Trabuco Max 4 vs Speedgoat 6

The Trabuco Max 4 is ASICS at its most cushioned: a max-stack trail running shoe built for long days on your feet rather than chasing fast times. With a tall, soft platform underfoot it soaks up rocky, root-strewn ground and keeps your legs fresher deep into an ultra or a back-to-back training block. At 315g it is a properly substantial shoe, so this is not a nimble racer and it never pretends to be. What you trade in weight you get back in protection and comfort. The 5mm drop sits low for a max-cushion shoe, which keeps you closer to the ground than the stack height suggests and helps with stability on uneven terrain. It is a neutral shoe with a wide, planted base. In our view this is one to reach for when the run is measured in hours, not minutes. If you want a lighter, snappier trail option the Hoka Speedgoat 7 is the obvious rival, but for sheer cushioned comfort the Trabuco Max 4 holds its own.

The Hoka Speedgoat 6 is the do-everything trail running shoe that most runners reach for first, and for good reason. This is a max-cushioned trail workhorse built to swallow big miles on rough ground without beating up your legs. At 278g with a 5mm drop it is not the lightest trail shoe out there, but the deep, protective ride and grippy, aggressive-lugged outsole make it a genuine one-shoe quiver for anything from a muddy local loop to a mountain ultra. We rate it as the safe, sensible pick when you want cushion, grip and durability over outright speed. If you want a plated racer for shorter, faster efforts the Hoka Tecton X 3 is the sharper tool, and the newer Speedgoat 7 refines the same recipe. For most trail runners chasing distance and comfort, though, the Speedgoat 6 remains one of the most trustworthy trail shoes you can buy.