Hoka’s Most Exciting Shoe of 2025 Brings Next-Gen Tech to the Trails

A-TPU foam is quickly becoming the crown jewel of road running. Can Hoka popularize it on the trails?

Published August 11, 2025

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Hoka is now so big, so popular and so varied in its offerings that it’s easy to forget where it started.

The brand goes back to 2009, at the height of barefoot running, when Nicolas Mermoud and Jean-Luc Diard released the highly disruptive Mafate, a max-cushioned shoe for long-distance trail running.

This year, Hoka revisited the Mafate not once but twice, in the form of the Mafate X and Mafate 5. However, it’s the upcoming Rocket X Trail could carry the torch forward in terms of innovation and disruption.

The reason for that effectively comes down to four simple letters: A-TPU — or, if you’re shoe designer, aliphatic thermoplastic polyurethane.

Widely considered the crown jewel of next-gen shoe foam, A-TPU has started to replaced PEBA in the road running’s most exciting new racers, including the Puma Fast-R Nitro Elite 3 and Asics MetaSpeed Ray.

That said, the Rocket X Trail represents one of the first instances of a mainstream brand debuting it in a trail-first design.

Where the rubber hits the road

While Hoka’s product page for the Rocket X Trail makes no claims about the kind of efficiency runners can expect from the specific foam, other brands are less coy about A-TPU’s performance metrics.

Puma, for example, commissioned a study through the University of Massachusetts Amherst to pit the Fast-R Nitro Elite 3 against the Nike Alphafly 3 and Adidas Adios Pro Evo 1. The findings? Only the biggest leap in efficiency since super shoes first burst onto the scene with the original Vaporfly.

Puma Fast-R Nitro Elite 3 — A study commissioned by Puma found the A-TPU-powered Fast-R Nitro Elite 3 to be the world’s most efficient shoe.

Asics, also, has made lofty claims about the A-TPU in the MetaSpeed Ray. According to the brand, the foam is 15 percent lighter, 13.7 percent bouncier and 30 percent softer than even its own PEBA-based formulas in the exceptionally quick MetaSpeed Sky Paris and MetaSpeed Edge Paris.

Asics metaspeed ray — Asics has also adopted A-TPU for the MetaSpeed Ray, arguably its most advanced shoes to date.

Its application in the Rocket X Trail follows a dual-layer design, paired with an H-shaped carbon-fiber plate for stability and propulsion. The result is one of the lightest shoes in Hoka’s trail lineup, with a listed weight of 9.45 ounces.

For context, the latest iteration of the UTMB-winning Tecton X weighs 10 ounces, while the Mafate X clocks in at 12.10 ounces.

What’s more the Rocket X Trail features an aggressive rocker that the brands says was inspired by “road racing.”

At face value, it’s tempting to reduce the shoe to a tame alternative to the Tecton X, one that might thrive in less-technical conditions.

Then again, Hoka athlete Ludovic Pommeret reportedly wore prototypes of the Rocket X Trail to win both the 2024 and 2025 editions of the Hardrock 100. And Fuzhao Xiang made the podium of Western States in a pair.

Perhaps for now, it’s enough to call it quick, efficient and easily Hoka’s most exciting new shoe of 2025.

Availability and pricing

The product page for the Rocket X Trail is now live on Hoka’s official website, suggesting a release date right around the corner.

It costs $250 and comes in a single colorway at launch: black with “Skyward Blue” detailing around the midsole.

Hoka Rocket X Trail

$250 at Hoka

About the Author:

Jack Seemer is the executive editor at Gear Patrol, with over a decade of experience in product journalism. He currently reports on a wide range of topics, including footwear, watches, EDC, cookware and more.