The Rocket X is the lightest running shoe in the Hoka lineup and is made for speed. Just looking at the shoe I must say I love the way it looks. The design of the shoe is great, the upper material is a breathable mesh, which makes it very light. The shoe has a carbon fiber plate in it like the Carbon X, which is what should give you that ‘edge’ that would help push you forward during your race.
The shoe is advertised on the Hoka site as a race day shoe for the elite athlete. Which to me seems like code for these shoes won’t last you too long if you wear them as training shoes all the time. Now looking at the bottom of the shoe the foam is partially exposed, but the yellow part will actually help with the durability of the shoe. It’s not real thick, so I’m not sure how long that will actually last you, but I’m thinking you can still get some decent millage out of them.
The foam feels pretty soft when you press on it or step in it, but it still does feel like a very stable shoe, it’s not like it’s real bendable or that it wouldn’t support you.
I did a long run in the shoes and a 5K at a fast pace. Now they say the shoe is made with short distance runs in mind, but I think they are actually fine for longer runs as well. As a matter of fact that might be where the lightness of the shoe will come in very handy. You’ll be able to still go strong and get your feet off the ground thanks to the weightlessness of the shoes.
In order to run faster your heels should go up towards your butt when you run, this is hard cause it costs muscle strength to do this, when your shoes are lighter that will become easier, especially after you’ve already put in a lot of miles.
The thing that I don’t like though is the thought that they won’t last too long, you have to give up some material for that light weight, and that is what normally would make your shoes last longer.
The foam I love, I love running in shoes with some extra cushion. When I got the Adidas Sub2 I enjoyed running in them, but to get them to be lightweight they really cut down on the boost. I was a little bit scared that Hoka would have done the same, but the cushion actually feels great.
The carbon fiber plate gives you that little bit of extra bounce to it and makes it an incredibly comfortable shoe. For short races or a half marathon, I think it will perform great for both, I would actually argue that it would be even better for that half marathon because of the light weight, the question is if the foam performs just as well during a longer run as it would for just 5K.
Now it is a more expensive shoe, at about $160 -$180 it is not for everybody, but it’s a shoe that has to compete with the Nike next % and Alphafly, which are $300 shoes. So with the Rocket X you get some great value for your money in this shoe that only weighs 210 grams and has some great cushioning and stability.
