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Hoka Bondi 9 Review: OG Max Cushion Back on Top? Lighter, More Cushioned, Supercritical Foam!
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Dec 24, 2024
In the video, we review the Hoka Bondi, the OG Max Cushion road trainer. A shockingly great update here putting the Bondi in the front pack of max cushion trainers: 00:00 Intro and Details, 06:20 Fit, 8:08 Ride with many Comparisons along the way 12:45 Conclusions Releases Jan. 2025. $170 Samples were provided at no charge for testing purposes with no additional compensation. The opinions herein are entirely the author's 100's of Run Shoes and Gear Multi Tester written reviews at www.roadtrailrun.com SHOP Running Warehouse at the links below for the widest selection of run shoes and gear anywhere and help support our channel! USA https://tinyurl.com/RWRTRUS EUROPE https://tinyurl.com/RWRTREU EU Only: Use RTR code RTR5ALL for 5% off all products, even sale products AUSTRALIA: https://www.runningwarehouse.com.au/?from=rtr EUROPE SHOP Top4Running https://tinyurl.com/bh9t3hpm Use Code RTRTOP4 for 5% off All Products, Even Sales RTR receives a commission for purchases made through these links which helps support our channel and site.
View Video Transcript
0:00
in the video I test and review the Hoka
0:02
Bondi $170 releasing January 2025 do not
0:07
tune out this is a giant update to the
0:10
venerable Bondi as we lose a lot of
0:12
weight to come in a very very
0:14
respectable 10.2 o 286 G we gained 2
0:19
millim more stack heite to a big 4338
0:23
stack heite and we get a full super
0:26
critical foamed EVA foam this is one
0:29
heck of a ride
0:30
and it now sits as a a very highly
0:33
cushioned daily trainer that's actually
0:35
lighter than many of its competitors
0:37
stay
0:38
tuned hello everybody let's talk about
0:41
this Bondi 9 it is definitely one of the
0:44
biggest surprises of 2024 this January
0:47
releasing Bondi 9 and the surprise is
0:50
the Bondi used to be kind of a plotter
0:53
it is definitely the OG Max cushion chew
0:56
but over the years with its compression
0:58
molded Eva uh so weight and kind of
1:02
lumbering ride it's one I kind of
1:04
dreaded trying but it's a popular shoe
1:07
so I said okay Hoka they sent me a
1:09
sample and I am shocked because what we
1:12
have here is one of the biggest
1:13
surprises of the year we get a full
1:16
super critical Eva uh midsole we get 2
1:21
mm more stack height than before we drop
1:24
in weight uh we used to be about 11 oz
1:27
in a us9 uh now we're going to come down
1:30
to about uh 10.2 o in my us 8.5 samples
1:36
that's 286 gam and uh while we're at it
1:40
that is going to be lighter and it's two
1:43
uh direct competitors here the glycerin
1:45
Max and the Nimbus 27 we're going to be
1:48
reviewing the Nimbus 27 real soon
1:51
because our um our Bondi 9 is not only
1:55
lighter but it has a I think a better uh
1:59
for me and anyway geometry in the sense
2:02
that it is a flex based shoe the others
2:04
are either rigid rocker or kind of
2:08
somewhere in between you can see after
2:09
two runs about 8 n miles look at that
2:12
Flex whereas but whereas in our uh
2:15
glycerin Max here and I'll try to do
2:17
this without tipping we got no flex
2:20
whatsoever it's a rigid rocker even
2:23
though it only has a mere uh let's see
2:28
here um millimeter and a half more stack
2:31
height so um the overall
2:34
geometry uh and you can see these Flex
2:36
grooves here over on our our Bondi here
2:40
we're relying on this very pronounced
2:42
rocker now it works really well this was
2:44
a really popular shoe for all our
2:46
contributors in our 20 204 survey um but
2:52
it is more rigid it requires a bit more
2:54
speed to kind of turn over um the same
2:57
sort of applies to the nimbus 27 here
3:00
we're reviewing it is more it is heavier
3:03
couple tents of an ounce it's also a
3:05
rigid shoe you can see doesn't have much
3:09
of a rocker um it's a fine shoe but uh
3:13
I'm kind of leaning to think that this
3:15
old warhorse here the Bondi is back and
3:20
back big time um so I mentioned it's a
3:23
supercritical Eva uh foam midsole I'll
3:26
give you the squeeze test here and show
3:28
you uh on the about the same with our um
3:32
glycerin Max but we have a dual density
3:34
we have a central core um with um a
3:38
smaller bubbles if you will I think the
3:40
central core is maybe a bit more
3:42
reactive um they're both highly highly
3:45
