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HOKA ONE ONE Women’s Rincon Review

Another win for HOKA. This performance road shoe is already a favorite of mine.

By: Kristi Teplitz + Save to a List

I was first exposed to HOKA ONE ONE last year and, being a minimalist shoe type of person, I was surprised at how much I liked the various styles I tried. However, many of their shoes are bulky due to their amazing cushion, making them challenging to travel with. While I prefer trail running, I love to run through cities and towns when I travel, and I am always on the lookout for a pair of road shoes that won’t make me have to check a bag to bring them along. Let’s face it, running attire can really screw up your minimalist packing game.

I recently returned from Outdoor Retailer and was given a new pair of HOKA ONE ONE's Women’s Rincon shoes to try out. What initially stood out to me is how lightweight these shoes are (6.3 oz), and how packable! It seems like HOKA really stripped back this shoe to provide everything that I need and nothing more.

The product description on HOKA’s website states that the Rincon “packs an amazing amount of cushion into an extremely lightweight shoe for an effortlessly soft, weightless sensation while running.” While I often take marketing/sales language on product descriptions with a grain of salt, I have to completely agree with this statement for this shoe.

Designed with a single-layer mesh upper to reduce weight, the shoe wraps snugly around my foot while being super breathable; I feel like I’m just wearing a sock. My feet sweat a lot, so the added climate control is a nice bonus. 

The full-compression EVA midsole performs like you’d expect from a HOKA ONE ONE shoe; soft and cushiony, while being responsive. They’ve also brought in a redesigned version of their rocker to the sole that made staying on my forefoot and accelerating feel natural. I’m not trying to win (all) races, but I do generally come in at respectable times for my age group, and I’d absolutely use this as a race shoe. (Also, I'm a big fan of the dark grey/teal combo.)

Quick note on sizing, the toe box in these shoes feels a little bit more narrow than other HOKAs I’ve tried, and as with most running shoes, I recommend sizing up at least a half size. I got these in my street shoe size to test them out and they were perfect except for during a longer downhill section I hit where my big toe was grazing the front of the shoe. The half-size up would have been perfect for that section, and the lightweight upper would still pull snugly on my foot so it wouldn’t feel like I was slipping and sliding around. 

Coming in at $115, these shoes are available now. 

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