HOKA ONE ONE CHALLENGER ATR 6 REVIEW | Is this the do-it-all hybrid shoe? 

I just started working at a specialty running shoe store and Ginger Runner is legit. Thanks for all the great perspective and insights.

Long time Challenger user, thanks for the updated review. The laces look like the ones on my new Torrents. I've been liking those thick "rope like" laces. They keep my feet from sliding around on hills, providing a more secure fit than my stretchy Challenger 5 laces. I did find that the newest Torrent needed a break in period before they felt comfortable. The whole thing, laces, upper and mid-sole were initially very stiff but I could sense and have been happy that they have become one of my favs.

I'm new to trail running and this is my first pair of trail running shoes ever, I love them. I feel very secure on the downhill and they feel like I'm running on a cloud. I'm not a fast competitive runner so I can't speak to the weight/speed/performance aspects of this shoe. I'm very easy to please, so I just wanted something that keeps me safe and comfortable on the trails.

The Challenger has always been marketed as a hybrid shoe though? ATR stands for all-terrain and since it's been in the name since v1 the idea has always been for it to be great as a road-to-trail shoe. It could still absolutely be used as purely a trail shoe of course.

I have had the Challenger ATR 4 and 5 as my first experience of Hoka. I have loved both iterations of shoe, both being quite similar and to be quite honest with you this is the first time I've ever heard it mentioned by any RU-vid reviewer so them you for that, I thought it just just be the forgotten shoe not as flashy as the Speedboat or Glideride (or obviously the carbon plated shoes that get all the attention now). This is a good review, but I've thing I expected was there to be a description of the grip level on the different surfaces in certain conditions. Having previously used ASICS shoes when I moved to try Hoka (ATR 4s) I was initially cautious. As mentioned in the review it is a shoe that you can go straight out the door with onto the road before transitioning to gravel paths, muddy trails and everything in between. What I have found with these shoes is that initially if it is wet they these shoes don't offer that much grip on tarmac, which I found odd, as they look like they should. They however are much better on the off road surfaces then a road shoe, which is obvious, but just be pointed out. After a while the grip level does seem to improve, after maybe 30-50 miles, maybe as the soles get a bit more scuffed and less smooth. Maybe this is just my experience in them and expecting shoes to work right out of the box, maybe there are routines for breaking news running shoes in. Anyway this isn't a major issue and as I said I do love my Hoka Challengers, but I just wanted to warn anyone getting these that they may experience these as well (if they haven't fixed this in this new iteration of the shoe), as when I started with these I did nearly give up on them. Lastly can I just ask if you've actually ran in these shoes? This review is a lot about how they feel in the hand and the differences, and very little of the experience of actually running in them. I'm fairly new to the channel so haven't watched many of your reviews so maybe you'll do an update of his they feel with a bit more wear, but I'd like an opinion with some experience of how they actually perform, if that's not too much to ask. Good video though, keep up the good work!!!

Just bought the ATR 6 (wide fit). My first Hoka trail shoe. Did an 18mile trail run, straight out the box. No issues whatsoever. The stats on the side are identical to the standard fit !

Cheers for the review Ethan. I've only ran in the ATR 3 and 4. I returned and replaced my first pair of ATR 3 because they fell to bits rapidly and the second pair, fell apart quicker; less than 60 miles! Upper durability was shocking but I loved the cushion. The ATR 4, again, slightly better upper but tore on the medial side and the outsole lugs peeled off quickly. Cushioning in the 4, for me at least, felt a bit firmer. No experience of the 5 but the mesh on that is the same as the 4, so I didn't buy it. What I'd like to see, is a rand similar to the Torrent that encompasses more of the shoe as this prevents splits/blowouts; all a toe bumper does is cause a crease at the ball of the foot and thus, splits. This is why I like the Speedgoat 4, due to the rand and the much better upper. I may yet buy another pair of Torrents, as both pairs have done plenty of mileage with acceptable wear relative to this. > Looks are subjective obviously, but I think some Hoka are just boring looking now; I preferred their 'louder' colourways. > Unfortunately, and this is just my view, most trail shoes are built for an American market and a lot of your trail and mountain conditions are 'tame' compared to the UK mountain and trail areas. I don't mean that in a bad way, I'd love to run on some US trails! I made the mistake of buying the Altra Timp 1.5 and at 150km it has split already and the outsole is not grippy on damp rocks or stones, it is lethal! Which is really disappointing as I love running in Altra shoes. I'm just becoming fed up of durability issues and claims of 'sticky rubber' or 'Max Traction'. It's all marketing BS :/

Got the Challenger ATR 6 a month or so ago and so far really like them. My runs are generally on mixed retain and was looking for something that was ok on all surfaces, so it was the "jack of all trades" shoe I was after and so far find them ideal. I need a wide shoe and so went for the Wide version which suits me very well. 👍

My only gripe with the 5's was rubber treads peeling way before any upper or even foam wear... So excited

My go to shoe from door to trail. Love them. 1000km so far and still great run. I also have Mafate Speed 3 for more technical runs and long rubs and Torrent 2 for fast, short trail runs. Fast 🤣 OK. Maybe not so fast

I retired my ATR5 at 450miles! (95kg jogger), LOVE the 6 so far for going mixed trails and road.

