Customer Reviews Hoka Bondi 5

DO NOT PURCHASE THIS SHOE!!! I have worn Hoka Constant, Vanquish and Vanquish 2 and all were great shoes. I read reviews of the Bondi 4 and people were saying it was a great road shoe, so I decided to try the all new Bondi 5. All I can say is FAIL!! This shoe is stiff and i am pretty sure a wooden board has more cushioning. If you want the well known Hoka cushion ride that is springy and comfortable, do not purchase this shoe. I put it on, wore it for one 5 mile run and not only did my knees and feet hurt, my achilles tendon was sore for 3 days. Whatever Hoka did from the Bondi 4 (that everyone raved about) to the Bondi 5 did not work at all.

Transitioned from wide 4 which was great to wide 5. Running Boston marathon. Shoe is narrow at the toe and causing numbing after a few miles.

Awful shoe. I've had 8 pairs of the Bondi 4 and that was great. These are awful and I got a stress fracture.

This is such a disappointing shoe that it makes me wonder who at Decker (Hoka) are allowing such a shoe to be the five year anniversary model. The SOFT Bondi was a great shoe. The Bondi 4 was so much better, even though it was too narrow and wore out quickly. The Bondi 2 was the best, but of course that had the original nice soft Hoka midsoles that Deckers has refused to use since they bought Hoka. Too bad, because the FIRM Bondi 5 is not worth buying. I had to give it one star just in order to complete this review, but it is not worth one star.

I had to give it one star to be able to complete this review, but it does not deserve even that! Deckers (now Hoka) has in only 3 years time, discontinued Hokas first and original shoe the Mafate and the Bondi may be next. They never used the soles that came on ANY original Hokas. They made the shoes narrower and the midsoles were like a blocks of wood, thanks to their new Rmat and EVA soles. Nobody wanted the Mafate Speed or Mafate 4 and it was recently discontinued. Now Hokas second shoe, the Bondi is heading for the same fate, unless they fix them soon. Runners don't want max cushioned shoes that are as firm as a rock. Deckers made the Bondi 4 to resemble the Bondi 2, and it was nice but narrow, even the 2E is too narrow. Downside was they only lasted half as long as the original Bondi B and Bondi 2. The Bondi 5 is a disgrace and I have nothing good to say about it, other than it is not worth buying.

I have been using Hoka's for many years. They make great shoes. I changed my shoes every 4 months. My previous shoe was bondi 4. I went to bondi 5 and started having ankle pain. I tried different options like excercising my ankle, stretching etc. But the pain never went away. When I went back to my old bondi 4, the pain went away. For the biggest problems with bondi 5 are 1, cushion does not feel pillowy any more 2. Bondi 4 had great stability, but Bondi 5 stability is moved to Neutral, due to which I started to have ankle pains. I really hope that Hoka will listen to this feedback and bring back Bondi 4. They are amazing shoes

Sad to say this is, by far, so much worse than your Bondi 4. I bought your Bondi 4 last year after searching for, literally, decades to find a high cushioned, lightweight shoe. I found it with the Bondi 4. Worked extremely well from Feb to Oct when the cushion finally gave way. I was, actually, able to jog a bit with them. I have had 3 lower back surgeries so cushion is VERY important to me in a shoe. The Bondi 5 is no where near what the Bondi 4 was. How does that happen? How do you get worse?? The right shoe has some cushion and feels okay to walk in. Not much cushion, but some. The left shoe is the terror. No cushion and it has no balance. My left foot literally hurts when I am done walking. The outside of my foot hurts the most during and after the walk(s). How or where will I find another shoe like the Bondi 4? Terribly disappointed in these new shoes. Very expensive and not worth a plug nickel to me right now. Sorry to be so blunt, but here it is.

Not the Hoka I used to love. These are stiff with very minimal cushioning. I miss the original Hoka's. If they keep going in this direction, I will have to try another brand. Stick to your roots, please and bring back the cushioning.

Unfortunately these are the worst Hoka's I've owned. They do not give you that awesome cloud like feeling under foot, no rocker, they are pretty much awful and fails in every way that my previous Hoka's have excelled (Bondi's, Stinson's and Valor). My shoes are the Bondi 5 in black. After my first run in them the pain was ridiculous after using my other Hoka's for so long. When I got home I had a good look at the shoe and noticed that they were made in Vietnam, all my previous Hoka's (the good ones) have been made in China. I find it a bit confusing, some of the positive reviews on this site, so I guess it's one of three things 1. My shoes were just a lemon. 2. Only some colors are made in Vietnam and some are still made in China (perhaps the positive reviews relate to the Chinese made shoes), and 3. The reviews are fake. I'm returning my pair to Hoka, but I've been trying to find out which if any colors are still made in China, but so far Hoka is telling me there is no way of knowing. I find that in it's self telling regarding quality control. My advice to Deckers (owners of Hoka's) don't mess with a good thing, Hoka's are not a fashion shoe, when built properly they are best shoes on earth, which is far cry from the Bondi 5 which is just a rubbish mass produced shoe that is living off the glory of past models. Hoka for the sake of your runners around the world, get back to basics.

Not sure why deckers thinks a consumer will buy a shoe which looks like a hoka, but no longer is made to feel like one. The magic used to happen when you put them on. Now they are firm like many other shoes. Please re-introduce road and atr models with the improvements you've made on the uppers, but that feel like the brand should.

What a huge disappointment. Like running on bricks after the Bondi 4's. No support. Pain everywhere, and the outsole in their pictures is not the outsole you will get. So extremely disappointed that they got away from the soft cushioned feel of the Bondi 4. It also hurts your feet constantly. Tight and blisters were abundant. If you loved the Bondi 4, you will be in for a shock. Terrible

I have excessively wide feet die to bunions. The Bondi 4 worked well for me, but this shoe feels totally different and not as wide. My first 15 miler in the shoes, after 7 miles I had severe foot pain. Tried again for 5 miles. They are clearly pinching my feet where the Bondi 4 did not. May send them back.

Been a fan since 2010. 1st pair were the Stinson combo XT. It feels that Hoka keeps tweaking and messing with a god thing. Although they have made some major improvements to the upper and overall durability of the midsole. The Bondi and most of the the new line up seems to be lacking that cloud like feeling the first renditions of the Hoka shoes provided to the masses and put them on the map. The closest I've gotten to this cloud like feel is putting an old retired pair into the Drier on high heat for 30 min and immediately trying them on (highly recommend trying this to see the difference). Only then, do the shoes feel like the first models put out to the market. Too much RMAT! Only request to Hoka is to bring that marshmallow feeling back. A throwback to one of the first models would be well accepted. Thanks for helping us run Hoka.

I have had the Bondi 2, 3, and 4. The best was the original Hoka Bondi 2 and all 3 other Bondis have been made by Deckers and all have had big problems. No padding, too narrow and all with firmer midsoles. The Bondi 5 may be the worst yet. The main problem is the inflexible Hoka needs a rocker to move you forward and there is no rocker in the new Bondi 5? This puts enormous stress on the ankle if you have high arches causing the new rigid tongue to cut into the ankle. Do anyone oversee these changes when there are made? I am so disappointed in this company.