Adizero Adios Pro Evo 3 vs Vaporfly 4

The Adizero Adios Pro Evo 3 is a running shoe with one job: get you to a marathon finish line faster than anything else you own. At 99g it is barely there on your foot, and that sub-100g weight is the whole point. adidas has stripped away everything that does not make you quicker, then leaned on a firm ENERGYRIM perimeter to hold the shape and snap the shoe through toe-off. The result is a pure marathon shoe that feels less like footwear and more like a piece of race kit. It sits at the very top of the market on price, and it is not built to soak up your training miles. We rate it as a specialist race-day tool for runners chasing a personal best who already know their legs can handle a light, aggressive ride. If that is you, few road racing shoes feel this fast. If it is not, the Vaporfly 4 or adidas own Adios Pro 4 give you most of the speed with far more shoe underfoot.

The Vaporfly 4 is Nike's pure road racer, the carbon racing shoe that started the super-shoe era and still sits near the top of it. This is a marathon shoe built for one job: returning as much energy as possible when you run fast. At a claimed 190g with a carbon plate and an 6mm drop, it is light, snappy and unmistakably race-focused. It is not a do-everything trainer and it does not pretend to be. Park it for easy days and bring it out when the pace matters. We rate it as one of the most accessible elite racers you can buy, because it suits a wider range of paces than the bigger Alphafly 3, which rewards a stronger, faster runner. If you want a proven 5k-to-marathon racing shoe with real pop and a forgiving ride, the Vaporfly 4 is an easy shortlist pick. At £260 RRP it is a serious investment, so it earns its place as a race-day specialist rather than a daily option.