Discontinued · trail · Trail / Tempo · $225
Twin-plate trail racer that started the plated-trail era.
Built for trail, tempo, at a target pace of 7:30–10:30 /mi on trail.
This model is no longer in production. The closest shoe you can buy today is Hoka Tecton X 3.
Hoka tuned this midsole soft (4/5 on our cushioning scale). The foam is highly resilient — it gives energy back rather than swallowing it, which is what makes the shoe feel eager when you push. 38 mm of heel stack is the modern daily-trainer sweet spot — enough foam for long miles without losing contact with the road. Combined, the ride reads as explosive at 5/5 responsiveness.
A full-length carbon plate stiffens the forefoot and works with the foam as a lever: it smooths the transition off the toes and cuts the effort of holding fast paces. It also asks for speed — at easy paces a carbon plate feels stiff and does little for you, and it is the main reason super-shoes wear out sooner than trainers.
A low 5 mm drop encourages a midfoot landing and keeps the ankle working through a fuller range. The rocker is aggressive: the sole is curved and stiff enough to tip you into the next stride on its own, which saves the calf on long runs but feels strange when you slow right down. The forefoot is stiff, so it rolls rather than bends — a lever, not a slipper. It is a neutral platform with no built-in correction.
The toe-box is standard width — comfortable for most feet without swimming. It fits true to size. Expect roughly 300 miles from the outsole, about $0.75 per mile at $225.
For the foams and plates Hoka uses across its line, read the Hoka brand guide.
Measured against the 542 currently-available shoes in the catalog. The bar shows where this shoe sits in that range.
Weight
245 g / 8.6 oz
30 g lighter than the catalog median of 275 g
Heel stack
38 mm
2 mm taller than the catalog median of 36 mm
Drop
5 mm
1 mm lower than the catalog median of 6 mm
Price
$225
65 pricier than the catalog median of 160
Responsiveness
5 / 5
Catalog median 3 / 5
Cushioning
4 / 5
Catalog median 4 / 5
Energy return
5 / 5
Catalog median 3 / 5
Durability
~300 mi
Catalog median ~400 mi
Within the Hoka line it is lighter than the brand's median (275 g / 9.7 oz) and sits taller than its median stack (38 mm).
Current shoes with the nearest combination of weight, stack, drop, foam feel and plate.
Brooks Cascadia Elite
255 g / 9.0 oz · 36 mm · 6 mm drop · Carbon · $275
Brooks' trail race shoe: PEBA DNA Gold, SpeedVault+ plate, Megagrip Elite.
Hoka Tecton X 4(2026)
278 g / 9.8 oz · 40 mm · 5 mm drop · Carbon · $275
Twin carbon plates and a smoother ride for long, fast trail racing.
Asics Metafuji Trail 2(2026)
250 g / 8.8 oz · 36 mm · 5 mm drop · Carbon · $250
Asics' carbon trail racer, refined for long mountain efforts.
Asics MetaFuji Trail
261 g / 9.2 oz · 44 mm · 5 mm drop · Carbon · $180
Carbon-plated trail racer for fast, runnable terrain.