Hoka Rincon 4 Review: Late to Its Own Party

What You Need To Know

Introduction to the Hoka Rincon 4

KALEB: One of Hoka’s biggest claims to fame is being the original Chonky Boi(™). The first and foremost fatty. The Cushion King. Herald of the High Stack Movement. I could go on, but you get it. Most people– non-runners especially– know Hoka for making big, comfy, chunky walking shoes; in fact, there’s a whole segment of the population who don’t even know that the Clifton and Bondi lines are designed for running! 

But for Hoka running fans, the Alps-born brand is more than just that brand that “nine out of ten nurses recommend.” Hoka is one of the original innovators of the modern running shoe era. Give Nike their props for making the first super shoe, but keep in mind they may have never experimented with enough stack height to put a plate in unless Hoka had changed the cushion-to-weight ratio game.

Today, the running world expects/demands that every brand come correct with Hoka levels of stack; as a result, there was a time not long ago when it seemed that Hoka was slipping into the mainstream (years 2021-2023). But Hoka ‘24 hit hard, and new shoes like the Cielo X1 and Skyward X have kept our reviewers impressed.

With all the new lines coming out, it’s easy to overlook some of Hoka’s more classic shoes. The Rincon has never been huge on the market, falling beneath the shadow of its softer Clifton cousin and its speedier Mach brother, but it certainly has its devoted cult of runners who swear by it for everything from easy runs to speed work. Past versions of the Rincon have been bouncy and fun, but for a very limited lifetime, as the midsole seemed to die after 150 miles. 

Version four seeks to lengthen that lifespan of the shoe while maintaining the fun ride of the originals. Updates include a reformulated midsole compound, a brand new upper, and a mile-thick layer of rubberized EVA. The result is a brand new look for the Rincon, while hopefully maintaining the same fun ride.

KARL: The last version of the Rincon was released in July 2021. Since then, Hoka has been radio silent on a replacement to the fan favorite series. It may have only been three years, but in the shoe world, that feels like an eternity. Luckily, that came to an end at The Running Event 2023 when we got a sneak peak at the all-new Hoka Rincon 4. From the short preview, it looked promising. 

The Rincon was a favorite due to its simple design, light weight, and affordable price tag. It fit the bill for being a lightweight daily trainer that had a decent amount of cushion for the price that you pay. Ultimately, the downfall for basically every iteration of the shoe has been its durability. The Rincon was notorious for completely bottoming out at around 100-150 miles, which is pretty early in a shoe’s lifespan to die out, even for a reasonably priced shoe at $125. But this time around, Hoka has stated they’ve made some changes to increase lifespan while maintaining the positives of what the Rincon was well known for. Let’s see if the theory translates to reality.

LINDSAY: Hoka is a household name. Rincon? Not as common as let’s say the Hoka Bondi, Mach, or Clifton, but a well-loved shoe nonetheless, especially with hardcore runners. Here we are at version 4 of the shoe and– wow– talk about a makeover. I didn’t have the pleasure of running in the Hoka Rincon 1, 2 or 3 but I’ve heard great things. A quick photo comparison is all you need to know that this version is quite different, though. Whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing, I’ll let you be the judge.

What we like about the Hoka Rincon 4

KALEB: I’ve never had the chance to run in previous versions of the Rincon, but from how it has been described, the ride of the Rincon 4 is very similar. Thomas explained the ride of the Rincon 3 as somewhere between the softness of a Clifton and the responsiveness of a Mach. It’s a difficult balance to strike, but the Rincon 4 does it well. The rubberized EVA produces a firm but dampening effect upon footstrike, while the reformulated midsole provides just enough bounce to keep you rolling through the stride at just about any pace. 

While there is 35 mm of foam in the heel, the Rincon feels fairly low to the ground– in a good way. In a daily speed shoe, I like the confident feeling of being able to connect into the ground through every stride. Bounce and squish are fine, but if too much of either is applied the wrong way in an uptempo shoe, I feel like I’m being robbed of natural biomechanical power.

The Rincon’s midsole provides protection and response without being a mushy stack of max-cushion, slow-cruise comfort or a bouncy-ball, hyper-race-day-ready spaceship of a shoe. In other words, it’s simple. I like that. There’s a place for fun, there’s a place for fast, but often, there needs to be more of a place for simple. The Rincon provides that place at any pace (bars). 

