Behold theHoka Gaviota 5.
The base is dramatically wider than the foot bed, which makes me feel balanced and safe.
However, the Gaviota 5s are not necessarily for everyone.
Pros:
Cons:
The ultimate stability and support?
Support refers to a shoe that cushions the foot from impact, explains Dr. Lee.
Shoes achieve this a few waysmost obviously with a thick, soft sole that absorbs pressure from the ground.
chief of podiatric surgery at the UCLA Santa Monica Medical Center and past president of the Los Angeles County Podiatric Medical Association
One possible solution is wearing a stability shoe.
So stability inherently means really blocking pronation.
Thats the function and the purpose.
Because of that rigidity, stability shoes can sometimes be clunkier or less soft than pure support shoes.
And it turns out, he was right.
I havent gotten blisters on runs in my Gaviotas.
However, the extra firmness of the stability element has also taken some getting used to.
The Gaviotas dont feel like quite the cloudy dream that the Bondis do.
The Gaviotas are still springy and cushy.
chief of podiatric surgery at the UCLA Santa Monica Medical Center and past president of the Los Angeles County Podiatric Medical Association
But its possible that this will help me in the long run.
My feet felt a bit cramped in the shoe when I wore them with my insoles.
That made me wonder whether I really needed that extra arch support in this shoe?
But I havent ever had a choice, really.
I can also tell that the Gaviotas are wider than my other shoes.
So between the width and the base, the Gaviota 5s make quite the footprint.
That doesnt bother me at all.
In fact, it makes me feel super stable, hugged, and supported.
But the Gaviotas do have a heft that I never seemed to notice with the Bondis.
Dr. Lee says thats typical with a combination stability and support shoe.
I have other support and stability shoes that feel neither as rigid nor as heavy as the Gaviotas.
However they dont have that gold-standard Hoka fat sole.
…
Got it, you’ve been added to our email list.