cushioned whereas over here in our
3:47
Nimbus uh 27 we have tried and true
3:51
flight foam blast plus Eco it's not not
3:54
that we know a super critical foam it's
3:55
a little firmer and it is definitely
3:57
duller than the bondy
4:00
I mentioned the platform is flexible and
4:03
I showed you you can see these Flex
4:05
grooves that go across the shoe that
4:08
gives us our Flex whereas in our um
4:12
glycerin max they're more longitudinal
4:14
for kind of a rolling effect and then
4:17
over here in our Nimbus also
4:20
longitudinal more for Rolling effect I
4:23
personally prefer some Flex in a shoe
4:26
that kind of bridges between daily
4:28
training Max cushion daily training and
4:30
kind of recovery slower runs or long
4:33
runs and this one really surprises me
4:36
the upper it is a engineered knit uh not
4:41
it's not a super stretchy knit it fits
4:43
super well I'll give you the commentary
4:45
uh from the from the run on the fit but
4:48
it's really good it's it's decently
4:51
plushly uh padded the heel hold is
4:54
really really good here it doesn't it's
4:56
it's total but it doesn't kind of
4:58
overgrip or feel overrided even though
5:00
we do have quite you know a sturdy heel
5:03
counter toe box plenty of room plenty
5:06
plenty for my medium to narrower feet
5:09
plenty of height they're also going to
5:11
be available of course in wide and extra
5:14
wide but with this little bit of stretch
5:17
here in the
5:18
knit uh you know if you're on the border
5:20
of wide you might try the regular um the
5:23
regular fit here uh this year so I've
5:26
taken them out twice on the run here on
5:28
the SE Co I'm going to give you my
5:29
impression is a fit ride and a bunch of
5:32
comparisons as I run along uh it is a
5:36
shocker the Bondi is back it sits right
5:40
in the top of the uh Max cushion daily
5:44
trainer category now uh kind of
5:47
returning or coming back from what it
5:49
was before a uh a sort of easy easy run
5:54
uh walking kind of shoe so it's fully
5:57
back to being a running a full-on
5:59
excellent running shoe and of course
6:01
those of you who want it for its stable
6:05
nice uh platform and ride for the slower
6:09
stuff or for walking you will not be
6:11
disappointed either I think okay stay
6:13
tuned thank
6:15
you okay let's talk about fit of our
6:18
Bondi
6:19
9 okay a really really fine fit here uh
6:25
this is an engineered knit you can see
6:28
but it's not one of those super stretchy
6:31
over stretchy knits uh it fits it feels
6:35
a bit more like a engineered mesh the
6:38
toe box is plenty of room for my narrow
6:43
to medium feet but very well held
6:45
they're also available in wide and extra
6:47
wide this is the big shoe um but I'm not
6:50
uh swimming around at all midfoot hold
6:53
is excellent going to keep an eye on the
6:55
tongue because we have no gusset and I
6:57
really really like the heel hold here
7:02
it's super solid but it's not overly
7:05
grippy and rigid which is kind of neat
7:08
um you can see there's quite a good size
7:10
kind of Elf there laces are easy maybe a
7:14
bit on the stretchy side I like laces
7:16
with a bit more gription but this is a
7:18
superb upper and a very substantial
7:21
plush one yet we only come in at you
7:25
know 10.2 Oz here and at 8.5 for that 4
7:29
43 38 stacky so very I think commendably
7:34
light for kind of the a plush giant shoe
7:37
and much lighter than the previous
7:39
version which which came in at a big
7:41
10.72 O 303 G in my us8.5 along with
7:46
this really fine super critical EVA foam
7:50
that just has a lot of rebound reminds a
7:53
bit of the Puma
7:55
Nitro um but I think a little maybe
7:57
touch softer here I'm going to keep keep
7:59
going a lot of deliveries it's getting
8:01
towards the holidays so what's the ride
8:04
feel like bouncy this isn't the dull
8:08
kind of thick ugly foam that was in
8:12
Prior Bondi this is a shoe that's fully
8:15
a Max cushion daily trainer for any
8:18
Runner of course it's maybe not your
8:21
speed trainer but it sits really well up
8:26
against the Nimbus 2627 going to talk
8:30
about those a bit later the glycerin
8:34
Max uh and it fits in nicely as a more
8:39
flexible unplated option to the more
8:42
expensive Skyward x with its carbon
8:45
plate I already kind of like the skyber
8:48
deex more more but it's you know it's
8:51
livelier it's quicker feeling it is
8:53
heavier and higher stack but it's this
8:58
is 30
9:01
$55 less money and what I really like
