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Hoka Mafate 5 Review. Up in Stack Height and Plushness! From Trails with Views of the Mont Blanc
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Sep 6, 2025
The Mafate goes up in stack height and plushness! Multi Tester Written Review: https://www.roadtrailrun.com/2025/07/hoka-mafate-5-review-deeply-capable-4.html Samples were provided at no charge for testing purposes with no additional compensation. The opinions herein are entirely the author's 1000’s of Run Shoes and Gear Multi Tester written reviews at www.roadtrailrun.com SHOP Running Warehouse at the links below for the widest selection of run shoes and gear anywhere and help support our channel! USA https://tinyurl.com/RWRTRUS EUROPE https://tinyurl.com/RWRTREU EU Only: Use RTR code RTR5ALL for 5% off all products, even sale products AUSTRALIA: https://www.runningwarehouse.com.au/?from=rtr EUROPE SHOP Top4Running https://tinyurl.com/bh9t3hpm Use Code RTRTOP4 for 5% off All Products, Even Sales RTR receives a commission for purchases made through these links which helps support our channel and site.
View Video Transcript
0:00
Today we're going to take a look at the
0:01
Hoka Mafatti 5. $185 and out. Now, it is
0:05
a max cushion trail runner. And in fact,
0:08
the original Mafati was the original
0:10
original max cushion shoe. It sits on a
0:13
notably broad soft platform with 5mm
0:16
lugs of mega grip traction lug. You can
0:19
see just how broad the the heel is. It
0:22
has a warp knit upper um that is very
0:25
comfortable with a generous fit. Let's
0:28
get into it. Today, after all kinds of
0:30
runs and even some trekking, I took him
0:31
high above Li Marikott and I had
0:34
spectacular views of the Mlau which I'll
0:37
show you as I do my commentary.
0:39
Hi everybody, Sam from Road Trail Run
0:41
coming to you from the Valet region of
0:44
Switzerland. Then just over the
0:45
mountains there is Shamani where there
0:48
were plenty of our Hoka Maf five on the
0:52
streets and on the trails as Katrina
0:55
Hardmouth of Germany finished third in
0:58
the big race UTMB in a pair. So while
1:02
this giant isn't a carbon plated kind of
1:06
trail runner, it sure can perform. So um
1:09
let me get a sip of local beer here.
1:12
Valzan. And let's get into it. Um, what
1:16
I'm also going to show you is um, uh,
1:19
some beautiful scenery and views of the
1:20
MLAN as I took them up for a hike uh,
1:24
right above us here. And I'll describe
1:27
the ride and the fit in a bit more
1:29
detail on foot up there. So, please stay
1:32
tuned. So, our Hoka Mafade 5 is a giant
1:37
of a shoe with a 45 mm heel, 37 mm
1:42
forefoot. That that's five uh
1:44
millimeters more at the heel than the
1:47
Maf Speed 4 and 2 mm more at the
1:51
forefoot. And what Hoka set out to do,
1:54
at least what I think, is create a soft
1:57
and very leg um leg friendly shoe that
2:01
could handle just about any trail. We'll
2:03
get into the midsole, but let's take a
2:05
look at the 5 mm uh VBR Mega Grip with
2:10
uh traction lugs. So, I've not only run
2:13
them in New Hampshire, uh, on moderate
2:16
trails, rail trails, and so on, but I
2:18
also took them trekking here, um, over,
2:22
uh, just over the mountain. And here's
2:24
what that kind of looked like.
2:27
And, uh, I've taken them today. I also
2:30
took on a pretty rugged hike up above
2:33
here, about 3,000 uh, vertical feet of
2:35
climbing. So, let's talk about the
2:37
midsole a little bit. So what Hoka has
2:40
done here with the midsole is they have
2:42
gone with a super critical EVA. The
2:45
black here you can see it's quite soft.
2:48
Uh the teal colored material is a
2:52
compressed EVA. Not it's a bit denser in
2:56
feel not super firm as well. You can see
2:59
those flexing grooves. Well this is a
3:02
relatively flexible shoe and to keep it
3:05
stable and you can see the shiny there.