The fastest I’ve been to a Ginger Runner review!!

“Not all Paul Hollywood handshakes..” hahaha; now I am stoked to find out what shoe does hit that level :)

Take a shot every time Ethan mentions about Challenger 1 and you have a quite nice party there 😁 Great review! Excited about new Challengers! 😊

So back in the day I reviewed running shoes but it was before Hoka existed. I’m super curious. 🤷🏻‍♂️ Some day I’ll give it a try. Thank you for the excellent review! 🙏

I had the challenger atr 5. Honestly, I think the Nike pegasus trail 2 is a better hybrid. I'm saying this as someone who owns stinsons, speedgoats, arahi, bondi and cliftons.

Last week I took my ATR 6's out for a 6 mile test drive, mostly light trail with an 800 ft. climb. I found the shoe quite comfortable giving me a good grip on light well kept trails. The transition back to the road was smooth. This shoe makes me want to run light trails more often. For the pure road, I love my new Hoka Mach 4's. (They shortened the laces) Realize I have only recently got into Hoka's in the last 2 months and have no history with them. So far I have the Challenger ATR 6, the Hoka Mach 4, and the Clifton 7. I've been Hoka-fied!

Great review GR! I 100% agree with you on the laces, seems odd because a lot of the other Hoka trail shoelaces are much softer than these on the Challenger 6. Seems odd they put different ones on just this model, thought mine were starched or something. Thanks again!

I’m a newbie with Hokas and I started with the Clifton 6, which I absolutely love the cushion was exactly what I wanted. I heard the ATR 5 was the trail/ATR version of the Clifton so I grabbed me a pair and they are definitely not as cushioned still a great shoe but I’ll be giving the speedgoat a a try next.

Thanks for the review! I'm interested....loved the 4's, the 5's blew out on me ( both of'em) at 3 or 4 hundred k's, so i took a break and I'm hoping for some more durability in the 6's. But I will be getting a pair, I cant quit them. Had the 4's to start and they were a game changer for me on long rail to trail runs / races...literally all day comfort and still feel fast with that Hoka toe off. Never felt good about them on more trail trails though. But definitely one of my favorite shoes...does a specific job or me very well.

Great for travel when you want a shoe for road and trail!

I have wide feet and really struggle to find trail shoes that suit my foot shape. The challenger 5’s worked wonders for me, so swung by to make sure these were similar. Thanks Ethan, ordered a pair today.

You’ve run 70/80 Miles in them. Wait until you are at 150 Miles. The midsole will become more plush. I think it’s a good thing they are responsive in the beginning. Most Hoka very plush midsoles became like pudding for me after 200km or so. Great review 😀

the price is fair... decent, decent..I have been looking at this for a while. might look for a 5.., to save that 20 grams

As always a very informative review..... cheers!!

FIRST

Still have my ATR 4, after 1200 km they are like new. Next shoes i buy will be another Chalenger, great shoes

Yeah not very breathable. Good for cold weather though. I’ve actually been enjoying the fact that I don’t have to put toe warmers in my running shoes the past couple days since I got these

I love my wide Challenger ATR 5s!!

This shoe is so comfortable especially on how the foot seats on the shoe bed

The ATR has always been marketed as a hybrid.

As always a great review. Sooo... Conclusion is: The 5 is actually better. But I need a 2EE width, and secure grib in mud, so I will find another shoe than the 5.

I was a altra fan timp But the new timp just did not do it for me. I have tried the hoka textron x Liked them very much and my right heal play was not good. Very unstable. Because I have am a pronator , Keith over at sportsbasement suggested the challenger atr 6. It was muddy it was rocky and steep terrain. These babies did the job. Rocks never bothered me my feet were stable and felt snug and confident in them. Sold. Thanks Keith your the best. I saved sum buckaroo.

My first pair of Hoka were the ATR 3’s. Absolutely loved them and put 1000km on them. They are still a walking shoe I use. I bought ATR 4’s expecting them to be the same and was so disappointed. They made them narrower and I sent back the size and ended up having to go wide version. This fitted my right foot fine but caused arch issues with my left as did the Clifton 6 wide. Changed to Altra and have run in Olympus and paradigm ever since. Hoka standard size are far too narrow. Hoka wide are too wide, I’m stuck somewhere in the middle. Speedgoats are also crazy narrow.

