Vaporfly 4 vs Fast-R Nitro Elite 3

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.

The Fast-R Nitro Elite 3 is PUMA at its most single-minded: a carbon marathon racer built to hold hard pace and give a lot back when you push. At a claimed 170g it is genuinely light for a full-stack road racing shoe, and the split-forefoot geometry that defines the Fast-R line is back, so the ride feels aggressive and unashamedly race-only. This is a running shoe with one job, and it does it well. It sits at the sharp end of the super-shoe market on price at £260, right alongside the Nike Alphafly 3 and the adidas Adizero Adios Pro 4. If you want a carbon racing shoe purely for marathons, halves and fast tempo work, and you run best off a snappy propulsive platform rather than a soft rocker, it earns its place in the rotation. Just know what you are buying: this is a race-day tool, not a do-everything trainer.