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40Race Shoe FinderEst. 2023 · London

Head to head

ASICS Magic Speed 5vs
New Balance FuelCell SuperComp Trainer v4

Magic Speed 5

£130

Typical street price · £150 RRP

38mm — road legal
FuelCell SuperComp Trainer v4

£157

Typical street price · £190 RRP

■ 47mm — over limit

Choose the Magic Speed 5 if…

  • Your race is run under World Athletics rules — this one is legal at 38mm and the FuelCell SuperComp Trainer v4 is not.
  • You want the lighter shoe: 218g against 269g, a 51g difference you will feel late in a race.
  • 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.
  • Money matters: it is selling around £130 against £157, and the time difference between them is smaller than the price difference suggests.
  • You are racing 10K or Half marathon — built for it, where the FuelCell SuperComp Trainer v4 is not.

Choose the FuelCell SuperComp Trainer v4 if…

  • You want the bigger return: 2.4–3.5% economy gain against 2–3.1%, and that gap widens the longer you are out there.
  • You want more shoe underneath you late on: 47mm against 38mm, which is protection over a long race rather than speed over a short one.
  • You race off a strong, repeatable stride and want the more aggressive ride rather than the safer one.
  • You have a broad foot, or your toes spread as a long race goes on.
  • You want more races out of one pair: about 650km of competitive life against 500km.
  • You are racing Ultra / 50K+ — built for it, where the Magic Speed 5 is not.
  • You would rather buy on measured numbers: this shoe's specs are manufacturer-confirmed, the Magic Speed 5's are estimated.

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
Magic Speed 5: 83s–158sFuelCell SuperComp Trainer v4: 111s–186s
Cost per second saved
Magic Speed 5: £0.14FuelCell SuperComp Trainer v4: £0.10

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.

010203040503831
Magic Speed 5
010203040504741
FuelCell SuperComp Trainer v4

What you pay

Street price
Magic Speed 5£130■
FuelCell SuperComp Trainer v4£157

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

RRP
Magic Speed 5£150
FuelCell SuperComp Trainer v4£190

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

Cost per race
Magic Speed 5£16
FuelCell SuperComp Trainer v4£15■

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

Cost per second saved
Magic Speed 5£0.14
FuelCell SuperComp Trainer v4£0.10■

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

What it does

Estimated saving
Magic Speed 583s–158s
FuelCell SuperComp Trainer v4111s–186s■

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

Economy gain
Magic Speed 52–3.1%
FuelCell SuperComp Trainer v42.4–3.5%■
Built for
Magic Speed 510K · Half · Marathon
FuelCell SuperComp Trainer v4Marathon · Ultra
Best use case
Magic Speed 5The best entry point to carbon. Real plate, real super foam, durable enough to train in, and about half the price of the flagships.
FuelCell SuperComp Trainer v4A max-stack plated trainer that makes easy miles feel effortless. Beloved for long runs.

How it is built

Weight
Magic Speed 5218 g■
FuelCell SuperComp Trainer v4269 g

Manufacturer figure at men's US 9.

Stack (heel)
Magic Speed 538 mm
FuelCell SuperComp Trainer v447 mm
Stack (forefoot)
Magic Speed 531 mm
FuelCell SuperComp Trainer v441 mm
Drop
Magic Speed 57 mm
FuelCell SuperComp Trainer v46 mm
Foam
Magic Speed 5FF Blast Turbo
FuelCell SuperComp Trainer v4PEBA FuelCell
Plate
Magic Speed 5carbon fibre
FuelCell SuperComp Trainer v4carbon fibre

Rules and fit

Road legal
Magic Speed 5Yes (38 mm)■
FuelCell SuperComp Trainer v4No (47 mm)

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

Fit
Magic Speed 5standard
FuelCell SuperComp Trainer v4wide
Stability
Magic Speed 5stable
FuelCell SuperComp Trainer v4balanced

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

Race life
Magic Speed 5~500 km
FuelCell SuperComp Trainer v4~650 km■

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

Data confidence
Magic Speed 5estimated
FuelCell SuperComp Trainer v4verified■

■ 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£119at Startfitness — £31 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£157at Amphibianking — £33 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.