Great video as always! Very informative. Damn you really hate those laces - they're tedious 🤣🤣 I am awaiting this pair arriving and it will hopefully be my very first pair of trail runners. Tried several Hoka and Salomon and the fabric on top was far too hard to be comfortable. Hoping this will be a more comfortable fit.

Love ATR but they always tear along the inner sides......if they fix that they would be perfect for me. Great review here.

40g weight gain! I loved my OG ATRs, easily the best trail shoe I’ve owned.

nice review - love the hoka lineup of wider shoes, they fit me perfectly and that is hard to come by if you got some wider feet :D

I love my atr6, most durable 'trail' shoe i ever had! Less cushioned then my speedgoats wich i wear less and less because in spite of the name, are very slow shoes! But these are great, not so grippy on muddy trails though!

"Paul Hollywood's handshakes"??? Do you get the GBBO over there? Anyway, you sold me the ATR C 6. I had a love-hate relationships with the ATR C 4. My best trail shoes ever, but they split open in the middle of their 2nd ultra. Since then, I had a long love affair with the Speedgoat 2. However, since I swapped them for their grand-daughter the SG 4, I have been crying every week. I need to go back to a shoe from which I cannot count every single lug.

I have the ATR 5 & they are my easy day trail shoe. I do find if I don’t lace up right my foot will shift around. This caused a really bad sprain.

Something tells me this is a solid 16/20. 😜 I still have a couple Challenger 1s. But they're pretty much done. I have a Napali ATR that I now run in so I'm glad to have that. For now... 😉

Good review Ethan, thanx. Will you be able to do a review on the Mafate speed 3 ?

Stretch laces are better than stiff. Keeps the shape of the way I tied my feet up. But at least laces.can be changed

I fell in starry-eyed love with the first edition, even though they had to be cut a little to fit normal width feet. They were my #1 do-all trail shoe choice, taking the pace of Cascadias. They got heavier and less cushioned over the years, I bought a pair of Napali ATR instead, and haven't had Challengers since.

Got a pair of sale ATR 5's coming this week. Really hope they don't suffer the same harshness you brought up with the 6's. I have too many harsh trail shoes, want a pair that can be a trail Daily Trainer to complement my Cliftons when I hit continuous trails.

offtopic: when do you post video about Hierro v5? Thanks for the great reviews.

The atr5 works amazingly well for me. I keep trying others but at the end of the day (run) iam always in the ATR 5 so when the 6 came out I bought a pair - not good, absolutely a different shoe which doesnt work for me. I immediately ordered another pair of 5s. Similarities? I couldn’t find any. But hey thats just me.

Thank ye kind sir!

Solid review and killer outro.

I was hoping Hoka would make a resurrection of the first version as they did with the Clifton. Just threw my version pair after almost 1500 kms.

Thanks for the cool review! Very informative. How does it compare to the hoka speedgoat 4 gtx, the Nike Pegasus Trail 3 gtx and the new balance Hiero 6 gtx. As you see I'm looking for a gore Tex shoe...I need a hybrid shoe. Roads runs in the rain, Forrest and field pathways and occasional hiking. Thanks in advance

Great video, would you consider this shoe to be ok on short road runs also? 5-10 kms. Thanks!

great review..!!! How comfortable it is for ATR 6 compared to clifton 7? I have ATR 6 GTX and am interested to buy the clifton 7 or 8 as my cushioned-easy run shoe. But if it's having similar comfortable, I think I'm gonna stick with the ATR 6 for my easy run. thanks..!!! :D

maybe the torrent 2 is the ground feel shoe for hoka. ....it's a hard pick... ground feel versus cush and bounce. seems like the old challengers had a good portion of both based on your review. i seem to have shoes that are either ground feel or very cushed. not really any in between . although there is obviously an in between the extremes.

Do you have a best trail shoe video that i just haven't found :) looking for a good comparison!

I was loaned a pair of the ATR 3 by a Hoka rep and subsequently purchased my own pair, however, over time I found them to be too narrow and the top fabric broke down and tore very quickly. I'm tempted to give this new version a try but I'm struggling to forget that initial experience.

For winter -> spring trail running in the PNW do you recommend something with a waterproof layer? Can’t decide between the HOKA EVO Speedgoat or HOKA Speedgoat 4 GTX...

Im not sure - but there is more to trails than just trails, if that makes sense. I find myself looking for an all terrine shoe as I prepare for a big hike - will this last 487 miles?

My only weird qualm with the Challenger ATR 5 is that the big bone on the outside of my ankle rubs on the collar of the shoe. I've never had this problem with other Hokas. Great shoe otherwise!