I ran tempo miles, low-range long runs, and even ripped a few intervals in the woods in the Rincon 4, and the response was consistent and enjoyable across the board. I didn’t have to worry about whether the shoe was going to be too soft or too harsh for a given run; I just laced it up and went out the door.

KARL: The first positive to note is the price. Through inflation and all, the Rincon 4 keeps the same $125 price tag that the previous iteration debuted at. In a world of ever-increasing shoe prices year after year, it’s nice to see Hoka stick to the core of what the Rincon is, and that is a budget daily trainer. 

This year the Rincon features a dual layer midsole. Incorporating a new rubberized EVA full-coverage outsole along with their traditional EVA midsole, one can assume this is the main feature that Hoka says will increase the durability and lifespan of the shoe. The traditional EVA is nothing to write home about, Hoka says it’s improved, but it’s mostly the same EVA they’ve been using throughout the last few years. It’s decent enough for daily miles. At the time of writing, I have probably 30 or so miles and the bottom still looks to be very much intact, showing little-to-no wear, which is a good thing. 

The “smooth MetaRocker” tech is actually pretty good. It’s got a nice toe-off and roll through the stride, which gives a bit more pop to your run as opposed to other traditional daily trainers. Again, this isn’t a performance trainer by any means so having just a little bit of that rocker makes a difference to me when putting this side-by-side with other shoes in its category. 

LINDSAY: Unlike the max cushion Hoka models I mentioned earlier, the Rincon 4 delivers a firmer ride. It’s got all the components of a quality Hoka shoe with less “hand me a pacifier and a comfy blanket and let me take a nap in the comfort that is a Hoka shoe.”

Let’s start with the upper which is the same sort of mesh upper as the previous version but with more aeration. It’s stretchy so I felt like my toes had plenty of room and it conformed beautifully to my bunion without aggravating it. There’s a solid amount of padding in the tongue but otherwise the upper is light. The tongue is completely different from previous models where there was very little cushion, if any at all. I love the colorway options which include not just a light pink and blue for the more feminine touch, but also all white or black, a combo of the two, and a neutral.

The midsole EVA foam is an adequate balance of soft and firm and is, in fact, neither of the two entirely. I hope that makes as much sense when you read it as it does when I’m writing it. To clarify, it’s not rock hard but it’s also not squishy and there’s just the smallest amount of rebound propulsion and rocker geometry.

I don’t see this shoe losing any quality over time and use. The New Balance Balos (which I love) sadly lost its pizzaz after repeated use, but I didn’t feel like these lost any of the in-shoe comfort or durability.

Sadly, though, it’s hard to lose something if you never had it, and there was plenty this shoe didn’t have.

What we don’t like about the Hoka Rincon 4

KALEB: The upper is where I find most of my comfort-based problems with the Rincon. The toebox for me wasn’t cramped, but it was definitely less roomy than I would prefer. I like to have at least a little bit of room for toe splay, and the Rincon 4’s toe box narrows as it moves forward and doesn’t allow much wiggle room. The heel gave me the opposite problem: it’s way too wide for my thinner heel to stay secure in, and it’s weirdly shallow, both of which led to a good deal of slippage. Thankfully, there’s enough lace length to re-lace the shoe into heel lock formation, which minimized movement for me.

Underfoot, rubberized EVA is never going to have as much bite as good ol’ fashioned rubber. The Rincon was never outright slippery thankfully, but it’s definitely no Vibram outsole, and it shows when conditions are wet. On wet roads, I definitely felt like I was losing a bit of power because of sub-par grip on the roads, and one of my teammates can attest that there was an incredibly annoying squeaking sound caused by the lack of traction.

Also, the weight has increased over half an ounce, and for a trainer that relies on its light weight to keep the pace pushin’, that’s something to note.

Oh, also: the tongue is kinda goofy and short, which can be annoying during lace-up.

KARL: The upper on the Rincon 4 is quite different from the previous version. Using an engineered double jacquard, the laser cuts are no longer to be seen on the Rincon. Breathability is decent and you can see a good amount of ventilation holes throughout the upper. The overall construction is pretty basic (again, entry-level), but the fit was relatively fine for me. And although Hoka is known for its fairly narrow fit, I felt that the Rincon 4 was even a tad bit more narrow, especially in the midfoot area. Besides that, lockdown was fine and I had no issues with any rubbing or hot spots. It’s a fairly straightforward fit but I’m curious to see how I’d like it if I did size up half a size.

