There’s no denying the success that Chase Hawk has found in BMX over all of his years of style that he has graced us with. This year in particular seems to be one that has been more than amazing than previous years with some unexpected changes to his sponsor line up, taking home a gold medal at the X-Games, having a day named after him in Austin, Texas, having a new version of his signature frame from Cult released and even more recently, his own signature colorway on the Marana shoe from Etnies. There have been a lot of good things happening for him and it’s safe to say it’s every bit well deserved.
A few weeks back, we got our hands on a pair of those signature shoes we just mentioned and figured it would be more than a good time to take a more in-depth look at just what makes the shoe special and give some insight into what we have thought about them so far! So, here we have… Our latest Insight! Let’s do this!
When we picked these shoes up, we know good and well of the quality of shoe that it was before even putting them on. We’ve been big fans of the shoes Etnies have made in the past, and it was a no brainer that Chase chose the Marana as the model he wanted to run with for his signature colorway as part of Etnies “Bloodline” series.
The Marana starts out with a Pro 1 polyurethane footbed with full-length flex grooves and a STI Non-Slip Grip 400 NBS rubber outsole to give the shoe plenty of grip while maintaining durability for a longer life. As you can see above, the pattern they used is pretty crazy with different waves, triangles, and blocks which actually produces a solid grip on the pedals since your feet move around quite a bit and it allows to get a good grip at any angle. The shoe itself has quite a bit of flex and doesn’t feel like a block or feel too thin, allowing the shoe to flex with you and feel comfortable whether you’re riding or walking.
The inside of the shoe features Etnies’ signature STI Evolution foam midsole giving plenty of cushioning and won’t pack out from impacts, helping to keep your feet and joints from taking the full grunt from a heavy landing. They even put in some custom Chase Hawk insoles which feature Chase’s name and a guy cruising on a centennial bike (sorry for cutting it out in the photo).
The exterior of the shoe features a suede body with perforated holes on the top and sides for some air flow and a mesh that wraps around the sides and heel by the ankle along with the tongue for some bonus aesthetics. The rear of the shoe features a sewn on Etnies logo and double stitching. These shoes feature extra padding on the tongue and collar giving you some extra protection against ankle bite and to keep the feet snug and in place. You can also find a reinforced rubber toe cap which helps reduce wear and tear from foot jams which is a bonus for those of you who tear the front up.
After a few weeks of riding in the shoes and wearing them while out doing things, they have started to show some signs of wear. Now, I don’t ride super crazy and run brakes, so I’m not constantly dragging my feet or jamming them in the rear tire to help slow me down which definitely helps extend the life of these shoes.
Up top, most of the scuffing and wear is along the rubber toe cap in the front from foot jams. The shoe itself is still really solid and it doesn’t appear that the rubber from the sole will be pulling free from the suede any time soon.
As expected, the bottom of the shoe is starting to show some heavy wear. I personally run metal Flybikes Ruben pedals and haven’t had any issues with slipping the pedals with these shoes. The Etnies logo has been completely torn up on both shoes and my left shoe has more gashes in the rubber than the right which is surprising since my right foot does a lot of moving around for tables and turndowns. Either way, even after a few weeks (pushing 2 months) they appear to be holding up just fine.
Overall, I’m real psyched on the Marana’s. In all honesty, I was a little hesitant about the shoes initially since I prefer mid-tops for riding shoes. With the extra padding around the collar, any worries about crank arm bite went away pretty quick and I felt like I had plenty of support to help keep from rolling ankles. The collar actually has held up real well as well since I’m more of a slip on versus tie my shoes guy as well, haha. As we said before, the red (with white and gum) colorway is Chase’s signature colorway. If you aren’t feeling the color, Etnies actually has 19 other color options for this shoe that you might like. Take a look at the other options RIGHT HERE.
You can pick up the Chase Hawk signature Marana shoe for $64.99 on Dan’s Comp or for $74.99 direct from the Etnies Webstore. Any good BMX shop or even skate shop should also be able to get you some of these ordered up as well if you’re looking to shop local!
Below is the promo edit Etnies dropped with the release of Chase’s shoe a few weeks back if you want to watch that again!
