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40Race Shoe FinderEst. 2023 · London

Head to head

ASICS Metaspeed Rayvs
HOKA Cielo X1 2.0

Metaspeed Ray

approx £164

Estimated street price · £250 RRP

39.5mm — on the limit
Cielo X1 2.0

£150

Typical street price · £250 RRP

■ 46mm — over limit

Choose the Metaspeed Ray if…

  • Your race is run under World Athletics rules — this one is legal at 39.5mm and the Cielo X1 2.0 is not.
  • You want the bigger return: 3.7–4.9% economy gain against 2.8–4%, and that gap widens the longer you are out there.
  • You want the lighter shoe: 129g against 230g, a 101g 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 are racing Half marathon — built for it, where the Cielo X1 2.0 is not.

Choose the Cielo X1 2.0 if…

  • You want more shoe underneath you late on: 46mm against 39.5mm, which is protection over a long race rather than speed over a short one.
  • 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 350km of competitive life against 130km.
  • You are racing Ultra / 50K+ — 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–280sCielo X1 2.0: 138s–219s
Cost per second saved
Metaspeed Ray: £0.33Cielo X1 2.0: £0.15

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
010203040504639
Cielo X1 2.0

What you pay

Street price
Metaspeed Ray~£164
Cielo X1 2.0£150■

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
Cielo X1 2.0£250

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

Cost per race
Metaspeed Ray£80
Cielo X1 2.0£27■

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

Cost per second saved
Metaspeed Ray£0.33
Cielo X1 2.0£0.15■

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

What it does

Estimated saving
Metaspeed Ray199s–280s■
Cielo X1 2.0138s–219s

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

Economy gain
Metaspeed Ray3.7–4.9%■
Cielo X1 2.02.8–4%
Built for
Metaspeed RayHalf · Marathon
Cielo X1 2.0Marathon · Ultra
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.
Cielo X1 2.0Enormous, cushioned and surprisingly stable. For heavier runners and slower marathoners it may genuinely be the most comfortable way to cover 42km fast.

How it is built

Weight
Metaspeed Ray129 g■
Cielo X1 2.0230 g

Manufacturer figure at men's US 9.

Stack (heel)
Metaspeed Ray39.5 mm
Cielo X1 2.046 mm
Stack (forefoot)
Metaspeed Ray34.5 mm
Cielo X1 2.039 mm
Drop
Metaspeed Ray5 mm
Cielo X1 2.07 mm
Foam
Metaspeed RayFF Leap
Cielo X1 2.0PEBA
Plate
Metaspeed Raycarbon fibre
Cielo X1 2.0carbon fibre

Rules and fit

Road legal
Metaspeed RayYes (39.5 mm)■
Cielo X1 2.0No (46 mm)

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

Fit
Metaspeed Raynarrow
Cielo X1 2.0standard
Stability
Metaspeed Raydemanding
Cielo X1 2.0stable

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

Race life
Metaspeed Ray~130 km
Cielo X1 2.0~350 km■

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

Data confidence
Metaspeed Rayverified
Cielo X1 2.0verified

■ 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

Best price today — some sizes£150at Armaghsports — £100 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.