“What’s that shoe?!” A passerby requested as we ran on this shoe for the primary time.
This used to be the similar query that hundreds of enthusiasts had whilst looking at HOKA athlete Jim Walmsley win the 2023 UTMB in a couple of puzzle black sneakers.
We get it. The Jim Walmsley 2023 UTMB shoe had a captivating look. And so does the coming-very-soon, and in hyper-limited amounts, HOKA Tecton X 2.5.
A gaiter and an enormous midsole made with a unique foam than different sneakers within the Tecton X lineage give this shoe a far other appear and feel. Oh, and the way concerning the easy, two-tone colorway at the X 2.5, which deviates considerably from HOKA’s standard rainbow colour palette?
Jim Walmsley profitable the 2023 UTMB dressed in a mysterious pair of black HOKA sneakers. Picture: iRunFar/Meghan Hicks
Within the X 2.5, Tecton X style enthusiasts will have to acknowledge the Matryx higher and Vibram Megagrip Litebase outsole with its vital and strategic cutouts as each just about similar to the X 2.
Whilst we would possibly by no means know the whole main points of what went into the Jim Walmsley 2023 UTMB shoe, something is evidently: The HOKA Tecton X 2.5 is indisputably its sibling — possibly even a fraternal dual.
An in depth-up view of Jim Walmsley’s 2023 UTMB sneakers. Picture: iRunFar/Meghan Hicks
The HOKA Tecton X Lineage
The unique HOKA Tecton X debuted in the summertime of 2022 as an early adopter of carbon plates in path sneakers. It used to be a very good shoe that, together with a few others, helped to spark the carbon revolution in path operating, resulting in each and every main logo popping out with its personal carbon path shoe.
The HOKA Tecton X 2, launched in 2023, is the style’s present model. With the X 2, the logo presented the preferred Matryx higher subject material and added some higher overlays that helped the shoe lock down higher. Thus, the X 2 items itself as a extra delicate model of the Tecton X.
So far, iRunFar Editor-in-Leader Meghan Hicks wears the Tecton X 2 for her pace workout routines and some other runs for which she cares about efficiency and tempo. iRunFar Managing Associate Editor Nathan Allen says, “General, of the higher-end path racing large sneakers I’ve examined, the Tecton X 2 is most likely best one or two for me. They’re very rapid, responsive, and environment friendly.” The iRunFar crew so loves the Tecton X 2 that it sounds as if in two of our category-level guides: very best cushioned path trainers and very best light-weight path trainers.
Introducing the HOKA Tecton X 2.5. Picture: iRunFar/Bryon Powell
For the reason that iRunFar crew is partial to the Tecton X, our passion, like that of such a lot of others, used to be piqued right through the 2023 UTMB via Jim Walmsley’s sneakers, which regarded to us like offspring of the HOKA Tecton X 2 and HOKA Rocket X 2 — the logo’s carbon plated highway racing shoe. However mum used to be most commonly the phrase at the shoe, and no person, together with iRunFar, used to be in a position to be informed too a lot more.
Speedy ahead to The Working Tournament business display in overdue 2023, and runners have been handled to a peek at the latest within the Tecton X line, the HOKA Tecton X 3, on its method to marketplace in the second one part of 2024. Whilst the Tecton X 3 contained loads of adjustments from the X and X 2, making it glance reasonably other, it additionally regarded in an instant acquainted: This used to be going to be the economic model of the Jim Walmsley 2023 UTMB shoe.
The HOKA Tecton X 2.5 within the wild. Picture: iRunFar/Meghan Hicks
Introducing the HOKA Tecton X 2.5
Now, rapid ahead some other part a yr to the current and the coming of the particular version HOKA Tecton X 2.5.
In step with HOKA, this style will most effective be in the stores in particular person and earlier than the 2024 Western States 100 in California. This can be a few months earlier than the promised complete free up of the HOKA Tecton X 3 later this yr. It’s cheap for us to suspect that this can also be Jim Walmsley’s shoe on the upcoming 2024 Western States 100.
