K-Swiss K-Ona Review
November 26, 2009
Wear tester: Hector T. Yuzon
Foot type: Over-pronator
Recent races: WRT long distance triathlon, QCIM half marathon
Most recent pairs: Gel 1130, GT 2140, Wave Elixir 4 (for multi sport and short races)
Wear test shoe: K-Swiss K-ONA
SHOE SPECS:
Upper: Nylon mesh for ventilation, TPU plastic overlays on the midfoot for stability, and to secure the foot; flow cool system on the forefoot and on the heel counter for enhanced air passage
Midsole: K-Swiss superfoam cushioning, with ports for ventilation and drainage of liquid, assisted by a mild stability post, and a midfoot plate
Outsole: Aosta II rubber compound
Normally, I don’t keep the shoe box, but il make an exception for this one because it came with the ironman logo!
NOTES:
Chris Lieto one of the top pro triathletes in the world, helped in the briefing / design of the K-Swiss running line
4 years in the making before K-Swiss launched their technical running line in 2008
K-Swiss athletes won the 2nd, 3rd, 11th, and 15th place in the 2009 Kona Ironman
It may not appear readily but when you compare this shoe with others, its actually a low profile shoe
Compared to your normal road ones (see sideview).
After a fairly long bike ride of 65k from secondwind QC to Boso-boso, me and other friends decided to go for a 5k run, as part of brick training and to road test the K-Swiss k-ona running shoe. Most of us were really intending to do brick for the purpose of Powerade duathlon on Dec 13.
Fresh out of the box, you can instantly tell that this shoe is race ready in terms of flexibility and weight (logging in less than 9oz – which weighed almost the same as the NB 827, a neutral lightweight shoe); because the upper design and materials applied was very minimal, there was minimal break-in or minimal ‘getting used to’ to run with the shoe.
After eating, and hydrating, we were off into our 5k run. Any Multi sport athlete can attest to this: off the bike, your legs needs time to adjust to the transition to another movement. So basically off the bike, you are just throwing your foot forward one after the other, out of control, almost like a string puppet – just until you find your rhythm or your groove. This is one feature that any Multisport athlete will appreciate: the generously beveled crash pad.
What this does, it gives your ground impact more allowance on movement as your bike muscle transition to run muscles.
That feature, I appreciated greatly!
The stability on the other hand was not so much supportive as my GT2140s and 1130s. Soon after wearing the K-ona, I already felt the lack of arch support in the footbed – depending on how much you overpronate, I feel that the support that this shoe will give you remains to be proven in your threshold. As for me, I feel that this shoe can probably support me until 15k runs just like my Elixir 4s.
Overall, the k-ona may not get you that podium place that we’ve all been dreaming of, but it will definitely shave off a few seconds. My 5k run which turned out to be a 6k run, clocked in at 31’29 –
like I said, the shoe doesn’t come with a podium place, but at least you know how it feels to run like an Ironman (even if you are just brick training somewhere in QC).
