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* {{H:flexibility}}. The Clayton 2 is reasonably flexible for shoe of this thickness, and the practical flexibility is a little greater than my metrics might suggest. The softness of the midsole allows the ball of your foot to sink in and creates some effective flexibility for your foot.
* {{H:outsole}}. The Clayton uses [[RMAT]] as the outsole material. This is not as hard wearing as a true blown rubber outsole, but because it's a lot more cushioned than rubber, the overall cushioning-to-weight ratio is much better than you might expect in a shoe that has an outsole covering virtually the entire contact patch. The [[RMAT]] material also has remarkably good traction, far better than the traction you'd get in a traditional rubber outsole. For wet asphalt, it's arguably comparable to the hard plastic nubs found in ultralight shoes like the [[New Balance RC5000v2]], though on slicker surface the Clayton's RMAT will win every time.
* {{H:shape}}. The Clayton 2 has the typical Hoka shape, which includes a horribly constricted toe box. A superficial inspection might make you think the Clayton is a little wider, but I think this is an optical illusion created by the wider midsole. I've noticed at Ultras the Hoka toe box causes a distinctive pattern of blisters, so it's critical to [[Shoe Dissection| cut open the toe box of any Hokas]]. {{H:TryCuttingShoes}}. Even with my skin condition, I've had no problems with blisters once the toe box is cut open. However, I've had a number of reports of runners getting blisters on the arch of their foot. The Clayton 2 is very similar to most other Hoka shoes around the arch, but I did notice one significant difference. Virtually all Hokas, including the Clayton 2, have a midsole that rises up to cup the heel and some of the midfoot. When the midsole rises up near the arch, all other Hoka shoes I checked (and I checked quite a few) have an insole that rises up to cover the midsole. On the Clayton 2 however, the insole does not cover the midsole, and I suspect this is the cause of the blisters. <gallery widths=300px heights=300px class="center">File:Hoka Clayton 2 Arch Issues (2).jpg| Like most Hokas, the Clayton 2 has a midsole that rise up around the arch of the foot. File:Hoka Clayton 2 Arch Issues (3).jpg| Here you can see the inside of the shoe, with the upper folded back to show where the midsole comes to. You can see that the midsole rises well above where the insole ends. File:Hoka Clayton 2 Arch Issues (1).jpg|By comparison, in other Hoka shoes the insole comes much higher and covers the midsole. </gallery>
* {{H:upper}}. The upper is largely seamless, with moderate to poor breathability due to the number of overlays. There is a one seam in the midfoot where a small amount of padding is added to the rear of the shoe, and there is an odd bit of sewing at the ankle opening (see image below.) There is far less padding in the Clayton 2 than I'd have expected, and vastly less around the ankle opening than a shoe like the [[Hoka Clifton]]. There ankle opening in the Clayton 2 has a very slight improvement over the original Clayton, but it's enough that I didn't find it uncomfortable.
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