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Nimble, precise and minimal are not words that would be synonymous with the shoes made by HOKA. The brand made its name by making chunky shoes with thick midsoles in the early 2010s. Now, a number of years later the same formula has been adopted by nearly all big shoe manufacturers. This year HOKA released a shoe that is a departure from their ultrarunning-orientated lineup to bring us the zippy Zinal 2.
Giveaway closes Sunday 29th October 2023
Previous Version
The original Zinal was released in July 2021 and was met with mixed reviews. Some people said the midsole was too dense and didn’t offer enough cushioning. While others found it was just what they were looking for. We picked up a pair in early 2022 to see for ourselves. We really enjoyed it. The midsole was “dual-density” meaning it had a slightly more durable part and a softer part blended together in order to provide optimal energy return as well as a long shelf life. Over the following year, we used the shoe for hard workouts on the trails and a number of races. We raced a wide variety of events in the Zinal, from 10km trail races in Ireland to 30km sky races in Norway and many races in between. Needless to say when the updated Zinal was announced we were very excited to get it on our feet.
Trail Running: All the Gear You Need to Get Started
Updates
The Zinal 2 at first glance looks totally different to the original Zinal. The eye is pulled immediately to the updated “sock-collar” design and the tongueless upper. It carries much of the light and fast DNA of the original while also adding a few changes. The Zinal 2 is crazy light. It drops 20g off the previous version and weighs in at a staggering 220g in UK 9. This is particularly impressive when you consider that it offers more grip thanks to its deeper 5mm lug depth and more aggressive outsole. The Zinal 2s updated sock-like upper claims to keep debris out of the shoe. We wasted no time and got testing.
What is The Best Trail Racing Kit for Peak Performance?
Testing the Zinal 2
We wanted to stress test the Zinal 2 over a wide range of terrain in order to give you the best possible review so we took it to 2 very different races:
IMRA Galtee Challenge
This 23km race is packed with an impressive 1700 meters of elevation gain. The terrain is a complete mix of fire roads, rocky mountain tracks and open heathery hillside. Thanks to the aggressive grip the shoe kept us upright for the entire race in spite of some incredibly steep descents. One slight negative we experienced was that the tongueless design led to the laces creating pressure points on the top of our feet. We believe this could be rectified with a slightly thicker pair of socks.
Kilometro Verticale Lagunc
We travelled to Italy to take part in a Vertical Kilometer race. This discipline of mountain running is very popular in Europe. In this discipline, runners race up a course with 1000 meters of elevation gain in less than 5 kilometres. The race we participated in packed the 1000 meters into a leg-burningly steep 3.2-kilometre course. This results in the average gradient being 32%, which is the same as a steep flight of stairs. The ultralight Zinal 2 was the ideal shoe for the race. Its impressive weight made us forget all about it while the outsole kept us secured to the gradient for every precious step.
Best Trail Racing Kit with Ricki Wynne
Conclusion
We think that the Zinal 2 is a next-generation racer from HOKA, the combination of cushion, weight and grip puts it near the top of all the shoes we have tested. We would recommend the Zinal 2 to people who want a “go-faster” shoe for Irish races shorter than 30km. If you are in the market for a “go-longer” race day shoe we would recommend considering the HOKA Tecton X2.
