There are plenty of running shoes that want you to know exactly what they are. Road shoe. Trail shoe. Long-run shoe. Racing shoe. The Hoka Stinson 8 is a little less interested in picking a lane.
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HOKA has historically called it the “Swiss Army Knife” of shoes, and that description still makes a lot of sense. It’s a shoe designed to handle a little bit of everything — pavement, gravel, bark paths, smooth trails and whatever else your route happens to throw at you.
We checked out the Stinson 7 nearly three years ago, and the Stinson 8 feels like a pretty substantial overhaul without losing the basic identity of the shoe: a high-stack, highly cushioned, multi-terrain option for runners who don’t necessarily want to pick their route based on what’s underfoot.
Looks:
The Stinson 8 comes in four different colorways, and our review pair is by far the most boisterous and loud version of the bunch. I also happen to think it’s the best-looking one.
The other options are primarily navy, black and grey, so if you’re looking for something a little more subdued, HOKA has you covered. But if you’re going to wear a shoe with this much personality and this much foam under your feet, you might as well lean into it.
Specs
- Stack Height: 44mm/39mm (43mm/38mm in womens)
- Drop: 5mm
- Weight: ~11.3 oz in M10 (9.6 oz. in W8)
Upper:
The Stinson 8’s upper is all about breathable comfort while also providing enough structure to keep you locked in. HOKA redesigned the upper for a more secure fit, which is especially important when you’re sitting this high off the ground.
The stability starts with that broad platform, but the upper plays a role too. There’s a completely padded, gusseted tongue, along with padded overlays through the upper that help provide a more secure midfoot hold when you lace things down.
There’s a good amount of cushion around the foot, and the overall hold was solid.
We took these on a variety of runs, and even on some of the more uneven terrain, they felt surprisingly stable. I’m not the world’s most technical trail runner, so I can’t speak to how they’ll perform on uber-aggressive climbs and descents, but for the vast majority of runners out there, I think the stability is going to be more than adequate.
Midsole:
The Stinson 8 doesn’t hide the fact that it’s a max-cushion shoe. With 44mm of stack underfoot, there’s plenty of foam between you and the ground, but surprisingly, it doesn’t feel overly soft or unstable.
The broad platform gives it a planted feel, while HOKA’s reworked H-Frame helps keep all that cushioning controlled. On pavement, it’s plush and comfortable, while gravel and smoother trails are where that combination of cushion and stability really starts to make sense.
The rocker adds a smooth, gentle transition without feeling overly aggressive. It’s not trying to make you run fast; it’s simply making those easy miles feel a little easier.
For me, it has enough cushion to make longer, slower runs comfortable, but enough structure underneath to keep things from getting sloppy when the route leaves the pavement. It’s a nice balance for the runner who wants protection without feeling like they’re running on a giant marshmallow.
Outsole:
The outsole is equipped with Durabrasion rubber and 3.5mm bi-directional lugs, making the Stinson 8 ready for most of the terrain the average runner is likely to encounter.
So far, we’ve found it working well on dry trails and bark paths, and I anticipate the outsole really showing its value once the weather gets wetter and additional traction becomes more important. There’s not a whole lot more to say here other than that it performs admirably.
We did notice that the transition from trail to road is a little more noticeable underfoot than it would be in a dedicated road shoe. But that’s not exactly a surprise given what the Stinson is designed to do. If you need to put a few miles on pavement to connect two trailheads, it’s certainly not going to be an issue.
That said, it’s important to remember that this is still a max-cushion shoe. It handles rough ground best when the trail is smooth to moderately rough. Once you get into sharp, loose or truly technical terrain, that big stack becomes a little more noticeable and the shoe feels less secure.
Overall
The HOKA Stinson 8 is a solid marriage of plush cushioning and stability, and I think the biggest selling point is really its versatility.
It skews heavy at around 11.3 ounces in a men’s 10, depending on size, so this probably isn’t the shoe most (any?) runners will reach for when they’re looking to race. But that’s also a pretty significant improvement over the Stinson 7, with the Stinson 8 dropping over 1.5 ounces and coming in as the lightest Stinson to date.
For runners who have some variety in their trail running — or who don’t want to think too hard about whether today’s route will include pavement, gravel, bark or dirt — the Stinson 8 makes a pretty compelling case. It really is a Swiss Army Knife of a shoe. Just maybe one with a whole lot more cushion.
