Hoka Mafate Speed 2 Black Castlerock

Released on 28 December 2023 and part of the Mafate Speed 2 line. This piece is made in monomesh in Black/Castlerock. Mafate is the name Hoka reaches for when the terrain gets serious, and the Speed 2 is the version tuned for moving quickly over it rather than merely surviving it. The whole company exists because two French trail runners, Nicolas Mermoud and Jean-Luc Diard, decided in 2009 that a thicker outsole would let them attack descents instead of braking down them, and a Mafate is that thesis at full volume. Black Castlerock is the least decorative way to own one: near-black upper, grey-toned midsole and overlays, no colour to soften the size of the platform. It is a mountain shoe styled like a city shoe, which is a large part of why it left the mountain.