Hoka Bondi X Review

Hoka’s new Bondi X is the ‘X’ version or ‘carbon plate’ version of their popular long-distance, mega-cushioned trainer…the Bondi X, I hope you enjoy this review.

For those of you who are short on time, let’s quickly get to the point with a summary review of the Hoka Bondi X, selected details follow afterwards. It’s worth highlighting now that you can buy directly from Hoka and try them for free for a month, if you don’t like them you can return them for a refund!

Heads Up: This is not a sponsored post and I bought these with my own money. If you buy using the links here, you support the day-to-day running of this site with a small commission. Thank you. If you enjoy the content but don’t buy, please consider becoming a supporter/subscriber. Thank you again.

Hoka Bondi X – First impressions just lacing up

I felt like my head was going to hit the door frames in my house, these shoes are well stacked and any previous inhibitions I had about might height (or lack of it) were expunged by the Hoka. I contemplated entering my local ‘stilts’ race (no-one would have noticed I was wearing shoes rather than stilts) but settled on a 5K parkrun instead 😉

It’s a nice, snug lace-up and my heels feel nicely locked into the rear cup. Nice enough for the speeds I intend to run at with these shoes at any rate.

I liked the heel loops that seem ever-more common these days and I’ve always liked the Hoka aesthetic and Bondi X is no exception.

Hoka Bondi X – How do they run?

Bondi X is soft and comfortable and I’m certainly going to use this pair for some of my longer runs. I’m not especially heavy (70kg) but tend to slap my foot down a bit too hard sometimes and these were fine at absorbing my attempts to smash the road surface, I suspect that runners who are heavier than me will be fine with these too, especially because of the wide heal that must make the surface area of the impact bigger and hence less impactful on your body.

I didn’t notice any extra spring from either the foam or the carbon plate on my longer runs and, indeed, when I ventured off-road and onto some bumpy, wet grass surfaces it felt like the shoes were heavier than they really were.

What I did notice was that the extra-wide sole at the rear/heel seemed to want to guide my footstrike in a way that I didn’t want it to be guided.

Hoka Bondi X Specifications

Price and Availability

These are available on hoka.com and elsewhere.  I suspect that they will be discounted soon enough.

You should be able to get these for at most £180/$210/Eu210

Why not take advantage of Hoka.com’s offer of a free try before you buy? You get a month’s free usage and can then return them for a refund if you don’t like them.

Direct: Hoka.com

Take Out

Perfectly fine neutral running shoes which anyone can use for any kind of run.

Well, anyone who can afford the price tag

Mr Hoka needs to innovate on the foam. I need more bounce not just more cushioning. But Mr Hoka also realises that people pay a premium for carbon because, well, it’s carbon isn’t it?

Simply put: They’re too expensive and too over-engineered for the intended purpose.

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