Gear Garage #7: Hoka Clayton

It's no secret that I'm a Hoka guy. I love that plush ride but loath the persistent blisters especially on longer runs of 15 miles or more. So when Hoka introduced the Clayton and proclaimed to have a roomier toe box I had to try it.Once I slipped on the shoe it was like, FINALLY they fixed the width issue! I've run around 100 miles on varied trail and found the shoe to perform well with no blisters so far, but there is a hotspot that I will touch on in a bit. For a road shoe the Clayton performs exceptionally well on most trails. I used the shoe during the El Vaquero Loco trail race in Afton Wyoming and didn't have any grip issues with the steep uphills and the rocky descents didn't bother me one bit. If your local trails are steep and rocky then this shoe is not the best option.Now for the one bad...there's a hotspot on the medial side of the shoe where the no-sew upper joins the outsole. This has the potential to cause some serious blister and has been noted as such in other reviews of the Clayton.For more information on the Clayton you can visit the Hoka site here:http://www.hokaoneone.com/mens-road/c...Remember the TrailManners podcast airs every Tuesday and can be found here:http://trailmanners.com