Magic Speed 5 vs Pegasus Plus 2

The Magic Speed 5 is Asics doing the sensible thing: a carbon-plated running shoe that hands you race-day pop without asking for full super-shoe money. It sits a rung below the Metaspeed Sky racers, so think of it as a carbon tempo shoe and part-time marathon shoe rather than an out-and-out record chaser. At 193g with a 37mm heel and a 7mm drop, it is light and low-slung enough to feel fast, and the FF Turbo foam gives it genuine bounce when you lean into a session. What makes it worth a look is versatility. It will pace a threshold workout on Tuesday, then carry you through a half or a first marathon on Sunday without feeling like overkill. It is not the softest or the most aggressive shoe in its class, but as a one-shoe answer for a runner who wants some carbon assistance across a range of paces, we rate it highly.

Nike sells the Pegasus Plus 2 as an up-tempo trainer, and that's the claim reviewers push back on hardest. What you actually get is a comfortable, well-built daily running shoe, with full-length ZoomX foam, an Air Zoom unit under the forefoot and a far roomier fit than the first Pegasus Plus, which reviewers found firm and flat. It doesn't like going fast. At 252g on our spec sheet it's heavy for the category, and the forefoot pod adds stiffness without much obvious spring. Ben Parkes was blunt about it and put several rivals ahead of it for anything quicker than easy running. Run To The Finish was far warmer, rating it as a daily trainer that copes with moderate efforts. We lean towards the second view, with a caveat: for easy and steady miles with the odd marathon-pace block it's a good shoe, but if you want a tempo shoe, the Adizero Evo SL or SC Rebel will serve you better.