The rubber is only underneath the forefoot and heel of the shoe, the midfoot is just exposed EVA. Now it has been replaced by crystal rubber, which is much more durable. What they did change was the rubber on the outsole, which wore down pretty quickly in the previous version. Unfortunately, Hoka did nothing about that. The outsole of the first version was not noisy, but also had the issue of getting things stuck in the flex grooves. That isn’t helped by the fact that it’s easy to get things stuck in the flex grooves of this shoe. The outsole of the shoe was a bit noisy in the beginning. This does mean that the feeling of the shoe is a bit less plush than you might expect while looking at the stack height. As with other Hoka shoes, your foot sits within the midsole rather than on top of it. The top layer of the midsole is the PROFLY midsole that gives you a more responsive ride and the layer beneath it is EVA. Once you roll your foot onto your toes, your foot will slip back more on loose surfaces than usual due to the rocker shape. This is the same issue in the first version. But the meta-rocker shape is not that suitable for trails or at least not loose surfaces like sand or gravel. However, once you pick up the pace the rocker shape does help with running hills. At lower speeds, the meta-rocker shape works against you and you can definitely feel that in your calves. Once up to speed, the shoe gets a bit more responsive. The same when you first toe-off and try to gain some speed. That taper does help once you get going, but walking around in this shoe, the taper works against you more than for you. This shoe has a more tapered meta-rocker midsole than for example the Clifton 6 or the first edition of the Elevon. The lockdown of the heel has improved, something that was a bit of an issue in the previous version. There also isn’t any padding in the tongue, which doesn’t help the matter.Īnd there is only light padding in the heel. I’m not sure I’m a fan of the split in the tongue. However, there is a big pull tab on the heel to help you a bit. They do help with the lockdown of the shoe, but getting into the shoe and getting the lockdown right when you step into it, is a bit more difficult. The wings are a bit similar to the Saucony ISOFIT system. But the biggest change is the lacing system, which now has wings and there is a split in the tongue. The Elevon 2 has an engineered mesh upper, that looks a bit sleeker than the previous version.

It has 27mm of stack height in the forefoot and 32mm in the heel. The first version weighs 244 grams and the second 241 grams.īoth versions have a 5mm drop, but the second version has a millimeter less underfoot. The weight and drop haven’t changed compared to the first version. So I wanted to see what changes Hoka made in the second version of this shoe. I got to review the first version of this Hoka shoe, which was quite a responsive shoe, but it had some stability issues and the outsole wasn’t very durable. The midsole is a bit more suited for faster runs, but the bulk of the shoe doesn’t help with that. It’s also a bit bulky for speed training. The shoe does provide a more responsive ride once you get going, but it’s not the best shoe for interval or fartlek training. Hoka Elevon 2 basically looks like a maximally cushioned shoe, but feels firmer and is more suited to be a medium distance daily trainer.

Hoka one one elevon 2