 And one more run in the hoka carbon rocket before calling it for the full review after the 13 miles today I will be at 68 miles in the shoe. I always put 50 in so here we go Alright it is time for the next running shoe giveaway Look at this pile ladies and gentlemen look at this pile and guess what? This is not even all the running shoes that have been sent in and again a shout out to everybody who has Taken the time to send shoes to me The pure boxes down below in case you have any gently used running shoes that you would like to get in the hands of people who? Truly truly need them. So this is very exciting We're gonna do that tonight if you missed the live stream last night You can go watch it upright upper right hand corner. Alright move it on the hoka carbon rocket It is time for the full review I now have 68 miles in this shoe and let's dive into it This is a neutral running shoe and it is a carbon fiber plate running shoe That's right the first carbon fiber plate in a hoka You can actually see the carbon fiber plate through the outsole from a marketing perspective hoka kudos to you I think that is brilliant I really enjoy being able to see that that carbon fiber plate just to prove like okay It's actually in there and as far as fit goes. I went true to size and it feels great I will say though a little narrow through the midfoot not too bad a little narrow though through the midfoot and through the towbox Nothing major and I actually kind of like that narrow snug feel for a racing shoe And yes, this is more of a racer Could you use this for some tempo work or even taking it out on the roads for like a Fartlik run or some some light intervals I would say you could and as far as the specs a 1 millimeter drop from heel to toe also called the offset So we're looking at a 26 millimeter stack height in the heel 25 millimeter in the forefoot as far as the weight goes 7.1 ounces in my sizing 203 grams and they're advertising it though and I think a size 9 is about 7.5 ounces So that's the weight and then moving on to the upper it is a engineered mesh upper and The tongue I must say Hoka Great job on the tongue of this shoe I'm gonna talk more about the upper in a minute, but oh my goodness the tongue Just I don't know if I've ever put on a more comfortable shoe with respect to how the tongue just rest and lays on top of the foot and Basically protects the foot from the lacing system so you can really get a nice snug fit without Without basically tightening down too tight on the top of your foot So good job on the upper Hoka and for the midsole Hoka has this dual density They call it the Hoka pro fly dual density foam Through this midsole so the white foam is softer for a softer landing on the heel area and the the blue foam is firmer for a little more propulsion forward and I think that's a pretty neat design Hoka. I like that. You're Changing up the density depend now it does though think about this though You got to think about your foot strike. Are you a heel striker four foot mid foot to four foot? Like how does your foot land on the ground and that might impact the benefit or lack of benefit you get from this design from the hope through the Hoka midsole this Pro this dual density midsole with the softer on the heel and firmer in the forefoot That's what this blue is all about through the outsole after 68 miles I am noticing some wear and tear on the Softer rubber on the outsole so this yellow area over here Whereas the black is the harder rubber designed to absorb more impact. That's fine But after only 68 miles I am seeing a little bit of wear and tear So that is a concern Hoka as far as the durability of this outsole and also I As I said earlier, I like that you can see the carbon fiber plate But every now and then I do get a rock stuck inside that little window Not a major deal I guess unless you're in a race and you get a rock in there and then you have to I don't know stop and pull The rock out so anyway as cool as it is to see the the window into the carbon fiber plate inside the shoe Just something to remember. I have had maybe maybe two or three times I've had to stop over the last let's say six weeks and pull a rock out of that window and let's get into a few Positives and then a few drawbacks. Let's start with the positives I'm not even kidding. This might be the most comfortable upper I've worn in Two or three years. I'm not I'm not even like if you are familiar with the new balance beacon It's kind of it's on that level and then some I don't know what you did, Hoka But this this engineered mesh and then this this little this this liner inside the shoe That connects the tongue remember I was talking about the tongue earlier It connects the tongue to the main The main body of the upper and it just is so so comfortable So high five to Hoka this upper is Incredibly comfortable in my humble opinion and one more positive. I did notice out of the box The Hoka carbon rocket felt a little stiff It just was a little bit of a harder landing compared to some other Shoes that I would put in this category But after I would say three runs It started to loosen up a little bit and feel like it had broken in and now I'm gonna go with Smooth as the keyword. That's right smooth is the key word for this video Because I'm putting this shoe now in the smooth operator Category it is it's just a really nice transition Especially if you are a heel more of a heel striker and that full I'm not I'm more midfoot But if you're if you're a heel striker It's just a really nice transition all the way through that toe off and I'm sure the carbon fiber plate is helping with that Inside that midsole, but it's it's smooth. It's just you don't feel It's probably had something also to do with that one millimeter drop There's not a big offset and so you don't feel like You don't feel like you're being pushed forward if