3:08
uh Hoka incorporated a uh plastic uh uh
3:13
plate system and that's kind of
3:15
essential given the softness of this
3:17
shoe. You can even see here, you know,
3:20
you can see I'm pressing in. This is one
3:23
soft trail runner. Uh that has its
3:26
advantages and disadvantages. The
3:29
advantage is you've got a lot of comfort
3:32
for long miles. The disadvantage might
3:34
be that instead of kind of a platform
3:37
you land on, you've got kind of a feel
3:39
that adapts to the terrain. Let's talk
3:42
about the warpn knit upper with a
3:45
dynamic vamp up front. Uh it fits me
3:49
true to size, but with my narrower to
3:51
medium feet, but this is definitely a
3:54
roomy upper. There'll be a wide, but I
3:56
think uh a lot of folks who typically
3:58
might go wide in a trail runner trail
4:01
running shoe will end up going regular
4:04
here. So, it's probably a good idea to
4:05
try them on. You'll see um in this
4:09
picture how tightly I have them laced
4:11
up. There's a moderate toe bumper. The
4:16
fit is really comfortable and and really
4:18
plays well with the overall comfort of
4:21
the shoe. Heel hold is excellent. We
4:23
have a real semi kind of pliable heel
4:26
counter with lots of padding. The tongue
4:29
is unpadded. Very comfortable. Lace ups
4:34
nice and easy. Real good quality laces
4:37
in this $185 shoe. So, let now let me
4:41
show let's take them up on the mountain
4:43
and give you some scenery and further
4:45
comments. But uh to kind of uh briefly
4:48
summarize, this is a shoe focused on
4:51
overall kind of mile or kilometer after
4:55
kilometer comfort. Uh not only is it a
4:58
fine u trail runner, but uh for those
5:01
who want to use it as a hiking or
5:03
walking shoe, you probably won't find
5:05
anything quite as ca as capable of as
5:09
this uh giant of a shoe. yet its
5:12
softness is not so soft that they're
5:16
unstable or kind of out of control. So,
5:19
let's get up on the mountain.
5:28
Okay, we're at about 2,000 mters above
5:31
the Mahikut in our Maf 5. They bounce
5:36
you right along. The 5 mm mega grip is
5:38
super super grippy. Um, this is a soft
5:42
shoe. Kind of conforms to the ground
5:44
even with its plate. Uh, the upper is
5:47
very roomy. I think I'm quite well held
5:50
for my narrow medium kind of feet. Uh,
5:54
if you have really narrow feet, I think
5:56
you might struggle a bit here. You can
5:57
see I have the XBionic anatomic socks.
6:02
Fairly heavy. Not a thin sock, but not a
6:04
thick one. Uh, but lace up is really
6:07
good. You can see I got them pretty
6:08
tight. Got a great toe bumper. Lots of
6:11
toe box room here. There's just no no
6:14
issues really, I think, for just about
6:16
anybody. I think they're even available
6:17
in a wide, but I don't think very many
6:20
really will need. There's no question
6:22
it's a really fine hiking and trekking
6:25
shoe and also
6:29
of course a really good trail runner.
6:31
For the speedier runner, I think it's
6:34
more the long shoe, long distance shoe.
6:40
um can be a great everyday trainer
6:44
because it has all the cushion you could
6:45
want. It has lots and lots of traction
6:50
and it's
6:53
uh smooth running for despite that big
6:57
stack height. So here I'm going to
7:00
decide what I'm going to do. Not sure
7:03
I'm headed into the cliffs though.
7:07
Beautiful. So that's the Ron Valley down
7:10
below. La Cruz is where the lift was.
7:16
And one more shot of the Mlau.
7:19
Uh for the walker, the person who just
7:21
wants a comfortable shoe for walking,
7:24
standing around,
7:26
working. Excellent, excellent choice
7:28
here for that. I'm sure there'll be a
7:31
Gortex version soon. So for your winter
7:34
walks, walk the dog, you really won't
7:36
find anything quite as kind of plush and
7:41
versatile as as this shoe. One thing you
7:44
really notice here is how the um it
7:48
conforms to terrain really well without
7:52
getting overly unstable despite the
7:55
softness. It's just a really pleasant
7:57
pleasant feeling as you head downhill or
8:00
uphill for that matter with a a little
8:03
bit of bounce or quite a bit of bounce
8:06
but not out of control bounce and our
8:09
plate is plays a really good role. So
8:13
probably a little bit of rock protection
8:14
but there's so much foam and rubber but
8:17
more kind of to stabilize and provide a
8:20
touch of propulsion.
8:22
But all in all, this big update to the
8:24
Maf with more stack height, the nylon
8:28
plate to stabilize things and give a
8:30
little propulsion, and this really fine
8:34
upper is, I would say, a big big
8:37
success. The Hoka Maf5 is available now,
8:40
$185.
8:42
And I hope you have a great run or a
8:45
hike wherever your trails take you.
8:47
Thank you very much for watching.