Hoka Skyward X Review

The Hoka Skyward X is the replacement for the Hoka Bondi X. Essentially it is a maximally cushioned shoe that provides a plush ride with a bit of propulsion. Where the Bondi X was simply a Hoka Bondi with a carbon plate added, the Hoka Skyward X is a shoe that has been designed from scratch to provide a very unique combination of cushioning and propulsion.

Hoka was the first brand to come up with an ‘oversized’ midsole. Essentially they put a lot more foam between the runner’s foot and the floor, cradling the foot in a bath tub type shape. This allowed Hoka to provide a very unique and softly cushioned ride. The midsoles were then curved to create a ‘rocker’ so you didn’t sink into the soft foam and stop moving. The rocker kept your foot moving backwards when it touched the floor. This allows the runner to run in a more upright running style with a quick cadence, which is more efficient than the higher-heeled running shoes then on the market that created more braking force when your foot touched the ground. A lot of runners enjoy the ride they get from Hoka running shoes and now lots of other running shoe brands have started producing shoes with oversized midsoles and rockers. It’s no surprise that Hoka wants to push things on a little bit further and produce a shoe with ‘even more’.

The Skyward X has a stack height of 48mm in the heel and 43mm in the forefoot of the men’s version and 46mm in the heel and 41mm in the forefoot of the women’s version. This is not only a lot of foam under your foot, but the foam is designed to give the highest level of rebound. The midsole of the Skyward X is split into three components. At the top is a PEBA foam, which is the highly responsive foam used by many brands to make their carbon plated road racing shoes. It is soft but has a very high rebound to give a ‘bouncy’ feel. The bottom layer is the cage that the other components sit in and is made from super critical foam. This also has a high rebound quality and is sealed, preventing dirt from getting into the foam and air from getting out, which makes it retain its bounce for longer.

Sandwiched between these two foams is a carbon fibre plate. A bit like the carbon plate in Hoka’s trail shoe the Tecton X, the carbon plate has two prongs to it. These run parallel up the shoe and are connected together buy by two pieces of carbon. It looks a bit like two letter ‘H’ sat on top of each other. Under the heel the plate is flared out to give more support and stabilise the foot if you land heel-first. Unlike the carbon plates in road racing shoes, the carbon plate in the Skyward X isn’t designed to just give your foot some extra spring. Instead, the plate stabilises the two soft foams in the midsole, helps maintain the rocker shape to the midsole and provides the propulsion by speeding up you gait cycle, cadence and encouraging an upright posture to keep you feeling light. It is designed to work at slower paces better than the typical carbon plated racing shoe.

The Hoka Skyward X therefore is designed to help when the runner lands on their heel, rather than a ‘picture-perfect’ mid or forefoot landing. This makes the Skyward X a good option for those looking for a shoe to help carry them through a longer road race when they aren’t running at two-hour-something marathon pace!

The fit is narrower like most Hoka running shoes, so if you’re in Hoka you’ll be fine in the same size. Hoka is similar in length to New Balance, Inov-8 and Karhu. If you use Brooks, Saucony, Altra or Topo Athletic we would suggest trying half a UK size larger.

BROWSE HOKA SKYWARD X

The heel cup has a stiff plastic heel counter to offer stability for the heel striker and hold the heel onto the shoes. The heel tab is dovetailed so that the tab curves away from the Achilles to reduce the chance of rubbing. The tongue is nicely padded to make the upper feel as comfortable and cushioned as the Skyward X does underfoot. To prevent the tongue from moving while running it is gusseted and the laces thread through a tab on the tongue. There is an additional lace hole you can use to pull the heel cup in around the heel should you require a snugger fit. You could also use the hole to butterfly lace the shoes. The upper is made from a very tightly woven mesh. It doesn’t have much stretch in order to hold the foot securely. This helps give the runner the maximum benefit from the cushioning and the propulsion underneath.

The Hoka Skyward X could be used for a few different types of runs. The level of cushioning and ride of the shoes makes them a good option for the days when your legs are tired and you want a shoe to carry you through the motion of running. The Skyward X could also be used for longer runs. The advantage they would give would be that the extra cushioning would reduce the chance of getting stiff legs the next day and the rocker would help prevent the runner from leaning forward at the waist and becoming heavy on their feet as they got tired.

I have been using the Skyward X for my longer runs. It is hilly where I live so I have been able to experience running up and downhill in the Skyward X. I also like to do pick ups in my long runs. Picks ups are where you pick up the pace for a minute or two then drop it back down to your usual easy long run pace. I find this stops my from sloppily plodding a long.

The first thing that I noticed when putting on the Skyward X is that you do feel taller. Which is what we used to say about other Hoka shoes with stack heights of 30mm but, 30mm has now become the norm. I didn’t find the midsole so soft that I was sinking into it as I walked but, there were a noticeable compression when I started to run. The rebound was also noticeable and all most instant. On steep downhills the compression is a bit more noticeable but so is the rebound. You don’t feel like the shoe is bottoming out and the level of compression doesn’t slow you down. On the flat I found that the Skyward X did carry me along. The ride was very plush and smooth and I was traveling faster than I would normally do for the same level of effort. My 1hr 35/6 minute long run with pick ups was consistently shaved down to 1 hr 30 minutes. There is a sweet spot in terms of pace where I felt like I was moving with no effort. This was at the easy run level. At a steady pace I was aware of the stack height and they didn’t feel as smooth or as plush. However, during the pick ups when I was traveling at a pace that I would aim to hold for 30 minutes or so in a race the Skyward X actually felt quite responsive and I could feel the shoes where pushing me along.

I was expecting to struggle up the hills due to the stack height and the amount of soft foam in the shoes. To my surprise I found that I got a nice spring from the shoes and the rocker prevented me from over striding. Which not only made the hills feel easier to run up but also made my posture feel a lot better. I felt taller and more upright and got into my running much easier once up the hill.

The men’s Skyward X weighs 320g in a UK8 and 261g in a women’s UK5. While cruising along at an easy pace they feel a lot lighter which is probably due to the efficiency running gait they promote.

In summary the Hoka Skyward X is a highly cushioned road running shoe that has a nice plush ride. It helps you run faster for the same effort at your easier paces allowing you to cruise through your long runs or easy recovery runs without sacrificing your running form.