The Hoka Clifton 10 is one in all our favourite street trainers. All pictures: iRunFar/Nathan Allen
The Hoka Clifton 10 ($150) is the brand-new model of some of the fashionable operating shoe fashions presently out there, and for good purpose. It’s a impartial shoe with an inexpensive weight and reasonable drop. There’s one thing to be stated a few pair of footwear you’ll be able to throw in your ft and neglect about. I name them consolation footwear. Like consolation meals, it’s a pair of footwear that I do know will enable me to get misplaced within the pleasure of operating. For me, the Hoka Cliftons have been one in all my consolation footwear for years.
As somebody who’s spent most of my life operating and now evaluates and opinions gear as my occupation, I typically discover myself balancing considering critically about gear whereas operating versus simply being outdoors and having fun with transferring my physique. The Hoka Clifton 10 is a go-to after I simply wish to be outdoors, loving the run.
The Clifton is a near-perfect each day coach. At an precise weight of 9.8 ounces (278 grams) in a U.S. males’s 10, it’s not a heavy shoe. The eight-millimeter drop is pretty normal and approachable for many runners — though it’s three millimeters greater than earlier variations. The impartial help additionally works for a lot of, and the plush but responsive cushioning gives consolation with out the shoe feeling overly clunky.
In brief, the Clifton continues to be one in all my favourite on a regular basis street trainers, and it’s included in a lot of our purchaser’s guides, together with the Finest Working Sneakers, Finest Cushioned Working Sneakers, Finest Hoka Working Sneakers, and Finest Working Sneakers for Ladies.
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The Hoka Clifton 10 has quite a lot of responsive cushion.
Hoka Clifton 10 Higher
The Hoka Clifton 10 is among the few footwear I can take out of the field, slip on, and be superb instantly operating 10 miles. Hoka employs a breathable jacquard knit higher that’s comfy on the highest of the foot. The model up to date the forefoot match by making it barely wider, one thing that I notably liked as my ft — particularly on the forefoot — are typically a bit wider.
Hoka additionally added some materials on the heel and tongue, making a softer mattress for the heel that I appreciated fairly a bit. General, I don’t assume Clifton disciples will discover any variations between this model of the higher and the earlier one. If something, I feel this model is much more comfy.
I’d additionally prefer to level out that I’ve had some considerations with the sturdiness of the uppers of current Hoka footwear. This isn’t the case with this model of the Cliftons. The form of my ft, how I run, and the place I are likely to run make it so I’m considerably exhausting on footwear — the wideness of my forefoot typically blows out the edges the place the higher connects to the midsole. After greater than 100 miles, there may be completely no put on or tear on the higher.

The Hoka Clifton 10 outsole is sturdy.
Hoka Clifton 10 Midsole and Outsole
Essentially the most vital change to this model of the Hoka Clifton 10 is the addition of three millimeters of drop — from 5 to eight. As somebody who prefers a reasonable drop (not that eight millimeters is simply too excessive), I wasn’t overly excited concerning the change. However I actually couldn’t inform a lot of a distinction from the earlier model.
The midsole is product of a compression-molded EVA foam that gives light-weight and responsive cushion. I really like the midsole, which isn’t stunning given it’s a shoe from a model that turned fashionable for its huge, but light-weight and steady, midsole foam constructions. The shoe is extremely light-weight for 42 millimeters of claimed stack top on the heel. It appears prefer it needs to be a heavy and clunky shoe, however it’s not in any respect. I do know individuals who use Cliftons for tempo runs, and whereas I do assume it might be superb, I wouldn’t use it for critical velocity exercises or races the place I’m making an attempt to PR.
The MetaRocker know-how makes this shoe a bit extra versatile by way of the varieties of runs and exercises it’s fitted to. It actually helps with the heel-to-toe transition and rising cadence.
For the outsole, Hoka makes use of its typical sturdy abrasion rubber. To date, I’m impressed by the outsole, as there may be little or no signal of wear and tear and tear after greater than 100 miles. I do most of my runs on grime, gravel, and crushed rock, so the footwear aren’t getting the identical beating as they’d on pavement, however up to now, they appear to be holding up. I skilled some slipping and sliding whereas operating on crushed rock, specifically, and I’d prefer to see a extra versatile outsole on this shoe — like that on the Nike Pegasus 41, which may higher deal with a number of surfaces.

The Hoka Clifton 10 is a stable most cushion operating shoe.
Hoka Clifton 10 General Impressions
The Hoka Clifton 10 is the latest model of probably the greatest on a regular basis trainers out there, and there’s no should be skittish about its excessive stack top. I’d technically name this a most cushion shoe, nevertheless it doesn’t behave like one, particularly when evaluating it to different maximum-cushioned footwear from Hoka, just like the Bondi or Skyward X. It runs loads much less clunky and has a way more environment friendly and responsive experience.
The shoe can be very approachable in its match and can swimsuit a variety of runners. It is a superb newbie operating shoe for somebody simply entering into the game or coaching for his or her first 5k race. It’s additionally a stable coach for the skilled marathoner. The excessive stack top and most cushioning make it good for runners like me who’ve tens of hundreds of lifetime miles on the physique and perpetually aching joints and tendons. It’ll even be good for bigger-framed runners who may collapse cushioning quicker than others.
All in all, Hoka continues its custom of creating tremendous comfy, cushioned, light-weight, and high-quality trainers with the Clifton 10.
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