Thanks for checking out our review of the Hoka One One Mach 4
The New Hoka March 4 has some great updates from its predecessor including better fit and cushion. This is a comfortable high-mileage road shoe, the perfect blend between the Carbon X 2 and the Clifton 7.
- Weight: Men: 8.18 | 232g / Women: 6.77 oz | 192g
- Drop: 5mm
- Heel height: Men 29mm | Women 27mm
- Forefoot height: Men 24mm | Women 22mm
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Hoka Mach 4
The Mach 4 is coming out in the spring of 2021. Hoka designed the Mach to find the perfect blend between the lightning speed you’re going to find in like a Carbon X with an everyday training shoe like a Clifton.
I know Hoka has been trying to make this blend for a while now. In the past couple of years, they had the Rincon, which is still a great popular shoe, sort of like a lightweight, faster version of the Clifton. The Rincon is great for somebody trying to find a shoe if transitioning from an everyday trainer to a quicker shoe for workouts or race days. Whereas the Hoka Carbon X is a very fast race day shoe. It’s carbon plated and $180 bucks, so a little expensive for your average runner. This is where the Mach comes in, and it is hopefully going to be that shoe where you can have the best of both worlds -an ever day training, lightweight, speedy shoe.
ProFly Midsole & Rubberised EVA Outsole for Cushion & Comfort
When you’re looking at the Mach, you can see it has two different distinct levels. This top layer is a very soft squishy foam. It reminds me of the feel of a soft Clifton. Then on the bottom layer, there is a rubberized foam blend; when squeezing it, it feels very much like the Carbon plated base of the Carbon X. The base of our Mach 4 should feel give you that more springy energized return, while the cushion should be soft enough to provide a trampoline effect while you run. Looking at some of the things that we like on the Carbon X v2, the Mach 4 has the same little heel divot there that we had that’s so popular in the Carbon X v2. The stack height and drop is the same as the Clifton 7 at 5mm. So when putting the Mach 4 on, it feels comparable to the Clifton even though it is lighter than the Clifton and the Carbon X 2.
New Updates
This shoe has a $130 price point which is a great deal for runners looking for speed without breaking the bank. It fits and feels really nice, especially compared to the earlier versions of the Mach. The last couple of generations of the Mach were very confusing and not incredibly successful at our shop. It had issues with the fit and feel; many complained that the upper felt bunched up throughout the toe box. For Mach 4, it seems like those issues have been resolved and are fitting true to size. The Mach 4 has a nice gusseted tongue so it does feel like it’s holding your foot a little bit better, and I love the step in feel and heel cup, which we have seen a lot of new Hoka shoes.
The double layers of cushion and density, so this is a shoe, give it a unique feel. I would say that you should be able to use this shoe every day and not feel like you are wasting miles on it, as you might think with the Carbon X. You should also feel protected due to the cushion and softness but have a responsive feel. I’m curious to see how the durability on it holds up as this was an issue for the Rincon. We’re hoping with the Mach 4 because it is more of a firm feeling rubber base blend with the foam on the bottom, then it’s going to give you a little bit of extra durability.
In Conclusion
The Mach 4 is an excellent addition to the Hoka shoe line up. Looking back to previous models of this shoe, I almost wish we would have changed its name entirely because the four is so different. You’re going to see a lot of this shoe out in Runner’s World and all over advertisement because Hoka is putting a lot of energy behind it. At Run Moore, we have been looking forward to this shoe for a while now. We were hoping to get this shoe around Valentine’s day but just like everything else this year, it been a little bit delayed with shipping -but by the time you see this review, it’s out, and you’ll be able to get it on our website shop.letsrunmoore.com.
If you decide to support our small business, you can enter the promo code “runmoore” to save 10%; we’ll ship it out for free.
