Hyperion 3 vs Mach 6

The Brooks Hyperion 3 is a lightweight speed trainer built to add a bit of zip to your faster days without asking you to buy a dedicated racer. It is a neutral road running shoe aimed at tempo runs, intervals and strides, and at 244g it is light enough to feel quick underfoot the moment you pick up the pace. There is no carbon plate here, so you will not get the springboard snap of a super shoe. What you get instead is a simple, honest tempo shoe with a firm, responsive ride and a versatile streak that lets it double as a lighter daily trainer. The 11.3mm drop is on the traditional side and rewards heel strikers. Against the plated crowd it gives up some return, but at £130 it undercuts most of them and asks for less commitment. If you liked the Brooks Hyperion 2, this is a familiar, refined update rather than a reinvention.

The Hoka Mach 6 is one of the best value do-it-all trainers going, a lightweight road shoe that punches well above its £140 price. It sits in that useful middle ground between a soft daily trainer and a firm racer, so it can handle your easy miles in the week and still come alive when you pick up the pace on tempo day. At 232g with a 5mm drop it feels quick and unfussy underfoot, and the bouncy supercritical foam gives you a lively toe-off without the harshness of a plated racing shoe. There is no carbon plate here, which keeps the ride natural and forgiving. We rate it as a genuine one-shoe solution for runners who want a single pair for most of their training. If you are chasing a marathon PB you will want a plated shoe on race day, but for everything in the build up the Mach 6 is hard to beat. The Mach 7 refines the formula, though the 6 is often the smarter buy on price.