Skip to content
40Race Shoe FinderEst. 2023 · London

Head to head

adidas Adizero Adios Pro 4vs
HOKA Cielo X1 2.0

Adizero Adios Pro 4

£176

Typical street price · £230 RRP

39mm — road legal
Cielo X1 2.0

£150

Typical street price · £250 RRP

■ 46mm — over limit

Choose the Adizero Adios Pro 4 if…

  • Your race is run under World Athletics rules — this one is legal at 39mm and the Cielo X1 2.0 is not.
  • You want the bigger return: 3.2–4.3% economy gain against 2.8–4%, and that gap widens the longer you are out there.
  • You want the lighter shoe: 210g against 230g, a 20g difference you will feel late in a race.
  • You race off a strong, repeatable stride and want the more aggressive ride rather than the safer one.
  • You are racing 10K or Half marathon — built for it, where the Cielo X1 2.0 is not.

Choose the Cielo X1 2.0 if…

  • You want more shoe underneath you late on: 46mm against 39mm, which is protection over a long race rather than speed over a short one.
  • You want something more forgiving. This is the steadier platform — useful if your form goes late, or if you are on your feet longer.
  • You want more races out of one pair: about 350km of competitive life against 260km.
  • You are racing Ultra / 50K+ — built for it, where the Adizero Adios Pro 4 is not.

What does this
mean for you?

Every figure below is recalculated from your race and your current time. The gap between two shoes is not fixed — it grows with how long you are on your feet.

Over marathon from 3:45:00

Time back
Adizero Adios Pro 4: 165s–240sCielo X1 2.0: 138s–219s
Cost per second saved
Adizero Adios Pro 4: £0.21Cielo X1 2.0: £0.15

Ranges, not promises. Both figures are against a standard trainer, and the honest answer for most runners is that the difference between two shoes of this class is smaller than the difference a month of decent training makes.

Every number.

010203040503933
Adizero Adios Pro 4
010203040504639
Cielo X1 2.0

What you pay

Street price
Adizero Adios Pro 4£176
Cielo X1 2.0£150■

What the shoe is actually selling for across the shops we read, not its RRP.

RRP
Adizero Adios Pro 4£230
Cielo X1 2.0£250

List price. Almost nobody pays it for a race shoe.

Cost per race
Adizero Adios Pro 4£43
Cielo X1 2.0£27■

Street price divided by the races the foam stays fast for.

Cost per second saved
Adizero Adios Pro 4£0.21
Cielo X1 2.0£0.15■

The whole-life question: what each second of race time costs you.

What it does

Estimated saving
Adizero Adios Pro 4165s–240s■
Cielo X1 2.0138s–219s

Against a standard trainer, over the distance and time set above.

Economy gain
Adizero Adios Pro 43.2–4.3%■
Cielo X1 2.02.8–4%
Built for
Adizero Adios Pro 410K · Half · Marathon
Cielo X1 2.0Marathon · Ultra
Best use case
Adizero Adios Pro 4The best value at the very top of the market. Within touching distance of the Evo 2 for performance at half the price and twice the life.
Cielo X1 2.0Enormous, cushioned and surprisingly stable. For heavier runners and slower marathoners it may genuinely be the most comfortable way to cover 42km fast.

How it is built

Weight
Adizero Adios Pro 4210 g■
Cielo X1 2.0230 g

Manufacturer figure at men's US 9.

Stack (heel)
Adizero Adios Pro 439 mm
Cielo X1 2.046 mm
Stack (forefoot)
Adizero Adios Pro 433 mm
Cielo X1 2.039 mm
Drop
Adizero Adios Pro 46 mm
Cielo X1 2.07 mm
Foam
Adizero Adios Pro 4Lightstrike Pro
Cielo X1 2.0PEBA
Plate
Adizero Adios Pro 4carbon fibre
Cielo X1 2.0carbon fibre

Rules and fit

Road legal
Adizero Adios Pro 4Yes (39 mm)■
Cielo X1 2.0No (46 mm)

World Athletics caps road racing shoes at 40 mm of stack.

Fit
Adizero Adios Pro 4standard
Cielo X1 2.0standard
Stability
Adizero Adios Pro 4balanced
Cielo X1 2.0stable

Neither is better in the abstract — it depends on your stride.

Race life
Adizero Adios Pro 4~260 km
Cielo X1 2.0~350 km■

How long the foam stays fast, not how long the shoe survives.

Data confidence
Adizero Adios Pro 4verified
Cielo X1 2.0verified

■ marks the better figure where one is genuinely better. Fit, foam, drop and stability carry no mark — they depend on your foot and your stride, not on which shoe is superior.

In your size.

Where to buy

Your UK size

Best price today — some sizes£150at Runningbear — £80 under RRP

9 retailer checks failed on the last run, so their prices are missing rather than wrong.

Prices are captured when the site is built and stamped with the time of that check. We never rank a retailer by what it pays us; where a link earns a commission it is marked sponsored and the price you pay is unchanged.

Where to buy

Your UK size

Best price today — some sizes£150at Armaghsports — £100 under RRP

9 retailer checks failed on the last run, so their prices are missing rather than wrong.

Prices are captured when the site is built and stamped with the time of that check. We never rank a retailer by what it pays us; where a link earns a commission it is marked sponsored and the price you pay is unchanged.