Hey people welcome to The Run Testers. In this video we’re here with a first run of the new HOKA Kawana 2. HOKA tags this as a natural balanced, accessible training shoe built for everyday training runs and workouts in the gym. The second generation has minor tweaks and we’ve taken it for some early first miles to see how they feel. Hit play for our Hoka Kawana 2 first run.
JUMP STRAIGHT IN:
0:00 – Intro
0:24 – Details
0:57 – Shoe Whip Round
2:11 – Fit
3:05 – The Run Test
6:15 – Verdict
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Hey people welcome to the Run testers And I'm here with our first run look at The new Hoka kuana 2 now Hoka tags this Shoe as a natural balanced accessible Training shoe that's built for everyday Training runs and workouts in the gym Like cardio that kind of thing this is The second generation it has some minor Tweaks and we've taken it for some very Early first miles to see how those feel So watch on for our Hoka kuana 2 first Run some quick details then and the Stack kight comes in the same as the Kuana first gen with 30 MS in the heel 25 M in the 4ot for a 5 mil drop Weight Wise it's listed on the Hocus site it's 11.1 o but it comes in at 10.3 o or 291 G in a UK men's 8 and a half test shoe That's shaved some weight off the Original kuana that was well over 300 G In terms of price it will cost you £ 1225 in the UK or $140 that's the same As the last gen so no UK priz hike here For Once So let's give you a really quick shoe Whip round then and the first thing to Say is not much has changed here between The kanana 1 and the kuana 2 this update Is all about minor tweaks rather than an Overhaul so if you like the first gen You're probably going to like this if Not probably not not much has changed The Mido geometry looks unchanged with a
Medium stack of firm evba with some Early stage roering here there's a new Single layer mesh up that's where the Main changes are that's been changed to Improve the fit and security it's still Quite thick but fairly flexible there's An internal sock like booty that hugs And holds the foot more and the lacing Structure has also been changed against The first gen again in a bid to improve The fit and the security of the hold Here I'd say the tongues and the heel Colors are also a shade more padded uh Definitely in the heels and now I'd say They offer a pretty sort of plush level Of padding overall there's some extra Cush added to the lace lock down Point Here on the tongues as well to stop any Lace pinch and hoker has also added a Heel pull here though I don't find these Are particularly difficult to get on so I think it's just like an aesthetic Detail flip them over and you've got a Gum rubber out soole here that looks Exactly the same in terms of the overall Coverage as you got on the first Gen so when it comes to fit it's a Pretty standard sort of situation here With hooker shoes first put them on They're very snug they feel quite narrow In the toe box they're quite narrow Across that kind of back of the toes Across the midf foot across the top that Loosens off half the time I find in
Hookah shoes but yeah I think they do Come up quite narrow the toe box there's Particularly at the back of the toe box That's where I feel it the most when you Sort of get into the main bit there's There's kind of enough room for the the Toes to spread again as I say with a lot Of hooker shoes i' be tending to go half A size up maybe if you've got Particularly long feet or you've got Particularly wide feet you might want to Uh have a look at that if you don't mind It snug then go true to size yeah I I Tend to find that these loosen off after A while so my instinct here is that I Would go true to size but yeah if you Want more room and you're going to use These for longer runs for sure like 3 4 Hours that kind of stuff or walking long Walks then I think you're going to want To go half a size Up so I'm just back from my first run in The Hoka kuana 2 in this one I just did An easy 5K recovery run I did a fast 10K Yesterday my legs are a bit battered so I just wanted to take this out and see How it copes nice and easy I've done a Bit of Road bit of river paths for me This is kind of a pretty sort of Standard coana situation what you've got Here is a rocked shoe with a pretty firm Midsole it's got a nice to it in the Footed but overall you're going to get a Firm Rocket Ride out of these they're