9:05
here is even though we have that
9:08
4338 stack heite the 38 mm 4ot has some
9:14
Flex because I'll show you the underside
9:18
but you can see these Flex grooves on
9:22
either side and that gives the shoe some
9:25
flex and the head Flex right out of the
9:27
box going to keep going well they took
9:29
out the house a beautiful old house
9:32
they're going to build something new but
9:33
another shoe comes to mind ghost Max two
9:38
not number two not number one from
9:40
Brooks little bit lower stack height DNA
9:44
laof E3 foam which is a super critical
9:48
not quite as energetic as this but also
9:50
I noticed even though we got 5 mm drop
9:54
here and that one has a I think a six um
9:59
the heel felt a little flatter on that
10:01
one this one I'm getting a better
10:04
rebound off the front but speaking a
10:07
rebound and kind of good geometry with
10:09
the flex here this shoe is much quieter
10:13
than the Nimbus 27 that one doesn't have
10:16
a
10:18
plate quite rigid and quite Slappy on
10:22
the road here and here we're smooth and
10:26
easy the household just SL now really
10:30
nicely this is a huge change for the
10:34
Bondi which the OG OG of Max Christian
10:40
Road trainers way back and then it
10:43
really just turned
10:45
into shoe I guess no sense for super
10:49
heavy Runners
10:51
maybe and a very good kind of walking
10:54
shoe I think I barely could catch the bo
10:59
here I'm really having fun so it's
11:02
definitely a shoe to consider for all of
11:06
us same folks that like the eight
11:12
before want a little more life their
11:15
step same idea same stability and faster
11:20
Runners who want a heavy duty trainer
11:25
recovery
11:26
shoe live got and head to the Harper
11:30
here little bit different direction than
11:34
usual hey there's one big Max that I
11:36
haven't run in is the Puma magmax with
11:39
Nitro foam nitrogen
11:42
infused which is I believe what's going
11:46
on here although they just stay super
11:48
critically foamed does feel a bit
11:51
different this is a bit springier yet
11:55
even a bit more lively than Puma's foam
11:58
in there trainers maybe a touch
12:01
softer really nice here big big big
12:07
surprise okay others that play in this
12:10
category the both of the adoras the
12:15
nucleo little bit more inherent
12:17
stability and the
12:19
cellula I get some real similar feels
12:23
from the foam here there that foam is
12:26
also similarly kind of well p P together
12:29
and energetic here we're a little little
12:33
bounce here a little more exciting but
12:35
still very solid very
12:38
stable okay we're getting a bit later in
12:40
the day not too many boats in the harbor
12:44
let me give you some conclusions here
12:47
this is my second run I ran a race
12:50
yesterday Four Mile pretty hard and this
12:53
is a great shoe to get over the race
12:56
from not that I'm too too sore
13:00
got that rebound you got the
13:04
stability you got enough softness but
13:06
not too
13:07
much we got a some out west they were
13:12
asking me about surf spots you got an
13:15
outsole that plays Super
13:17
well that provides some response but not
13:20
a lot of slapping you've got
13:23
Flex with with 4 38 up front is really
13:27
not easy to pull off so you can kind of
13:30
Move Along Lively and easier at slower
13:33
Paces um really a shocking
13:38
shocking update here the venerable Bondi
13:41
the OG of all Max cushions which was
13:45
just kind of sing under its own weight
13:47
for runners but was popular as a shoot
13:51
for walking and very moderate
13:55
running but now everybody or just about
13:58
every everybody can be happy you know
14:02
you want to go lighter by about an ounce
14:05
you go in the sky flow from H I didn't
14:07
find that one great it was pretty rigid
14:10
foam doesn't didn't feel the same firmer
14:14
still super critical foam but
14:17
firmer um but this is a really good shoe
14:21
in the middle that sort
14:23
of drops the Bondi from slow running
14:28
shoe straight into daily training
14:31
category from the more max variety
14:35
lighter than Skyward X Glen Max and
14:41
Nimbus 27 by a bit is at least equal
14:45
close to the same stat tights so really
14:50
competitive thank you very much for
14:53
watching have a great
14:55
run we're also going to have a full
14:58
multi tester written review on road
15:01
trail run real soon so stay tuned for
15:04
that
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