Intro [Music] how's it going guys I'm Conor from running warehouse and I'm Grace from running warehouse and today we are going to be taking a first look at the new Hoka tekon X3 now the tekon X Series is really what started it all for Hoka in the carbon plated Trail scene the first two versions of this shoe were really fast fun and Nimble shoes the pros loved them but we really didn't see it on the feet when it came to ultramarathon 100m distances right and I like to the tectonics too I used it quite a bit for my workouts and a 50-mile I ran last year but I also thought that there just wasn't quite enough protection for those longer distances I think coming into version 3 I was really excited to see it the Prototype on Jim Wamsley at UTMB it obviously performed really well for that 100 mile distance on technical terrain so I think there's a lot to talk about cuz the shoe looks completely different now yeah I mean this is basically a new Midsole shoe a lot to talk about and I think we'll start off with the midsole we've got a new fulllength pea base compound we've seen these peba Foams in some of the road shoes like the cell X1 the rocket X2 that pea based compound just creates a little bit softer bouncier more responsive ride everyone's going the super Foams but you got to change it up a little bit for the trails in the tekon X3 you've got a slightly softer peba Compound on the top with a slightly firmer on the bottom and wedged between that foam you've got a carbon plate now the plate is also a little bit different in this shoe it's actually two plates that are going to lie parallel to each other really act as a suspension system and another thing to note is the winglet design it goes up the sidewalls on the medial and lateral side and it just creates a little bit more inherently stable design that will work well in the trails yeah and I think having that additional Cushing stability is GNA just really broen what this shoe can be used for and I know when I race 100ks and 100 MERS I really like shoes that have heighten stack Heights and just a lot more cushion I'm someone that prefers Comfort over anything when I'm going to be on a trail for hours and hours on end so she was like the New Balance more Trail where there's just so much protection and I think with the tecton X3 it has those protective properties but it also has the Speed and Performance element as well yeah you Outsole know the tekon X3 really offers that nice balance of protection and speed but the midsole is only one upgrade we also got to look down at the outsole we've got a new vbr meag grip setup it's going to run full length we've got these larger lugs a lot beefier than what we saw in the last version in the forfoot and in the heel they're multi-directional that'll give that nice bite and you can't forget that secondary traction you see on the side of the lugs that will just give that little bit of extra micro traction that extra bite when terrain gets a little rough yeah this outsole is such a huge upgrade from the previous model just in the rubber compound alone you can feel it's a lot stickier and I think that's going to be really nice for when you're going into different elements it's really common that in the middle of a race it might start raining or you get up to a section with snow or mud so having an outso that can handle all of that is super beneficial moving on up to the upper Upper again on the theme of big changes with this shoe we've got a radical design change and I think the part that I'm most excited about is the Matrix upper that runs through the sides of the shoe that Matrix design is always really durable it helps make the material really thin but without sacrificing any durability we've also got this really nice soft panel in the forefoot that's really comfortable and a seamless design that feels really natural on foot and then of course you can't forget about this crazy heel Gator I'm always a little skeptical of designs like this but just on first feel it actually felt pretty comfortable yeah and I I think there will be quite a bit of people that might have some mixed feelings about the gator I personally I'm pretty excited about it one of my favorite shell shoes was the Nike Wild Horse 7 that had a gator like upper it wasn't as high as this one but it had the same concept it's there to keep the Bri out so I think overall that with the Matrix upper and the adaptability for the toes playay I think this all together is going to perform really well well you know look the tekon X3 is an allnew shoe now it's a true super shoe for the trails peo based foam carbon plate sticky grip and the trail Gator Upper everything about this shoe is built to go far it's built to be efficient and I think it's going to be the ultimate 100m shoe if you're looking to get the Hoka tekon X3 on your own feet you can find it here at running [Music] Warehouse