Fairly heavy there's quite a lot going On under the foot they're not a million Miles from a Clifton I found they work Best when you're just clipping along Happily moving your feet nice with a High turnover not having too much ground Contact time because there's not an Awful lot of cushion protection coming Up despite the fact you've got quite a Big stack it's quite a firm stack of Midso foam there and that makes for a Ride that I think most people for easy Runs maybe you're going to find a little Bit too firm a little bit too solid a Little bit too much kind of contact Coming up a little bit too much impact It's certainly a million miles away from Something like a plush kind of nimbus or A 1080 v13 or socer ride 17 those kind Of shoes as I said the fit you've got Quite a snug overall sort of fit on the Foot there's no movement here in the Shoes I felt well held down very very Secure uh good nice plush padded heel Collors tongues all of that kind of Stuff as You' expect from a shoe like This is there to give you a good overall Comfort on the foot now I definitely Feel like this is a shoe that you're Going to have to break that mids salt in A bit I think it's going to take a few Miles until it settles and starts to Feel a bit more comfortable I think After that maybe it will soften up
Somewhat definitely feels firm to me What would I use this for my initial Instincts for this shoe I don't think It's a very good shoe for what I've just Done there like a recovery day shoe it Just wasn't quite the softness and the Cushioning that I was looking for today And the protection I wanted something That was a little lighter and a little Bit more yeah soft and and and helpful In that sense a little maybe even a Little more kind of springy but yeah What you're getting here I think is a Prettyy balanced ride overall stability Wise It's a neutral daily trainer it's Like targeted at kind of easy runs and You know it's even kind of walking up to Kind of easy running but it does feel Balanced there's a good I thought a good Amount of stability it did I was off on Some really sort of you know slightly Bumpy off-road River pths and stuff Stuff that does test the stability of The shoe no problems no wobble and again I think maybe that's down to sort of Slightly that kind of firm platform that Means that you you know you're sort of In a little more in control there's no Kind of wobble into the mid so as you Can have with some of the really sort of Soft sort of easy daily trainers that Said I I don't think this is going to be One that a lot of people are going to Want to go and run a lot of long miles
In initially that's my first reaction Maybe that will change as I use these More but that's how I felt today so yeah For that easy miles recovery run an Interesting ride didn't dislike it Didn't find it was enough protection for Today it is quite heavy on the foot as Well that's the other thing you know It's 11 ounces plus it does feel like Quite a lot of shoe on the foot but um I Guess that's what this shoe is is going For be interesting I think to compare This with the Clifton and see how those Two kind of compare £ 125 I think it's Slightly cheaper than the Clifton 9 so Yeah if you can get on with it maybe That would be an option although I think Feel like the clip's going to be softer And a bit more accommodating than this One so my really really early first run Verdict I've done very few miles in this So I don't want to give it too much of a Kind of a seal of approval or not this Feels like a sort of pretty standard Hokah shoe to me so happy to run into Belonging it's got that kind of nice Rocked movement it's a fairly firm shoe It's a fairly snug fit uh it's bit heavy On the foot overall 11 point something Ounces I I didn't love it so far today For those easy recovery miles didn't Hate it just you know I I think it's Going to take a little while to break in And once it has maybe it'll have
Something more about it I think if You're got to use this for sort of Walking and maybe a little bit of Running this would do a good job I'm not Sure that many Runners are going to find It accommodating enough particularly When you compare it to other shoes that On the market right now where you've got You know those those things of at one End where you got this kind of big soft Pillowy cushion rides that also have a Bit of spring and energy you know down To sort of slightly more direct minimal Neutral sort of shoes that maybe even Have this kind of faster sort of clip Along ride it's sort of somewhere Between those two so it's going to be Interesting to do some more testing and See what it's actually good for and Where it's you know where it fits or Where it might fit in a rotation but for Now it was a bit like okay fine did a Good job wasn't in love with it but um We shall find out more when we do the Full review so there you have it that Has been my first run look at the Hoka Kuana 2 hope you found it useful we'll Be doing more miles in this so if you Have any questions about it something You want to know hit us up in the Comments below we'll Endeavor to answer Those in the review don't forget to like And subscribe ring that Bell if you want To hear about new reviews when they hit
The channel that's what you have to do Now if you're interested in hooker shoes I got to pop a couple of reviews up on The channel that you might want to look At now that are somewhere near these Shoes interesting shoes that you will Certainly enjoy hearing about so go and Watch those now otherwise it's been a Pleasure to talk to you about these Shoes hope to see you again soon on the Run testers happy running everyone we'll See you again
