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 $1.8B line run out of Goleta, California. The Meta-Rocker geometry and oversized foam midsole remain the through-line across every model.
Skyward X is Hoka's super-trainer — PEBA top layer, supercritical EVA carrier, and an H-shaped carbon plate sandwiched between, at 49/44 mm stack. Hoka's lab measured 66.2% heel / 68.5% forefoot energy return. Skyward Laceless strips the laces for a one-piece triple-jacquard-knit slip-on on the same platform — the recovery-and-commute cousin. Skyward X — 320 g, 49/44 mm, H-frame carbon plate, the cushiest non-race Hoka.
Racing
CA$ 280
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.
Skyward X is Hoka's super-trainer — PEBA top layer, supercritical EVA carrier, and an H-shaped carbon plate sandwiched between, at 49/44 mm stack. Hoka's lab measured 66.2% heel / 68.5% forefoot energy return. Skyward Laceless strips the laces for a one-piece triple-jacquard-knit slip-on on the same platform — the recovery-and-commute cousin. Skyward X — 320 g, 49/44 mm, H-frame carbon plate, the cushiest non-race Hoka.
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Skyward X