A lateral view of the HOKA Tecton X 2.5 displays how prominently the dual-layer PEBA foam options within the shoe’s aesthetic. Picture: iRunFar/Bryon Powell
Listed below are the specs we’ve been in a position to collect in this elusive HOKA Tecton X 2.5:
- Precise Weight: 9.3 oz (264 grams) for a U.S. males’s 9
- Overall Stack Peak: 44 millimeters on the heel, 39 millimeters on the toe
- Higher: Matryx subject material with a gaiter and speedlaces
- Midsole: Twin-layer PEBA foam with two parallel carbon fiber plates inserted between the froth layers
- Outsole: Vibram Megagrip Litebase with 5-millimeter lugs
- Worth: $300
The gaiter and speedlaces are noticeable in a medial view of the HOKA Tecton X 2.5. Picture: iRunFar/Bryon Powell
Evaluating the HOKA Tecton X 2 and X 2.5
How do the HOKA Tecton X 2 and X 2.5 evaluate?
- Weight: The X 2.5 is available in at 6 grams heavier than the X 2 within the U.S. males’s 9.
- Higher: The now-popular Matryx higher subject material used to be presented within the X 2, and it carries into the X 2.5, even though there’s a dramatic shift in shape and orientation of the overlays. The numerous exchange to the higher, even though, is the addition of the gaiter to the X 2.5, which can even characteristic within the X 3. We additionally observe that the speedlaces are provide most effective at the X 2.5. They aren’t at the X 2, received’t be at the X 3, and weren’t at the Jim Walmsley 2023 UTMB shoe both.
- Midsole: The X 2.5’s midsole is a two-layer PEBA foam referred to as super-shoe foam with its presence within the best highway racing sneakers. PEBA foam has a perfect recognition for its cushion and responsiveness. This midsole is much softer than the X 2’s two-layer EVA foam midsole, which has one softer EVA layer on best of a less assailable layer. Each the X 2.5 and X 2 midsoles are made of 2 layers, and two parallel carbon plates are inserted between them. This complete development package deal is what HOKA calls ProFlyX. Giving credence to our previous hypothesis that the Jim Walmsley 2023 UTMB shoe used to be a Tecton X 2/Rocket X 2 mashup, the durometer in this midsole feels sneakily like that of the HOKA Rocket X 2, which additionally has dual-layer PEBA foam.
- Outsole: The X 2 and X 2.5’s outsoles are just about equivalent. Each use the devoted Vibram Megagrip Litebase subject material with strategic protection and uncovered midsole that endeavors to steadiness traction with weight financial savings. The lugs at the X 2.5 are 5 millimeters tall, which is 1 millimeter greater than the ones of the X 2.
The HOKA Tecton X 2.5 outsole, which is similar to either one of the prior editions of this style, the HOKA Tecton X and X 2. Picture: iRunFar/Bryon Powell
How you can Acquire the HOKA Tecton X 2.5
So right here’s the place issues get attention-grabbing: The HOKA Tecton X 2.5 has hyper-limited availability.
Simply 100 pairs are being introduced for reservation solely to athletes, pals, and circle of relatives of the 2024 Western States 100. In a couple of days, Western States 100 registered entrants will obtain an invitation via electronic mail to buy those sneakers, will have to they need. After this, any final pairs might be introduced first come, first serve.
The iRunFar crew trying out the the HOKA Tecton X 2.5. Picture: iRunFar/Meghan Hicks
An inevitable results of the particular version HOKA Tecton X 2.5 on the 2024 Western States 100 is that the query, “What’s that shoe?!” isn’t going away anytime quickly.
[Editor’s Note: This article is sponsored by HOKA. Thank you to HOKA for its sponsorship of iRunFar, which helps to make iRunFar happen and free for all to enjoy. Learn more about our sponsored articles.]
The gaiter and speedlaces are noticeable portions of the HOKA Tecton X 2.5’s higher. Picture: iRunFar/Meghan Hicks