Hoka launches the Cielo X1 3.0, its lightest racing shoe
The third Cielo X1 weighs 213 g in a men's 10, drops the lateral foam cutout and keeps the 37 mm stack, at 275 dollars.
Hoka released the Cielo X1 3.0 on Thursday, the third version of its carbon-plated racing shoe and the lightest the company has made. The figures from the press release: 7.52 oz, or 213 g, in a US men's 10, and 175 g in a women's 8. Stack height is 37 mm at the heel and 30 mm at the forefoot, inside World Athletics limits and approved for competition. The price is 275 dollars, available from launch day at Hoka's site and its dealers, in two colourways.
The construction is familiar: a carbon fibre plate, a PEBA foam the company calls its most responsive, a compression-moulded polyurethane outsole, Hoka's rocker geometry and asymmetrical lacing. The upper is a Leno weave textile. Marathons.com reports the lateral cutout in the midsole from earlier versions is gone while the central channel stays, the plate has lateral wings, the drop is 7 mm, and the foam is firmer than before. The first Cielo X1 weighed 264 g and the second 230 g, so each generation has lost a chunk.
Hoka's release points to Alex Masai, third in Chicago last October in 2:04:37, and Alessia Zarbo's French half marathon record of 1:08:20 in Valencia as results in the shoe. The launch campaign leans on two product team members who are Olympic Trials qualifiers, and run clubs are holding trial runs.
A 213 g shoe with a plate and 37 mm of foam is a road racing tool, and the company is honest that it is one. Whether it is any good on loose ground, nobody has said.
Sources: Hoka via Deckers Brands; Marathons.com.
