- Weight 246g (M) 204g (W)
- Heel-To-Toe-Drop: 5mm
- Type: Road
- Price: £140
RW Summary: This new version of the Clifton is light, firm, and rolls smoothly - even with the addition of a huge heel landing pad.
- The extended heel is designed to soften and smooth landings.
- It’s the lightest Clifton for 6 years
- The thin, one-piece upper is heavenly for keeping a shoe feeling lightweight.
best carbon plate running shoes for race day best carbon plate running shoes for race day the radically different trail shoe with a huge bulge off its backside? Hoka’s brought that concept to the roads, but has tamed it for the tarmac. It should be noted that trail shoe was built specifically for bombing downhill, but the Clifton Edge is a shoe meant to be used on any road surface, not just steep descents.
A big rear end
This is the second Clifton shoe released this year and it’s immediately recognisably different from the other, the Clifton 7, because of the extended heel section which protrudes out the rear. It might not win any awards for aesthetics but it does the job it’s been put there to do, which is make for an absolutely blissful landing for heel strikers, especially when pounding downhill. This, coupled with the low weight, drew high praise from the target runner with one tester commenting: ‘I’m not the fastest runner and I get achy knees after some runs but I felt I could really go for it in these.’
Not for everyone
This is a shoe with a specific consumer in mind however, as midfoot and forefoot strikers inevitably found that the large heel section either hindered their run or at best was rendered irrelevant. But for heel strikers it gives the shoe a firmly planted, stable sensation as you load all your body weight and start to transition to your toes. The midsole cushioning foam is Hoka’s lightest to date but feel unremarkable and lacks the pop to make the shoe suitable for nippier sessions which doesn’t make them especially cost effective.
Brilliant fit on the upper
If, like us, you believe that brands should use as few materials around the foot as possible to strap on the midsole foam (within reason, of course, and appropriate for each runner’s requirements) you’ll love this. Previous Cliftons were a little on the baggy side and required tight lacing. The Edge, on the other hand, has a spectacularly thin, one-piece air mesh which controls any movement without a lot of extra elements. Hoka used TPU yarns at the tip of the toe box and along the eye row to secure up those areas, but, otherwise, it’s just lightweight mesh locking you down to all that foam.
Conclusion
Hoka should have simply called this shoe the Edge because it’s not really all that much like a Clifton. But it’s a lovely innovation for wider footed heel strikers looking for a steady run shoe.
