Customer Reviews Hoka Challenger Mid GORE-TEX®

the boots are comfy but the lace and hook system is horrible. takes 5 minutes per boot o put on.....laces are stuck in the eyelets and difficult to move....

Wear these every day for work, love the support, although like another reviewer those last two eyelets are a pain. I realize the benefit that they sort of lock in place, but getting them in there can be a pain.

Getting my foot in is tuff to do but once in perfect fit.

Good cushion and support. The two fast lace eyelets on top do not work well with the laces though. I usually leave them off now.

Very comfortable fit very cushiony soul but did not hold up ,80 to 100 miles tops!! Plastic piece that the lace goes through on the ankle cause serious chief from day one. The rocky terrain in the white mountains of New Hampshire is tough on shoes and with the soft bottom's just tears them apart

Top two lacing hooks are not easy to use, hard to get laces in, and they can slip out

The design of the sole works well. The shoe makes walking easy and pleasant. You need to purchase arch support insoles separately. Lacing up the shoe is quite difficult. The laces don't go/slide through the holes well and the eyelets at the top are difficult to use, difficult to thread the laces through, and the top two are placed to high on the shoe to keep the top laces from slipping off the tongue and on to your ankle.

I am a difficult fit, and hoped the 14 wide would be ok. No negative review, just too narrow to give it a try?

Had to return after being hopeful it would be wide enough.

Love these shoes. Even thou I ordered wide, the shoe is too narrow. As new model shoes come out they seem to be getting narrower. Please offer more models wide and extra wide for us flat foot people!

One of the most comfortable shoes I've worn from Hoka. But on my first real hike today, they took a beating for sure that could have been avoided if the front bumper was more robust. If it was like the Kaha, I'd be in business. But the front bumper (if you can call it that) is falling off and the leather near it was easily scared and cut by light bushes. Go for the Stinson if you're looking for a durable hiker that has a wide toe box (please Hoka, give us a wide Kaha).

The metal lace holders are poorly designed. I will cut off the part that makes it difficult to lace up. Very poor design

I've put these through the wringer. I'm 6'2", 210#, 61YO, and fit. I've got "frankenfeet" and frankly Hoka are one of the very few brands I can wear "out of the box". I have Bondi 6's, Speedgoat 4's, these Challenger Mid's and just ordered a pair of the Tennine's. These boots are super comfortable, the fit is great, I've used them for long hikes with and without a pack of up to ~40#. They stay dry in the mud, slop, snow, and generally "damp" conditions of the PNW. I like them a LOT, except for the lacing system, the "eyelets" are wonky and the laces much to thin and you don't have much of an option to go thicker/wider due to the eyelet design. Some creative lacing solves some of that but not all. The soles are durable and grip is good on dirt, gravel, hard surfaces, but not so good in mud and poor on snow/ice. Fortunately they do work well with microspikes. The Speed Goats are 10X better in slick conditions and I'm hopeful the Tennine will be a good blend of the Challenger with the Speed Goat but better, fingers crossed it will be wide enough as it doesn't come in a wide. So full marks to the Challenger if you are on your feed all day on hard surfaces, fantastic, just not a great all conditions hiking boot in my experience. Build quality and durability have been good, I've punished them, and with a decent wool sock they are good in the snow warmth wise.

I've told others these are the most comfortable "boots" I have ever had. But also have to echo some of the comments regarding the lacing. Definitely takes much longer and care to get it right. Also have have a lug on sole separating as others have. This occurred after only a few weeks of light use. Trying to return but Hoka website confusing. Going through return system. I answer all questions. Then the label generated has a spot for reason for return but is blank because system doesn't allow input for this. Trying to talk to someone before I send them back but have had no luck connecting to a live person. Maybe user error. Frustrating.

I like the feel of these. They are light, yet rugged with decent ankle support. However, the goofy eyelets at the top require turning the laces to the thin side to get through the slat. Intentions may have been good to keep the laces "locked in" but it is impossible to finish up at the top two eyelets blind, and it requires a lot of trial and error. If I could trade these for a like product without these eyelets I would do it in a second.

The product is a good product but it's a very plain shoe that stains easily.

My reason for purchasing these shoes was to try to improve a case of plantar fasciitis. I think it's too soon to render an opinion on that. (2 weeks) So far I can say that I like the light weight and the very cushioned sole. I do not like the top four eyelets. Lacing these are like flossing; hard to get in there. And only someone old like me will understand this, but the shoe is black, the eyelets are black, the lace is black; it's a blur. I have to find my readers to get them laced. Pack your patience for that chore. And Im not too keen on the loop at top of tongue..? Anyway I'm not a hiker. I bought these primarily to do yard work in. Overall I believe they will be functional.

I read a lot of reviews on the Challenger Mid GORE-TEX and many said similar things: good shoe, comfortable, but the lacing hardware at the top is badly designed. I decided to ignore that and bought the shoes anyway. First, the bad: Those people are right. The lacing design is bad. Hoka really needs to listen to these reviews and fix that terrible design flaw. Also, on my very first wearing (basically trying them on in the house for a day), the Hoka label peeled off of the inside sole and began bunching up under my foot. It felt like sand in my shoe. How does that even happen? Not such good QC. The good: The shoes are comfortable. They fit almost as true as my other Hokas. I wear a 10 Wide and bought these in the same size. The wide is not truly as wide as say, my Bondi 6, or Speedgoats. So be aware that wide isn't the same across all of Hoka's shoes. But they still fit well. They're very warm, too. The cushioning is what you'd expect from Hoka - very nice. They feel very stable and cradle my feet well, so ankle rolling shouldn't be an issue. Overall, they're good, but not quite as good as I had hoped.

Bad speed hooks.

Comfortable boots used for diy construction. Will need to modify speed hooks to make them effective. Basic complaint from others as well.

The hooks and the flat races don't work well together. Often the laces slide off the hooks, so I tend to dread putting them on n knowing I will fight with lacing the boots up. Once they are on is a different story; super comfortable and perfect weight to keep on during my work shift. The color isn't black and am told it's a dark green. The insoles are crawling back and crunching up, so I'll be ordering replacement insoles soon. I have 4 pairs of different Hoka shoes/boots and swear by them, but these boots, not so much.