Hoka was founded in 2009 in Annecy, in the French Alps, by two former Salomon product men — Nicolas Mermoud and Jean-Luc Diard — who wanted a trail shoe with enough foam and enough rocker to run downhill faster than you should. Deckers acquired the brand in 2012; by 2024 Hoka was a $1.8B line run out of Goleta, California. The Meta-Rocker geometry and oversized foam midsole remain the through-line across every model.
The Bondi is Hoka's max-cushion daily road trainer — the most foam the brand makes for the road, built around the Meta-Rocker and an Active Foot Frame that lets the heel sit inside the midsole. The 9 moved to supercritical EVA and a 43/38 mm stack; the 8 still runs CMEVA at 33/29; Bondi SR is the leather, slip-resistant work-shoe cousin on the Bondi tooling. Bondi 8 — CMEVA-era max-cushion Bondi, 33/29 mm stack, 4 mm drop. Still selling at a lower price.
Training
CA$ 146
Hoka was founded in 2009 in Annecy, in the French Alps, by two former Salomon product men — Nicolas Mermoud and Jean-Luc Diard — who wanted a trail shoe with enough foam and enough rocker to run downhill faster than you should. Deckers acquired the brand in 2012; by 2024 Hoka was a $1.8B line run out of Goleta, California. The Meta-Rocker geometry and oversized foam midsole remain the through-line across every model.
The Bondi is Hoka's max-cushion daily road trainer — the most foam the brand makes for the road, built around the Meta-Rocker and an Active Foot Frame that lets the heel sit inside the midsole. The 9 moved to supercritical EVA and a 43/38 mm stack; the 8 still runs CMEVA at 33/29; Bondi SR is the leather, slip-resistant work-shoe cousin on the Bondi tooling. Bondi 8 — CMEVA-era max-cushion Bondi, 33/29 mm stack, 4 mm drop. Still selling at a lower price.
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Bondi 8