expiredd.j1088 posted May 08, 2023 04:34 PM
Item 1 of 5
Item 1 of 5
expiredd.j1088 posted May 08, 2023 04:34 PM
HOKA Men's Bondi 8 Running Shoes $74.98 STORE ONLY at Dick's Sporting Goods
$75
$165
54% offDick's Sporting Goods
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And does it even matter if custom orthotics are used in the shoe?
This might explain the fire sale price from Dicks. Legally (or contractually), they can't list this super low sale price online because it violate HOKA's MAP restrictions.
Fwiw, the last time I saw a current-year Bondi sell for this price online or in-store was way back in 2015-2016 back when the brand was still consider an insurgent. In 2021, HOKA finally climbed to 2nd place in market share for run-speciality just behind Brooks. It appears that HOKA may be reaching a plateau in terms of popularity. The company's shoes have come under heavy and unrelenting criticism on popular online forums such as Reddit's r/RunningShoeGeeks sub, LetsRun and Slowtwitch. Complaints over durability, outdated midsole compounds, poor performance in the super shoe arena, and a general lack of innovation are also commonplace for HOKA across social media. HOKA is getting outclassed by Saucony and Asics who, only a few years ago, were considered stale brands. HOKA has failed miserably in the headline grabbing plated racer category. Their new Rocket X2 is an uninspiring me-too shoe that is a day late and dollar too expensive. The market leader, Brooks, which had been slow themselves to respond to changing market conditions, is now gradually building out a brand-within-a-brand line under the 'Hyperion' moniker centered around nitrogen infused SCEVA and Pebax. Then you have New Balance whose Fuelcell foam is leagues ahead of HOKA's Profly.
The writing is on the wall for HOKA. The sales are temporarily being propped up by 4 groups because of lag factors. Healthcare workers such as nurses who are under the false impression that HOKA shoes are the most comfortable, boomers that shop at Costco in the middle of the day, fat people who are following a cookie cutter C25K plan, and naive ShoeTuber simps that buy whatever the HOKA YouTube shills hype. The Nurses will eventually ditch their Bondi's and Clifton's for better footwear options from Asics, Saucony, Brooks, or Skechers, that use super critical EVA/TPU in their midsoles or they will switch to Fresh Foam range from New Balance which out-HOKA HOKA using the same materials. The boomer old farts will eventually catch on. Same for the uninitiated C25K crowd. The ShoeTubers, ever sensitive to view counts, will eventually reduce their output of HOKA content.
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