Hoka Mach 5 First Impressions: Non-Plated Uptempo Daily Trainer
I swore off Hoka a while back, and the Mach 5 was the shoe to draw me back in. Here's why I'm excited about it—even moreso than the Mach X.
You can't outrun fate. After months of poking fun at Hoka wearers I've become one. I'd been looking to add a new non-plated, uptempo shoe to the rotation and was deadset on the Brooks Hyperion Max or Altra Vanish Tempo. It turns out those companies' business development teams don't work as hard as Hoka's, as neither of those shoes were in two separate running stores I checked out on my family's 14 hour roadtrip from North Carolina to Cape Cod. So I begrudgingly, impulsively, exhaustedly after three days of driving landed on the Hoka Mach 5—and I'm pretty pumped. Here's why I'm excited about it.
Why I Got the Hoka Mach 5
The Hoka Mach 5 is a non-plated dual-foam midsole daily trainer with a traditional EVA underneath a supercritical EVA foam Hoka calls ProFly+. The ProFly+ is airy, soft and squishy to the touch. The other daily trainers in my rotation right now are the Tracksmith Eliot Runner, Saucony Endorphin Speed 3 and Saucony Endorphin Shift 3, so the Hoka slots in to fill that niche between them; the Shift and Tracksmith are much firmer, while the plated Speed 3 has more pop and zing from the PWRRUN PB PEBA and the plate.
Hoka Mach 5
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I anticipate using the Mach 5 for faster daily efforts, tempo efforts on the Cape Cod Rail Trail and fartleks around the Wellfleet coastline. The Mach 5 should handle flat beach paths with ease due to their solid platform. The one complicating factor for running on light trails is that the Mach 5 doesn't have a traditional outsole. There's no rubber covering the bottom of the shoe; instead, Hoka lets the firmer EVA foam on the bottom layer do the job of rubber.
The looks of the Mach 5 also sold me on picking it up when I saw it in store. The colorway I bought is a nice peach color with some blue and some dark orange. The one thing I don't love is the massive blue HOKA wordmark on the side, but I get it. You don't become a middle class status symbol without deploying some loud brand signatures.
I Swore Off Hoka… Is The Mach 5 Hoka's Redemption Shoe?
After trying the Bondi X, I swore off Hoka a while back. The Bondi X was an aimless, lost shoe, and it reflected the misdirection of Hoka's new product releases. With the brand's success in the late 2010s, they became mainstream and their pure running product got watered down. The compression-molded EVA foam that catapulted them to success hadn't advanced much over the past few years. Meanwhile, we've seen other run brands innovating and moving forward, like New Balance with FuelCell and Saucony with PWRRUN PB and HG.
I don't like to reward brands when they're stagnant, and it felt it felt like Hoka was treading water from 2020 to 2022 (albeit, in a really nice pool). The Mach 5 was the first drop in a slew of new releases that's showing the brand get back on track. Over the past year, we've seen Hoka unleash new foams and enter new market segments with shoes like the Rocket X 2 marathon racer, Mach X plated trainer and Cielo 5k racing shoe.
I'm most excited by the Mach 5 because it has all the ingredients to be your favorite runner's favorite running shoe, like the Nike Pegasus of old. It's low profile—when compared to other cushioned trainers on the market today—unplated and relatively lightweight. Its only pretention is the dual-foam midsole, and I haven't found a shoe that's perfected the dual-foam midsole conceit just yet (Tracksmith Eliot Runner… you were so close, but no cigar. Great for walking. Medium for running). The Superblast may be the closest thing, but that's a 45.5mm stack behemoth that's far from a stripped-down daily trainer. The Mach 5 is different in that it shows more restraint, sandwiching a full length layer of ProFly+ on top of the standard, firmer EVA to create a modest 29mm heel stack. Under 30mm? That's practically barefoot in 2023.
The Mach 5: Keeping Non-Plated Shoes Alive
I didn't get the Hoka Mach X because I'm trying to reduce my miles run in plated shoes. I already have the Endorphin Speed 3 for faster daily efforts, the Endorphin Pro 3 for faster long runs and the Adidas Takumi Sen for track days. I don't need another plated everyday running shoe as the Mach X purports itself to be.
