Article by Sam Winebaum, Renee Krusemark, and Michael Ellenberger
Hoka Mach X 2 ($190)
Introduction
Sam: The Mach X is Hoka’s lightweight bif cushion uptempo trainer to racer. Hoka’s marketing headline for the Mach X 2 is “Everyday Miles, Elevated”. I agree, as long as those daily miles are on the faster side. Hoka has plenty of other “daily” max cushion plated that are more mellow riding including Skyflow and Skyward X. See my comparative review which also includes mach X2 and Cielo X 1 here
For the X2 edition, we see an increase of 5 mm in stack height of PEBA top foam (the EVA layer below remains the same) to a super max level of 44mm at the heel . At the same time, weight drops to race shoe levels to about 8.5 oz / 241g US9. Its plate continues as a plastic PEBAX Renew but it is redesigned with stabilizing winglets and more flex, although it remains a mostly rigid rocker snappy flex type shoe.