Deviate Nitro Elite 4 vs Endorphin Pro 5

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.

The Endorphin Pro 5 is Saucony's carbon marathon racer, and the fifth version is the most complete one yet. This is a road racing shoe built around a slotted carbon SpeedRoll plate sitting in a stack of PWRRUN PB and Super Critical foam, so you get that firm, rockered snap through toe-off that the Endorphin line has always chased. At £225 it lands squarely in the super-shoe bracket alongside the Nike Vaporfly 4 and adidas Adios Pro, and it earns the price if you are racing anything from 10k to a marathon. Compared with the Endorphin Pro 4 it feels a touch more planted and a little more forgiving on tired legs, without losing the rolling geometry that makes it want to move at pace. In our view this is a proper PB tool, not an everyday cruiser. Buy it to race, and it delivers.