Another month, another shoe review! If you haven’t read it yet, check out my Hoka One One Clifton Edge First Impressions post because a lot of what I observed in that post and vlog still holds true a month later.
Hoka One One running shoes kicked off the trend of maximalist cushion + minimal toe drop and I have plenty of triathlete and runner friends who prefer this brand over the more mainstream ones we know. What was my experience after a month of running in the Hoka One One Clifton Edge?
Watch the review in the vlog below and scroll further for my written observations.
After a month of seeing these shoes almost every day, that extreme heel no longer looks as alien to me as it used to. But it’s still a solid hunk of EVA foam and I’m not quite sure it has huge application for most runners. I did think it was a solid shoe for long runs at a steady aerobic pace, and the amount of midsole material really buffers the body from a lot of impact especially as your sessions get longer.
However, the outsole has major durability issues, especially since I only ran in them for 60 kilometers. Certain spots on the outsole have been worn smooth, and that’s probably because Hoka chose not to use any blown rubber; instead, what hits the ground is basically still midsole material. And while the high stack height means that you can wear the lugs smooth and still have the same amount of cushioning, I’m a little disappointed at the amount of wear in a short period of time considering the shoe’s price point.
I did back-to-back comparison runs wearing the Hoka One One Clifton Edge and the Nike Zoom Air Pegasus 37, rotating between these shoes halfway through a run just to see what the major differences and similarities are. They ride very similarly in that they cushion very well but allow you to maintain the same easy pace throughout the run. Also, despite the thick midsoles I found it easy to keep my legs turning over and maintain my cadence. I expended the same amount of energy through my legs running in either shoe, so the shoe construction doesn’t make it harder to keep running. The major difference is in the midsole tech and upper. The Clifton Edge has more traditional construction with full EVA foam, versus the Pegasus having a Zoom Air pod in the forefoot (so the Pegasus is slightly bouncier underfoot); the Pegasus also has a plush upper versus the Clifton Edge’s more minimalist mesh and fabric.
The Clifton Edge is the shoe that you’re supposed to put your easy miles in to build your aerobic capacity. This shoe won’t break any PRs, but they are the stepping stone to breaking that PR using a specific racing shoe.
