This week I have bought a pair of Hoka One One shoes, in particular the StinsonB unisex model which is designed for road and trail. I have heard lots about these Hoka One One shoes for a while now and thought that as I need new shoes soon I would get a pair with the intention of using them at GUCR this year if they work out alright.
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| Box Fresh
First Impressions
They come in a nice big shiny blue box with the Hoka One One “Time to fly” logo.
They do look a bit odd and a bit like big moon shoes or platform trainers with 2.5 times the thickness of a normal running shoe in the sole. Plus a much wider and slightly longer outsole. They dont however weigh more than most other cushioned running shoes and are lighter than they look like they should be. They weigh about the same as my Inov8 Roclites.
They are quite comfy when you put them on and feel really squishy as you walk around, they also have a shape that rolls your foot forward as you move and you can really feel this as you walk or run.
 Bouncy Shoes
I have done a couple of runs in them and I have to say they feel really comfy but are odd to run in to start with as you can really feel the soft cusioning squash underfoot. They really absorb any stone etc that you run over, for example the bobbly bits on pavements for blind people just dissapear into the sole without you even feeling it underfoot. if you step on a stone it just gets absorbed so I can understand the claim that it reduces impact on your feet and legs. I found that I scuffed my feet a few times as you obviously need to lift your foot a bit more to clear objects and land your foot in the same place as before. Although the sole is very thick the difference between heel and forefoot is similar to my Nike Free minimal shoes so it actualy feels like a good position to run and your feet are positioned within the sole not on top of it.
They felt really stable and comfortable whilst running.
 Chunky Sole
There seems to be plenty of grip due to the bigger surface are of the sole although the depth of tread is very thin but I found them very grippy on the roads and track I have used so far and I did not feel there was an issue with the ankle rolling over due to the height of them either to my surprise.
Going downhill they really seemed fast and comfy to run in even at faster than normal speeds where I would be getting a pounding from my legs. they really do absorb shock. Going uphill they feel a bit slower maybe because you have to lift your leg higher to clear them on steep uphill but still not too bad.
It is very early days so far and I will report back in a few weeks with an update to how they are getting on once I have put a few miles on them but so far I like them.
Update: 12-5-12I have been wearing the shoes for a few weeks now and have put nearly 150 miles on them, I have put them through mostly road runs but some wet muddy trails.  A bit wet and dirty
They are good on roads and fine on dry trails but go on a trail that has a lot of mud and they do slip around a bit and struggle. I put this down to the very shallow tread depth. Another really big problem with the tread depth for me is the wear rate on the outside of the heels. I slightly make contact with the outside of my heels as I place my foot down as I run, especially the slower I go or down hills. I wear all my shoes quickly in this area but most of the time my shoes have tread depth enough to soak this up to the point where tread angles off but then the wear settles down and I normally get 4-500 miles on a regular pair of shoes. The thinness of the tread on these combined with the width means I am wearing them out fast.  Worrying wear rates
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