that makes sense because the drop is so high So anyway, again, good job Hoka a nice smooth operating ride Through the hope with the Hoka carbon rocket and a couple drawbacks for the Hoka carbon rocket the one millimeter drop I'm not sure why they went that direction Um, I don't know I would be curious to hear thoughts directly from Hoka as to why they went with one millimeter I would prefer that four to six millimeter drop heel to toe and the drawback is that I feel like I'm having to work a little extra in order to Get my speed going. I don't know what like my heel is collapsing Basically through my gate cycle and through my foot strike in I'm I don't know I noticed at the first run and today on my 13 mile run. I noticed it again So it's not really going away So that's a little bit of a drawback and then I would say the only other drawback is the weight This shoe I'm gonna put in the half marathon category And I'm sure many people will use this shoe for a marathon and that's fine But it is seven point five ounces or in my size seven point one ounces I think again, you can find the lighter shoes out there on the market So Hoka if you could bump that drop up just a teeny tiny bit and then reduce the weight by about an ounce You'll be in the money like this would be a great great shoe So right now those are my big drawbacks the drop and the weight and the all-important question $160 is it worth it? I'm gonna say no it's close though It's really close start talking to me at like 145 and we're in business I would pay now I paid a hundred and sixty, but I would definitely definitely pay a hundred and forty five The price will come down. It's been out now on the market for gosh two or three months I foresee by mid-summer that this shoe will be more in the 130 to 145 range is my prediction So anyway, not quite a 160 shoe There's just those two drawbacks with a drop in the weight that for a racing shoe I think there's better options out there on the market now You're probably wondering wait a minute Seth. It's a carbon fiber plate shoe Are you feeling the benefit from the carbon fiber plate a little a little now? I think I think the carbon fiber plates in all running shoes can be a little overhyped I'm just putting that out there right now, and I was really trying to listen to my legs today to be like Okay, am I feeling a little bit of extra spring and I tell you what I am but it's very very minute Considering that this is Hoka's first inroads into the carbon fiber plate marketplace So I don't know we'll see this is just this is number one like this is the first iteration So give it time. I'm gonna give it time. I'm sure next January They will launch the whole Hoka carbon rocket too, and we'll just see what they're able to come up with in the second iteration but right now I would put the carbon fiber plate in the Hoka carbon rocket at a At a let's put it at like a B to B minus Roughly roughly as far as what I'm feeling in my legs now. You may be thinking to yourself out there Wow, this guy really likes his running shoes. Holy smokes He talks about drop all the time and all these different things and the only reason I love running shoes so much Is because I love running and the more time I spend in different shoes the more apparent it becomes as to how Frankly different The different companies are out there between Hoka or ultra or new balance or sock any or Nike or whatever You know whatever shoe you want to throw out there So I'm guess so I've read a couple comments recently where basically people saying like gosh Does the drop even really matter and I would say that it actually really really does and we're not gonna get into Why right now that'll be another vlog another day, but the question of the day If especially for those that are really tuned into the drop in a shoe What is your favorite drop and as far as give a number and why and if you want to break it down between racing and training That's fine, and I realize this is like very very specific very niche I don't think I've asked this question just like this before in the past But if I have here we go again, let's get into it What is your favorite drop and why in a shoe and I've often said like that six number is really jumps out of me I appreciate ten sometimes twelve is a little scary And then I like the zero for my for my recovery days as you well know So anyway, that is the question out of the day. All right, I'm not signing off quite yet We're gonna do the shoe giveaway all of these shoes are gonna go out Maybe I'll get some footage live with my phone so you can experience what it's like All right, good times good times in the shoe to yo hoka carbon rocket Um, I am more tired now than I was after my half marathon run today. I am tired That was amazing. Holy guacamole. We gave away. I think we gave away about 12 pairs of running shoes. You can see the carnage uh, literally Literally literally at my feet here in the studio and again. I do want to Apologize to the ladies out there. We didn't have any lady shoes tonight. I'm gonna buy I will make sure at the next running shoe giveaway. We have at least one pair of ladies running shoes For the giveaway. I will buy a pair. I don't care what it takes. I will buy a pair Um, I just don't know ahead of time I don't I don't like to always open the packages ahead of time the shoes because it's kind of fun and exciting to open Them live with all of you. Um, so anyway, I was unaware that there was no ladies shoes So I do I do apologize. That was fun. Thank you for tuning in and again if you missed it Whoa, you might want to go watch it upper right hand corner. Holy smokes. I'm gonna probably sign off um Because uh because I because I'm tired. That's probably a good reason Seek beauty work hard and love each other. Congrats to all the winners. I will mail these out tomorrow tomorrow tomorrow See you tomorrow