FuelCell SuperComp Elite v5 vs SC Elite 4

The FuelCell SuperComp Elite v5 is New Balance at its most serious: a carbon marathon racing shoe built to chase a personal best on the road and nothing else. This is a full super-shoe, with a PEBA midsole and a carbon plate that New Balance says is 38 per cent stiffer than before, and at 213g it is genuinely light for a shoe carrying this much foam. That combination is the whole point. You get a tall, energetic stack that protects your legs deep into a marathon, and a plate rigid enough to snap you onto your toes when you hold race pace. It sits right at the top of the road racing market on price at 220 pounds, up against the Nike Vaporfly 4 and the rest of the carbon crowd. We rate it as a true race-day tool. It rewards a committed effort and feels flat if you jog. Buy it to race, not to train.

The New Balance SC Elite 4 is a full-fat carbon marathon racer, and it wears that brief proudly. This is a tall, soft, aggressively cushioned racing shoe built to keep your legs alive deep into the back half of a marathon rather than to feel featherlight off the line. At 237g it is on the heavier side for a carbon racing shoe, so it does not have the darty, snappy feel of a lighter racer like the Nike Vaporfly 4. What you get instead is a big, forgiving platform and a rolling, momentum-holding ride once you are up to pace. With a 4mm drop and a full carbon plate it sits firmly in the marathon-and-half super-shoe class. At £280 RRP it is a premium buy, but for a runner who wants cushioning and protection over knife-edge sharpness, it is one of the more comfortable ways to race a long road event.