One of the trade-offs to having that rubberized EVA outsole though is the weight, which may disappoint a lot of long-term Rincon fans. Although the shoe in my US M10.5 only weighs 9 oz. (255 g), this is still about an ounce heavier than the previous iterations, which begs the question – is this still considered a lightweight daily trainer? At 9 oz, I’m not so sure. I don’t think it’s egregious, and considering most daily trainers start around 10 oz and go all the way up to 12 oz, this certainly falls on the lighter side. But knowing how lightweight the shoe used to be, some folks may see this as a step back instead of a step forward. 

I’m also not sure how resilient that rubberized EVA actually is, I mean it’ll be fine for a bit, but it certainly won’t last hundreds of miles. 

LINDSAY: If you’re one to rotate shoes depending on what kind of run you’re going on, I’m not entirely sure where this shoe fits. It’s not soft enough to be a recovery shoe. It’s not snappy enough to be a speed work shoe. I guess it could be a daily trainer, but I probably wouldn’t wear it much longer than a few miles because it’s so firm.

They completely ditched the pull tab on this model so you’re on your own here but that’s okay because the heel has so much extra room that I never felt fully locked down in that area.

The outsole is also kind of aggressive if you ask me, almost bordering on trail shoe outsole. It also wraps up over the big toe area and that spot started peeling off on my left shoe. I initially noticed this after face planting while on a run so I thought it was just a result of that, but then I tripped on three different runs later on so I’m not sure which came first now.

Final thoughts on the Hoka Rincon 4

KALEB: I’m not sure that super fans of the Rincon are going to enjoy this shoe (and the customer reviews on Hoka.com pretty much reflect that). The firmer feeling and extra weight of this shoe do not align with the spirit of the first three versions. If you like a firmer feeling shoe that’s kind of just simple, then the Rincon is fun, versatile, and comfortable… but it’s not the most fun, versatile or comfortable. At $125, there are plenty of competing shoes that do as good of a job or better at any one of those categories. For five bucks less, you could grab the New Balance Propel, a bouncier, plated option. Or, again around the same price point, the Saucony Kinvara, a lighter, lower, snappier ride. Even the Skechers GoRun Ride 11, a chonky, comfy all-rounder, goes for $120. And for $130, you can grab the Adidas Adizero SL2, one of the best trainers this year.

Don’t get me wrong. The Rincon 4 is not a bad shoe. In fact, it’s a good shoe. One of the best cases I can make for it is as a “one shoe rotation”. In other words, if you’re looking for just one shoe at a lower-end price point to log all your miles in, the Rincon 4’s simplicity might be perfect for you. It’s a shoe I wouldn’t mind logging plenty more miles in, and a shoe that Rincon fans will continue to enjoy. But it’s a shoe that is beginning to be outclassed in a world where high-end rides can be produced without much cost. Hoka has shown that they can innovate, and I guess I’m just hoping they can bring that innovation down to the classic lines.

KARL: Overall, the Rincon 4 is a decent entry level daily trainer with a desirable price tag. Will long-time Rincon fans love this as much as the 3? Probably not, mainly for the added weight, narrow fit, and firmer ride. I also think there’s some stiff competition in the entry level department now. The Adidas Adizero SL2 and last year’s New Balance Propel v4 are slightly cheaper and definitely geared more towards performance. It makes me feel as if Hoka waited a tad too long to get this new version out to market. 

As for me, personally, I’d shell out the extra $15 to go with the Mach 6, a shoe that I really enjoyed putting miles on this year. I feel like the overall fit of the creel jacquard upper, the supercritical EVA midsole, slightly lower weight, and snappier ride justifies the slightly higher expense. 

It’s nice to see that the Rincon is back, but perhaps the next version can be a bit more exciting and find a better balance between this iteration and what the Rincon used to be. 

LINDSAY: I’m more of a max cushion girly myself but I do see me continuing to run in these from time to time. As a standalone shoe, I think it’s a great balance between comfort and firmness. It will fit many different shoe preferences. But if you’re hoping for a repeat Rincon 3, this shoe is quite different so go in with an open mind. In this day and age, a $125 price point is affordable for a high quality shoe so I wouldn’t rule it out if you’re in the market.

But open up the wallet just a bit more and it’ll open up a whole new world of possibilities.

You can pick up the Hoka Rincon 4 for $125 at hoka.com by using the shop link below.