Discontinued · road · Race day / Tempo · $160
Earlier generation of the Hoka Cielo Road line, kept for replacement lookups.
Built for race day, tempo, at a target pace of 5:15–7:15 /mi on road.
This model is no longer in production. The closest shoe you can buy today is Hoka Cielo Road 5.
Hoka tuned this midsole balanced (3/5 on our cushioning scale). Energy return is above average: the midsole rebounds well without feeling unstable. 33 mm of heel stack is the modern daily-trainer sweet spot — enough foam for long miles without losing contact with the road. Combined, the ride reads as explosive at 5/5 responsiveness.
A full-length carbon plate stiffens the forefoot and works with the foam as a lever: it smooths the transition off the toes and cuts the effort of holding fast paces. It also asks for speed — at easy paces a carbon plate feels stiff and does little for you, and it is the main reason super-shoes wear out sooner than trainers.
A low 5 mm drop encourages a midfoot landing and keeps the ankle working through a fuller range. The rocker is moderate — enough curve to smooth the roll-through without dictating your footstrike. The forefoot is stiff, so it rolls rather than bends — a lever, not a slipper. It is a neutral platform with no built-in correction.
The toe-box is narrow and performance-oriented; wide-footed runners should try before buying. It runs small; most runners size up a half. Expect roughly 250 miles from the outsole, about $0.64 per mile at $160.
For the foams and plates Hoka uses across its line, read the Hoka brand guide.
Measured against the 542 currently-available shoes in the catalog. The bar shows where this shoe sits in that range.
Weight
224 g / 7.9 oz
51 g lighter than the catalog median of 275 g
Heel stack
33 mm
3 mm lower than the catalog median of 36 mm
Drop
5 mm
1 mm lower than the catalog median of 6 mm
Price
$160
Level with the catalog median of 160
Responsiveness
5 / 5
Catalog median 3 / 5
Cushioning
3 / 5
Catalog median 4 / 5
Energy return
4 / 5
Catalog median 3 / 5
Durability
~250 mi
Catalog median ~400 mi
Within the Hoka line it is lighter than the brand's median (275 g / 9.7 oz) and sits lower than its median stack (38 mm).
Current shoes with the nearest combination of weight, stack, drop, foam feel and plate.
Hoka Cielo Road 5
215 g / 7.6 oz · 36 mm · 5 mm drop · Carbon · $180
Short-course Hoka racer built for 5K to half-marathon turnover.
Asics Noosa Tri 17
215 g / 7.6 oz · 32 mm · 5 mm drop · — · $145
Loud, light triathlon-friendly speed trainer with quick-entry upload.
Adidas Adizero Boston 13(2024)
255 g / 9.0 oz · 36 mm · 6 mm drop · Carbon · $160
Rod-stiffened tempo trainer with a firm, purposeful ride.
Adidas Adizero Takumi Sen 10(2024)
196 g / 6.9 oz · 33 mm · 6 mm drop · Carbon · $180
Firm, brutal 5K–10K racer. All snap, no lounging.