I also considered the Brooks Hyperion Max, which doesn't have a plate, and the Altra Vanish Tempo, which is the plate-deleted version of the zero drop brand's carbon racer. Neither running store I checked out had those two, so I landed on the Mach 5. I'm excited to throw some more miles down in it and put its soft, cushioned and smooth midsole through the real paces.
Hoka Mach 5 Sizing, Upper & Fit
The Mach 5 runs true-to-size if slightly long. The store only had a 10 US mens in the Mach 5. I typically wear a 10.5 but the 10 fit me just fine. You should be good to wear your normal size in the Mach 5, but may want to size down if you want a more snug and secure feel. There's a gusseted tongue that helps hold the upper in place, and the overall feel is lightweight and airy.
The Hoka Mach 5 fits similarly to other speed-oriented daily trainers I have in my rotation like the Saucony Endorphin Speed 3. The step-in feel is comfortable, and that continues on the ride. The flat laces make it easy to cinch down the upper without feeling lace bite.
Hoka Mach 5 Projected Durability: My One Concern
The Mach 5 doesn't have a rubber outsole. Instead, it relies on the EVA foam bottom layer to do the work of gripping the ground and providing traction. While it may provide tack and grip on the run, it won't protect the shoe as much as a rubber covering does. After two runs, we already see a fair amount of abrasion on the EVA foam in high-contact areas with some of the texture already rubbed off.
The Mach 5 should last 200 to 300 miles. Typically daily trainers that use a rubber outsole like the Nike Pegasus line can last 400+ miles for most runners. If you use the Mach 5 as a dedicated speed day option and rotate it with a more durable shoe, you can extend its life timewide, but you'll still be paying more per mile than with a rubber outsole shoe. As with all shoes, your mileage may vary.
Initial Comparisons to the Hoka Mach 5
The Mach 5 is a competitor to the popular daily trainers on the market like the Nike Pegasus, Asics Novablast and Saucony Ride. It also goes up against some of the cushioned uptempo shoes like the Saucony Endorphin Speed 3. Below, here are our initial thoughts on how the Mach 5 compares to some of those options—we'll have more comparisons in our full review.
Hoka Clifton vs Mach 5
The Hoka Clifton 9 uses a full length bed of compression EVA foam midsole. It will have a slightly firmer and less responsive ride, and it's also slightly heavier at 8.7 ounces for a US mens size 9 vs 8.2 ounces for the Mach 5. The Clifton has a traditional rubber covering on the outsole, so it should be a more durable shoe than the Mach 5.
Hoka Clifton 9
Saucony Endorphin Speed 3 vs Hoka Mach 5
The Saucony Endorphin Speed 3 and Mach 5 are both soft and cushioned shoes with a pronounced rocker. However, the Speed 3 skews more to the snappy, bouncy and responsive side from the PEBA foam and the nylon plate. There's more perceived energy return. The Mach 5 has a more relaxed feel. While it still puts you up on your toes from the rocker, there's not as much bounce to the midsole, and it rides more like a cruising schooner than a nimble jetski.
Saucony Endorphin Speed 3
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Hoka Mach 5 vs Nike Pegasus
The ride of the Mach 5 is both more comfortable and exciting than the ride of the Pegasus. The Nike Pegasus is designed to be a running shoe that's versatile enough to handle the demands of daily life, so walking, gym work and travel use. It has a flat, non-rockered platform and uses a version of Nike's React that's firm and tame. The Mach 5 is softer and more responsive from the supercritical EVA ProFly+ foam. Both shoes have a comfortable, padded upper. Where the Nike wins is durability, as the Pegasus uses a full-length rubber outsole.
Nike Pegasus 40
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Final Thoughts
I'm excited to put miles in the Mach 5. The market needs more non-plated uptempo shoes, and so far it seems to be an excellent example of the category. My one concern is durability, so we will see how the outsole (can we call it that?) holds up through the first 100 miles.
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