Head to head
adidas Adizero Adios Pro Evo 2vs
Saucony Endorphin Elite 3
Choose the Adizero Adios Pro Evo 2 if…
- You want the bigger return: 3.8–5% economy gain against 3.3–4.5%, and that gap widens the longer you are out there.
- You want the lighter shoe: 138g against 190g, a 52g 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 have a narrow foot and want to be locked in.
Choose the Endorphin Elite 3 if…
- 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 a conventional fit rather than a narrow or wide last.
- You want more races out of one pair: about 240km of competitive life against 120km.
- You are racing 10K — built for it, where the Adizero Adios Pro Evo 2 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 Evo 2: 206s–286sEndorphin Elite 3: 172s–253s
- Cost per second saved
- Adizero Adios Pro Evo 2: £0.63Endorphin 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.
What you pay
- Street price
- Adizero Adios Pro Evo 2~£296■
- Endorphin Elite 3£300
- RRP
- Adizero Adios Pro Evo 2£450
- Endorphin Elite 3£270
- Cost per race
- Adizero Adios Pro Evo 2£156
- Endorphin Elite 3£79■
- Cost per second saved
- Adizero Adios Pro Evo 2£0.63
- Endorphin Elite 3£0.37■
A tilde marks an estimate: no shop we read is currently listing that shoe, so the figure is RRP less the discount comparable shoes are actually selling at.
List price. Almost nobody pays it for a race shoe.
Street price divided by the races the foam stays fast for.
The whole-life question: what each second of race time costs you.
What it does
- Estimated saving
- Adizero Adios Pro Evo 2206s–286s■
- Endorphin Elite 3172s–253s
- Economy gain
- Adizero Adios Pro Evo 23.8–5%■
- Endorphin Elite 33.3–4.5%
- Built for
- Adizero Adios Pro Evo 2Half · Marathon
- Endorphin Elite 310K · Half · Marathon
- Best use case
- Adizero Adios Pro Evo 2The lightest marathon shoe ever sold and, on the evidence, the fastest. At 138g it is closer to a track spike than a road shoe.
- 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.
Against a standard trainer, over the distance and time set above.
How it is built
- Weight
- Adizero Adios Pro Evo 2138 g■
- Endorphin Elite 3190 g
- Stack (heel)
- Adizero Adios Pro Evo 239 mm
- Endorphin Elite 339.5 mm
- Stack (forefoot)
- Adizero Adios Pro Evo 236 mm
- Endorphin Elite 331.5 mm
- Drop
- Adizero Adios Pro Evo 23 mm
- Endorphin Elite 38 mm
- Foam
- Adizero Adios Pro Evo 2Lightstrike Pro
- Endorphin Elite 3IncrediRUN (twin layer)
- Plate
- Adizero Adios Pro Evo 2carbon fibre
- Endorphin Elite 3carbon fibre
Manufacturer figure at men's US 9.
Rules and fit
- Road legal
- Adizero Adios Pro Evo 2Yes (39 mm)
- Endorphin Elite 3Yes (39.5 mm)
- Fit
- Adizero Adios Pro Evo 2narrow
- Endorphin Elite 3standard
- Stability
- Adizero Adios Pro Evo 2demanding
- Endorphin Elite 3balanced
- Race life
- Adizero Adios Pro Evo 2~120 km
- Endorphin Elite 3~240 km■
- Data confidence
- Adizero Adios Pro Evo 2verified
- Endorphin Elite 3verified
World Athletics caps road racing shoes at 40 mm of stack.
Neither is better in the abstract — it depends on your stride.
How long the foam stays fast, not how long the shoe survives.
■ 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
No retailer we can read publishes a live price for this shoe, so we cannot check your size. The links below go to each retailer’s own search, where they show the current price and what they hold.
- Alexandra SportsPrice not published hereSearch at Alexandra Sports ↗
- AmazonPrice not published hereSearch at Amazon ↗
- SportsShoesPrice not published hereSearch at SportsShoes ↗
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
Cheapest in stock£299.90at Startfitness — RRP is £270
- Startfitness£299.90Go to size at Startfitness ↗
- Armaghsports£300Go to size at Armaghsports ↗
- Bog Dog£300Go to size at Bog Dog ↗
- Alexandra SportsPrice not published hereSearch at Alexandra Sports ↗
- AmazonPrice not published hereSearch at Amazon ↗
- SportsShoesPrice not published hereSearch at SportsShoes ↗
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.