Hoka Crescendo XC Spikes Review - AW24

October 9, 2024

Hoka say: "Built off the blueprints of the Crescendo MD, the new Crescendo XC delivers an approachable race flat for the cross-country crowd. Geared for up-and-coming athletes, this entry-level spinoff features an adaptable rubber outsole tuned for a variety of racecourses. Nimble, rugged, and inconceivably light, the Crescendo XC is equipped to handle a multitude of conditions with a 6-pin spike plate."

On the whole that's not a bad summary - "approachable" is a cute expression although as the heaviest 2024 XC spike on test (so far) here at XCS Towers calling it "inconceivably light" is a bit of a stretch. It's definitely fair to say that the design is a good one for the less grizzled end of the cross country runner spectrum - the built up sole give it a 'shoe' feel on your feet which will reduce pressure on calves and Achilles tendons.

On the track, the Crescendo MD is Hoka's entry-level middle distance shoe, and the Crescendo XC is its winter brother/sister shoe. It's also the only Hoka XC spike currently in the range, so there's no 'top end' equivalent, unlike Nike which offers both the Zoom Rival and ZoomX Dragonfly to different ends of the market.

Allargando poco crescendo

Putting it on, the thing you notice about this shoe is that it runs small, so it's definitely worth going up a size. It's not unusual for a brand's XC spikes to come out smaller than the same brand's other shoes and the Hoka has (knowingly or otherwise) adopted this trend.

The six spike pins are well spaced out to reduce clogging and unusually the pins aren't recessed into the sole at all. Looking at the image on the right, the spikes sit right on the surface of the sole; compare that to the more common arrangement on the New Balance XC7 where the pins sit in a bit of a recess and you've gained a few mm of spike length (so can get away with using 12s when everyone around you is in 15s). It also makes the shoe easier to clean and to get your spike wrench into the right place when inserting and (more challenging) removing worn, muddy, pins.

Image: www.xcstore.co.uk

The Weight

As we always say, there's more to think about in XC spike metrics than purely the weight of the shoe. There's most definitely more to worry about that just the dry weight, since your feet are wet from warming up and running to the start. The Hoka comes in at 205g dry (Hoka claim 202g, which might be without laces and isn't far off, anyway).

Image: www.xcstore.co.uk

The best part of this test, putting the shoe in water for 15 minutes to see how heavy it is afterwards, surprised me. After a quarter of an hour in cold water it weighed 304g That puts it as the heaviest on test but the only model to absorb less than 50% of its dry weight. This isn't PhD level research and the difference to the New Balance (193g dry, 302g wet) is within a 1% margin of error, but nevertheless the Hoka did well here. I'd put that down to the relatively thin upper and Achilles area, in contrast to the Asics which was thicker round the back, and retained the water there.

Park Test

After swapping the size 9 for one larger, the Hoka was put to the test at Cofton Park, the former Inter Counties XC venue (and site of the British Leyland works back in the day) to the south of Birmingham. On the reasonably firm ground of early October, there wasn't enough mud to really sink into. The shoe's thick sole made it feel a bit unstable on the hard and uneven ground, leaving the tester feeling like a flamingo balanced on a matchbox. Coming downhill meant landing close to the heel or putting in some plantar flexion to put the spike plate in the ground first.

My own taste for xc spikes is for a flatter design - it not only requires less sole (weight) but leaves the shoe more in balance at pace. Off-road, on British XC courses at least, there's no cause to put cushioning or "energy return" into the shoe, it just needs to keeps conkers & stones out and provide traction. A bit of sole can be nice especially in a training spike - the old Saucony Kilkenny did that but retained a 'flat' feeling underfoot, without the heel stack affecting ankle stability. The trends of road design don't always cross over well into xc spike design, even at the "approachable" end of the market.