Dragonfly 2 vs Deviate Nitro Elite 4

The Nike Dragonfly 2 is a distance track spike, built for the 1500m up to the 10,000m rather than the flat-out sprints. Underfoot you get a slab of ZoomX foam paired with a Pebax propulsion plate, so it feels far closer to a super racing shoe than the bare, punishing spikes of a decade ago. That is the whole idea. You keep the light, locked-in, aggressive feel of a track spike, but the ZoomX gives you a little forgiveness so your legs are not shredded over a longer effort. At 145g it is genuinely light, and the 0mm drop with a low 19mm stack keeps you right down on the track for a fast, connected feel. This is a race-day tool, not a training shoe. If your event is 1500m and longer and you want a distance spike that lets you hold pace when it hurts, the Dragonfly 2 is one of the most trusted options out there. Sprinters and 800m specialists will want Nike's more aggressive Air Zoom Victory 2 instead.

The Deviate Nitro Elite 4 is Puma's mainstream carbon racing shoe, the one most runners should look at before the pricier top-tier Fast-R. It sits in the same road-racing class as the Vaporfly and the Adios Pro, a plated marathon shoe built to hold pace when your legs start asking questions. For this fourth version Puma went firmer, with a reworked ATPU midsole under a carbon plate, so the ride feels more planted and direct than a soft, tippy super shoe. Where it really separates itself is the PUMAGRIP outsole, which is genuinely excellent in the wet and gives you confidence through corners that many racers cannot match. At £215 it is priced right alongside its rivals, so this is a straight race-day tool, not a do-everything trainer. If you want a stable, grippy carbon racing shoe for half and full marathons and you like a firmer, propulsive feel, we rate it highly. Chase a softer, bouncier ride and you might prefer the Vaporfly 4.