HOKA ONE ONE Mach 5

This shoe is incredibly versatile, I use it for many different aspects of training. From long runs, to tempo runs, grass thresholds and track work, it is a reliable shoe that always shows up. I ran about 1000km on my last pair and didn't notice a dramatic decrease in performance until about 850km. I wouldn't recommend using them for that long, however they still performed great for me and I only replaced them once all the bounciness was gone. It took a about a week of running in them for me to feel accustomed with the how they felt on my feet. Overall they are the best none-plated shoe I have worn and I regularly work out in them when I don't want to wear a plated shoe.

The Mach 5 is an excellent shoe.  It's incredibly light without sacrificing cushion.  The cushion is nice and soft (even though the shoe is considered on the firmer side for Hoka), but still manages to feel very springy and responsive.  It's like a perfect middle ground between regular cushion and max cushion *chef's kiss*.  The fit is solid, roomy toe-box but still secure in the midfoot and heel.  I  find they run a little big so I half size down from my normal running shoe size.  The rocker still does it's job even though the shoe isn't nearly as stiff as some of it's Hoka relatives. I find the transition through my stride to feel smooth and natural.  The durability could be better, however.  Since there is no blown rubber on the bottom (one of the reasons the shoe is so light), the foam outsole wears down quickly.  In my experience, they start to look worn within 50 miles and by about 400-450 miles I retire them because rocks and sticks tend to poke through.  I have also noticed consistent wear in the fabric around my ankle bone and where my insoles sit, though it's never bothered me. My only other (petty) complaint is the thin, flat laces that tend to be long and twist. 

I am on my 4th pair of Mach 5’s, after running in the Mach 4’s previously. The Mach 5 is a perfect utility shoe for me. I use it for all of my training runs, slow, short, long, fast - no matter the distance or tempo, the Mach 5 exceeds. The upper fits like a glove, and it feels very light on foot, with a rockered geometry that guides you effortlessly to put one foot in front of the other. While some complain about the outsole durability, I have personally not had this problem, with my shoes lasting ~500 miles/pair on average. I couldn’t recommend them more!

This shoe is awesome, it is very light for the amount that you get in the shoe. A pretty roomy toebox with an amazing lockdown with the laces and a super comfortable and breathable upper.

The ride and energy is outstanding, it has two layers of midsole, the top layer of Profly+ is super bouncy and soft, while the stiffer lower part of the midsole provides a quick snapback and speedy feel to the shoe. I raced it in 5k and 10k and even without a carbon plate I felt propeled and got new PBs more often than not. 

The outsole though was carved out of the bottom layer of midsole with was grippy but did erode quite quickly.

It is great value for money as it was only 150 Euros where I live.

I HAVE NEVER WORKED WITH ANY RUNNING SHOE COMPANIES.

The bright high school kid at the local running shop dragged out several of the usual suspects for me. I was searching for a replacement for one of the 2 road trainers in my rotation. They were all adequate but not ideal, and I was struggling to pick the winner when she suggested an alternative that she used as her daily trainer, the Hoka Mach 5. She explained she prefers it as an all-around asset in her limited closet of shoes. I instantly liked the shoe's name for its Speed Racer reference that she probably wouldn't get and agreed to give it a try. I've worn several different models of Hoka, some like the Speedgoat that I really liked and others like the Bondi that didn't work so well. All have plenty of cushion but sometimes their narrow toe box or bulky if light outsoles made them an adequate but not great fit. The Mach on the other is solidly in my Goldilocks zone for a daily trainer: light but not too minimal, enough but not too much cushion, wide enough not to impinge on my toes, snug enough through the midfoot and heel, and the gentle rocker sole make them bouncy enough for me for racing from 5K up to the marathon. Bonus! They aren't as fast as a plated race shoe, but for my foot they might work better unless it's an 'A' race.

I've done everything in this shoe, from track workouts to a half-marathon to recovery days. The cushioning is great, the shoe is responsive, and the fit seems spot on. Even if I had to have a different shoe for every aspect of my training, this would still be the workhorse for 80% of my daily miles.

There always seem to be good prices for the Mach 5 too, and a decent number of colorways available. But really, if you should be getting up at 5am and running in the dark anyway, so who cares what it looks like (it looks fine).

I'd been running 40 years by the time I got my first Hoka Mach shoe.  I run a different routine each day, whatever I feel like.  So, at the time I bought my first Hoka Mach shoe, I wanted to work on my sprints at the end of my runs,  ran mostly dirt/gravel roads, and wasn't so worried about comfort on concrete.  I had been told the other varities, like Bondi, Clifton aren't as good at sprints.  The Hoka was comfortable, was lighter than prior shoes, and was designed to give push off, but still support at the toes for things like turns.

I decided to run 3 miles my first time out.  At the end of my run, it felt like I hadn't even run at all.  That's how great these shoes felt.  From then on, I would work on my sprints at the end of my runs, and these Hoka Mach 5's have been perfect, and a great value.  They are also breathable.  They are also amazing on gravel roads, and my feet didn't feel all the rocks like they would with other running shoes.  At the same time, they had enough grip to do a decent job on dusty roads, or wet roads.  Not only is the shoe extremely durable, the shoe and tread held up for an extremely long time.  Hoka built the Mach 5 like a "runner,"  not just a shoe designer, and I couldn't be happier.  In fact, I bought 2 at the same time!

The one thing I'd change about them is for Hoka to put in breathable Gore-tex like they do some of their other running shoes.  Lot of rain, snow & ice where I live--so temps can drop in the middle of your run, making wet feet close to getting frostbite.  

Otherwise, I'm glad I found the Hoka Mach series. Thanks, HOKA!

I may try to Hoka Mach X next.

Very good shoe that lacks some cushioning but is light and not overly supportive. I am a HS distance runner who runs 65 mpw and have found no issues with it. 

Fits true to size. Laces were long which was a big plus, and the heel lock was better than a lot of other shoes I’ve worn. They had enough cushion to work for recovery and easy miles, but were lightweight and firm enough for faster work. Paces up to 5:20/mi felt comfortable in it, and paces as slow as 8:30 felt fine as well. I’ve had three pairs, one lasted 400mi before feeling a bit flat, the other two lasted around 200mi. I now rotate them all. Pretty solid overall, maybe not worth $140 though. 

I used this shoe as a daily trainer for a little over 2 months. Loved how it could keep up on tempo, easy, and long runs. Got a little over 400 miles in before I retired them and the midsole weakened. It is a super light shoe that is on the faster side of daily trainers. Definetely one of my favorite shoes to use.