Recently completed a road 100 miler and wore the Mach x for the bulk of the miles. Carbon plated shoes typically wreck my legs with the harshness of the plate but the PB plate in these was perfect. Felt like the shoe was vaulting me forward but not in a rushed way. Hammered out 10/11 min miles in the latter half of the race and these felt pristine for that task.
After 180 miles (and just as many $$), I have to say it’s a pretty boring shoe. Not sure what the plate is supposed to do, but the midsole/outsole combo is the opposite of energy return/snappy. I do find it quite comfortable! Love the upper. Outsole is holding up fine, as is the rest of the shoe so far. It just feels dead on the feet, it’s a chore to run in. For comparison, my other main shoe is Speed 2 & 3, Pro 3 for races this year. Clifton 8 was also my daily but it’s pretty much dead at 350-400 miles. Great review, Ethan!!
Loving me the Mach X…but I don’t normally like any plates in shoes. I think I’m one of the 4 people in the world that don’t like the SC trainer or Endorphin series. Maybe I’m just weird. Also - there’s a pink/purple/yellow color way that is WAY better than grandmas Easter finest
Ethan, for something completely different. I know asking for such things is a big NO NO, haram, no kosher etc. Is another album in the works ? :) Loving your previous material, short & long runs whatava.... Already saw/heard lots of new stuff in different videos, will it come together, for us to listen during the grinds :)
You should test the Hoka Rocket X2, unlike any shoe I've ever trained in. Way better than the Nike Vaporfly 3. The Adidas Takumi Sen 9 is also better than the Vaporfly. The Clifton is heavy and it sucks. The Hoka Rincon 3 is closest to the original Clifton 1. The Rocket X2 has a forefoot sweet spot that gives amazing energy return and cushion.
"Try" is spot on. I had a $100 gift card for a pair of shoes a local store to get the Clifton 9's, but they didn't have my size so I thought these look interesting and I'll give them a "try" after seeing a video from Runnergy. They mentioned how the heel compared to the forefoot is oddly & unevenly soft. Your points are spot on as well, especially those laces which are awesome! They never come undone. I ended up getting the Clifton's about a month later as the heel on the Mach X's was a bit soft causing some achilles discomfort. A simple cheap heel cushion fixed that. So now I alternate between the two shoes. Thanks.
Do those pads stay in place? I had a rough time in the Adidas Pro 3 heel but loved the shoe... wasn't willing to risk the heel pads and have them keep slipping out.
I normally wear a pair of Rincon 3's when I want to do a tempo run and was considering the Mach X once the Rincon wore out. After this and other reviews, I'm having my doubts.
This was a huge miss for me. The Mach 5 was soooo good. It never needed a plate. The dual density midsole already gave you the exciting underfoot feel along with hoka comfort. Plus, it didn’t look like a mermaid’s ass.
Recently went all in on a pair of Rocket X2s, what a running shoe! everything you need, snappy, cush, nice rocker with spring at toe off... I am in LOVE... if the mach was designed to complement it how did it go so wrong... did they get the cushioning back to front? it feels like the foam and the plate are fighting against each other. It is FLAT it has a dullness to it that baffles me, needless to say on ebay and lost 30 squid on it... damn you hoka!
I’ve tried them and they felt good but they also did not wow me the way the Mach 5 did. Ended up getting a pair of Novablast 3s as they felt similar but cushier/more comfortable and were €30 cheaper than the Mach Xs. I could feel the plate but I did not feel like it was enhancing or propelling me; it was just there, which is not what I want to feel when running a marathon
