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40Race Shoe FinderEst. 2023 · London

Head to head

adidas Adizero Adios Pro 4vs
Saucony Endorphin Elite 3

Adizero Adios Pro 4

£176

Typical street price · £230 RRP

39mm — road legal
Endorphin Elite 3

£300

Typical street price · RRP £270

39.5mm — on the limit

Choose the Adizero Adios Pro 4 if…

  • Money matters: it is selling around £176 against £300, and the time difference between them is smaller than the price difference suggests.

Choose the Endorphin Elite 3 if…

  • You want the lighter shoe: 190g against 210g, a 20g difference you will feel late in a race.

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–240sEndorphin Elite 3: 172s–253s
Cost per second saved
Adizero Adios Pro 4: £0.21Endorphin Elite 3: £0.37

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
0102030405039.531.5
Endorphin Elite 3

What you pay

Street price
Adizero Adios Pro 4£176■
Endorphin Elite 3£300

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

RRP
Adizero Adios Pro 4£230
Endorphin Elite 3£270

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

Cost per race
Adizero Adios Pro 4£43■
Endorphin Elite 3£79

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

Cost per second saved
Adizero Adios Pro 4£0.21■
Endorphin Elite 3£0.37

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

What it does

Estimated saving
Adizero Adios Pro 4165s–240s
Endorphin Elite 3172s–253s■

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

Economy gain
Adizero Adios Pro 43.2–4.3%
Endorphin Elite 33.3–4.5%■
Built for
Adizero Adios Pro 410K · Half · Marathon
Endorphin Elite 310K · Half · Marathon
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.
Endorphin Elite 3The softest ride at this level by some distance, and the third generation finally made it serious rather than just fun. A genuine top-tier option.

How it is built

Weight
Adizero Adios Pro 4210 g
Endorphin Elite 3190 g■

Manufacturer figure at men's US 9.

Stack (heel)
Adizero Adios Pro 439 mm
Endorphin Elite 339.5 mm
Stack (forefoot)
Adizero Adios Pro 433 mm
Endorphin Elite 331.5 mm
Drop
Adizero Adios Pro 46 mm
Endorphin Elite 38 mm
Foam
Adizero Adios Pro 4Lightstrike Pro
Endorphin Elite 3IncrediRUN (twin layer)
Plate
Adizero Adios Pro 4carbon fibre
Endorphin Elite 3carbon fibre

Rules and fit

Road legal
Adizero Adios Pro 4Yes (39 mm)
Endorphin Elite 3Yes (39.5 mm)

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

Fit
Adizero Adios Pro 4standard
Endorphin Elite 3standard
Stability
Adizero Adios Pro 4balanced
Endorphin Elite 3balanced

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

Race life
Adizero Adios Pro 4~260 km■
Endorphin Elite 3~240 km

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

Data confidence
Adizero Adios Pro 4verified
Endorphin Elite 3verified

■ 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

Cheapest in stock£299.90at Startfitness — RRP is £270

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.