The thick stack of foam has more than enough cushioning for a full marathon while it doesn’t overly compress so you don’t feel like you’re fighting with the shoe over long distances. The foam density of the Clifton 8 now feels like the perfect balance between soft and firm. In my mind, the Clifton 8 was firmer than the Clifton 7 because I’ve been running in super-soft shoes like the Nike Invincible Run and the New Balance Rebel V2 in the last 5 months and I haven’t been running in the Clifton 7. I suspected that the midsole of the Clifton 8 was firmer than the midsole of the Clifton 7 but when I did an A/B test and I wore them both at the same time, one on each foot, and I went for a run, I came to the conclusion that they are very similar in density. The high level of cushioning meant that at the end of the run, my legs still felt fresh. It was easy to pick up the pace and go under 5 minutes per kilometer because of its midsole that wasn’t overly soft and the rocker shape of it which made transitions less sluggish.Īfter the first long run, I was pleasantly surprised by how effortless the run felt. The Clifton 8 felt more versatile than the Clifton 7. The roads and pathways became waterlogged but the traction of the Clifton 8 was fantastic and I never felt like I was going to slip. Halfway through the run, it started to pour and the Clifton 8’s absorbed a lot of water. To me, it felt firmer than the Clifton 7. I was shocked by how firm the new midsole felt. I decided to take the Clifton 8 out on an easy 40 kilometer run for its maiden voyage. Luckily, when I started running in it, the uncomfortable, prominent arch sensation disappeared. The “bucket seat” poking arch sensation is usually present in Cliftons but this time it was amplified and walking around in the Clifton 8 was very uncomfortable because I have flat feet. However, when I tried it on for the first time, I thought that I had made a mistake going for the normal version. The regular Clifton looks like a completely different shoe to the wide version: it’s more agile, nimble, and doesn’t have the boat-like silhouette of the 2E wide. This time, I decided to try the regular width. It’s more widely available than the regular D width and some countries only bring in the wide version due to the notoriously narrow fit of Hokas. I normally buy the wide version of the Clifton. So does the Clifton 8 with its newer midsole foam have what it takes to take back the crown of the King of Cushioning? Hoka One One Clifton 8 First Impressions The Clifton 8 is slightly heavier than the Clifton 7 at 8.9oz compared to 8.7oz. The Clifton has a new midsole foam which is still CMEVA (compression molded ethylene-vinyl acetate) but is 15% lighter than the Clifton 7’s midsole foam. The Clifton 8 hopes to take back the crown with its brand new midsole, outsole, and upper. The New Balance Rebel V2 is also a softer shoe than the Clifton 7 and its super critical midsole foam results in an extremely light but also cushioned trainer. The Nike Invincible Run is now the softest trainer on the market and its full-length ZoomX midsole is ridiculously bouncy and uber soft at the same time. I stopped using the Clifton 7 when newer, bouncier and softer trainers hit the market and dethroned the Clifton 7 as the King of Max Cushioning. I really enjoyed using my pair for easy and recovery runs towards the end of the week when my legs were sore from a full week of high mileage. When the Clifton 7 came out back in August, it was one of the softest running shoes on the market with that signature Hoka, marshmallow-soft ride. Now, only 9 months later, the Clifton 8 has been launched. The Clifton 7 was launched in August last year. Recently, the Clifton 6 and 7 went back to the Clifton’s roots and were vast improvements in fit and ride. The versions that followed were nothing like the first version, the shoe that put Hoka on the map. In the years that followed, Hoka changed the Clifton drastically. He achieved exactly that with the first version of the Clifton: it was lightweight, soft and responsive all at the same time. He wanted to design a shoe that would make him feel like he was flying down the mountain he wanted a feeling of weightlessness and freedom. Nicolas Mermoud, the co-founder of Hoka One One came up with the idea for the Clifton when he was running down the slopes of Table Mountain down to Clifton Beach. The Clifton is named after the beautiful Clifton Beach in Cape Town, South Africa which has majestic blue water and soft, white sand.
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