Hey! I just got them.. so many people told me about Hoka. These were on offer but I hope ther are also good for long walk ( ?).. I'm not running. What do you think?

Love my Challenger 5s, disappointed to hear the new ones have got heavier (I think 20g is significant), one of the things that got me into them in the first place was their all around ability without being too heavy when on tarmac. Think I might buy another pair of 5s before the stock runs out!

Can you review the Adidas Terrex Speed Ultra Trail Running Shoe!?

High, super Reviews,please do some of saucony trail shoes.

Would you say this would be a good shoe for snow when on the roads which is what I'm normally on ? Would I need the gortex version ? I like wide lugs for snow which you dont get in most wet weather road shoes.

I have been running in the 4 and 5 the past couple years and really like them but 200-300 miles is all they will last, maybe 400 if you dont mind a little Gorilla glue.

I bought them today (GTX version), the shoes are half a number bigger, my foot is a "regular" foot, rather narrow, and these shoes make my feet feel discomfort and pressure :(

hello how are you! I like to know if this shoes is for sky running? if is not, is Hoka one one model for that? thanks. Eddie from Argentina

I still occasionally wear my original pair the same as the ones in your vid, got holes in the toes though lol.

Please review all the bad comments.... Let’s start with mine....is it a try or a why idea?

Anyone else catch that Ethan’s hat and the shoes have matching color ways?? Great review Ethan!

Id like to get these i tried once some model dont remeber which but i was 44,5 in them...im usually a 44 in nike casual lifestyle or running shoe.. so should i get these in 44.5 or 45, do they fit small

The ATR4 was my favourite so far but it really wore of really quick. I had rips in them already after 300km...

Would you say just get the atr5 because there

Please review the Mafate Speed 3

Nice shoe and I really am a Hoka fan; like you and your Special ATR1 but I have a menage a trois with my EVO Mafate 2 and Hoka Speedgoat4 or EVO...I am safe to wear protection...a mask and of course a sock or 2. I wonder if Subaru has a patent on the name Forester as that would be a fitting name for a non-hybrid trail shoe.

I don't totally get the wide shoe idea (hear me out!) I don't require a wide shoe because I don't have wide feet actually I have quite slim feet. But I do want a comfortable toe box (Morton surgery a few years ago) but these are too narrow for me now in the toe box. I am now advised to get the wide version! Doesn't work for me. If you have wide feet it's great, but why the narrow toe box. It used to be perfect (for me!).

Would this work running in snow/slush on roads during the winter? Looking for something with some good grip.

I have never been a Hoka fan. The durability wasn’t there for me. Maybe this version will be better.

Challenger ATR 6 vs NB Fresh Foam More Trail v1?

How if compared with Hoka Speedgoat?

Men's shoe, the footbox to heel angle is wrong for women's feet, couldn't even wear around the house. I won't even buy clothes from brands that use unisex lasts anymore. I'm tried of getting injured from companies that don't recognize that women's feet are shaped differently.

And I thought your Challenger 1 was disintegrated

Are they similar to bondi ?

Hi is it like a Nike Pegasus 36 trail?

Are the ATR 6 true to size or is going up a half a size // thanks in advance.

PLEASE, we all need a laugh-fest these days; review the TenNine!

I love the challenger. I wish it had a bit more of an aggressive outsole. I know the Speedgoat does, but it's a totally different fit than the challenger. I want a Challenger-esque shoe that is less of a hybrid and more of an aggressive trail shoe.

A possible 100 miler?

Ethan did you miss doing a Halloween video this year?

After watching all the RU-vid reviews I was hopeful that I could finally buy a Hoka that was not too narrow. So I bought the Challenger 6. Bad decision. Still too frigging narrow. Waste of money and time.

OMG so heavy! I won't even bother trying them on.

Challenger has completely dropped off my radar now. 1’s were great, I still use the 4’s occasionally, but hope of a new generation of them to renew my excitement is gone.

I just don’t get this review / these have a soft and squidgy sole with shallow and very limited grip. Use them on damp pavement or grass and you’ll immediately feel the loss of traction and lack of confidence into corners. The grip (or lack of) is the elephant on the room. That’s a review.

I read "Is this the do-it-all hybrid shoe?" I say: "NO!"

There must be Chinese copy versions . The ones I got are total crap. No cushion . 2e wide is not wide and upper bend point at toes so stiff. Damn.

Man they failed in the aesthetics department with this version. I feel like I’m wearing “cool dad” shoes every time I put them on.

Socks?.?! 😳

Why are you wearing a hat? You are supposed to be an expert on “gear”. Do you know what hats are for?

I’m a Gel Kayano guy for stability reasons, but I need a trail shoe for my upcoming travel, can this shoe ATR 6 be trusted? Im a bit heavy 90kg lad…😁🫢 Thanks!