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40Race Shoe FinderEst. 2023 · London

Head to head

ASICS Magic Speed 5vs
Saucony Endorphin Elite 2

Magic Speed 5

£130

Typical street price · £150 RRP

38mm — road legal
Endorphin Elite 2

£149

Typical street price · £250 RRP

39.5mm — on the limit

Choose the Magic Speed 5 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 more races out of one pair: about 500km of competitive life against 240km.
  • You are racing 10K — built for it, where the Endorphin Elite 2 is not.

Choose the Endorphin Elite 2 if…

  • You want the bigger return: 3–4.2% economy gain against 2–3.1%, and that gap widens the longer you are out there.
  • You want the lighter shoe: 199g against 218g, a 19g 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 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–158sEndorphin Elite 2: 152s–233s
Cost per second saved
Magic Speed 5: £0.14Endorphin Elite 2: £0.20

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
0102030405039.531.5
Endorphin Elite 2

What you pay

Street price
Magic Speed 5£130■
Endorphin Elite 2£149

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

RRP
Magic Speed 5£150
Endorphin Elite 2£250

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

Cost per race
Magic Speed 5£16■
Endorphin Elite 2£39

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

Cost per second saved
Magic Speed 5£0.14■
Endorphin Elite 2£0.20

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

What it does

Estimated saving
Magic Speed 583s–158s
Endorphin Elite 2152s–233s■

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

Economy gain
Magic Speed 52–3.1%
Endorphin Elite 23–4.2%■
Built for
Magic Speed 510K · Half · Marathon
Endorphin Elite 2Half · Marathon
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.
Endorphin Elite 2Superseded by the Elite 3, which means it is now one of the best-value top-end racers you can find if you catch it discounted.

How it is built

Weight
Magic Speed 5218 g
Endorphin Elite 2199 g■

Manufacturer figure at men's US 9.

Stack (heel)
Magic Speed 538 mm
Endorphin Elite 239.5 mm
Stack (forefoot)
Magic Speed 531 mm
Endorphin Elite 231.5 mm
Drop
Magic Speed 57 mm
Endorphin Elite 28 mm
Foam
Magic Speed 5FF Blast Turbo
Endorphin Elite 2IncrediRUN
Plate
Magic Speed 5carbon fibre
Endorphin Elite 2carbon fibre

Rules and fit

Road legal
Magic Speed 5Yes (38 mm)
Endorphin Elite 2Yes (39.5 mm)

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

Fit
Magic Speed 5standard
Endorphin Elite 2standard
Stability
Magic Speed 5stable
Endorphin Elite 2balanced

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

Race life
Magic Speed 5~500 km■
Endorphin Elite 2~240 km

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

Data confidence
Magic Speed 5estimated
Endorphin Elite 2verified■

■ 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£149at Startfitness — £101 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.