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40Race Shoe FinderEst. 2023 · London

Head to head

ASICS Metaspeed Rayvs
Brooks Hyperion Elite 5

Metaspeed Ray

approx £164

Estimated street price · £250 RRP

39.5mm — on the limit
Hyperion Elite 5

approx £151

Estimated street price · £230 RRP

39mm — road legal

Choose the Metaspeed Ray if…

  • You want the bigger return: 3.7–4.9% economy gain against 2.8–3.9%, and that gap widens the longer you are out there.
  • You want the lighter shoe: 129g against 196g, a 67g 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.
  • You would rather buy on measured numbers: this shoe's specs are manufacturer-confirmed, the Hyperion Elite 5's are estimated.

Choose the Hyperion Elite 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 a conventional fit rather than a narrow or wide last.
  • You want more races out of one pair: about 280km of competitive life against 130km.
  • You are racing 10K — built for it, where the Metaspeed Ray 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
Metaspeed Ray: 199s–280sHyperion Elite 5: 138s–213s
Cost per second saved
Metaspeed Ray: £0.33Hyperion Elite 5: £0.19

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.

0102030405039.534.5
Metaspeed Ray
010203040503931
Hyperion Elite 5

What you pay

Street price
Metaspeed Ray~£164
Hyperion Elite 5~£151■

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.

RRP
Metaspeed Ray£250
Hyperion Elite 5£230

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

Cost per race
Metaspeed Ray£80
Hyperion Elite 5£34■

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

Cost per second saved
Metaspeed Ray£0.33
Hyperion Elite 5£0.19■

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

What it does

Estimated saving
Metaspeed Ray199s–280s■
Hyperion Elite 5138s–213s

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

Economy gain
Metaspeed Ray3.7–4.9%■
Hyperion Elite 52.8–3.9%
Built for
Metaspeed RayHalf · Marathon
Hyperion Elite 510K · Half · Marathon
Best use case
Metaspeed RayASICS answering the Adios Pro Evo directly. At 129g it is the lightest shoe here, and it feels like almost nothing on the foot.
Hyperion Elite 5Unfashionable and quietly good. Firmer and more controlled than most of the field, which suits heel strikers and heavier runners.

How it is built

Weight
Metaspeed Ray129 g■
Hyperion Elite 5196 g

Manufacturer figure at men's US 9.

Stack (heel)
Metaspeed Ray39.5 mm
Hyperion Elite 539 mm
Stack (forefoot)
Metaspeed Ray34.5 mm
Hyperion Elite 531 mm
Drop
Metaspeed Ray5 mm
Hyperion Elite 58 mm
Foam
Metaspeed RayFF Leap
Hyperion Elite 5DNA Flash v2
Plate
Metaspeed Raycarbon fibre
Hyperion Elite 5carbon fibre

Rules and fit

Road legal
Metaspeed RayYes (39.5 mm)
Hyperion Elite 5Yes (39 mm)

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

Fit
Metaspeed Raynarrow
Hyperion Elite 5standard
Stability
Metaspeed Raydemanding
Hyperion Elite 5stable

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

Race life
Metaspeed Ray~130 km
Hyperion Elite 5~280 km■

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

Data confidence
Metaspeed Rayverified■
Hyperion Elite 5estimated

■ 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.

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

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.