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40Race Shoe FinderEst. 2023 · London

Head to head

ASICS Metaspeed Rayvs
On Cloudboom Strike

Metaspeed Ray

approx £164

Estimated street price · £250 RRP

39.5mm — on the limit
Cloudboom Strike

£175

Typical street price · £270 RRP

39mm — road legal

Choose the Metaspeed Ray if…

  • You want the bigger return: 3.7–4.9% economy gain against 3–4.2%, and that gap widens the longer you are out there.
  • You want the lighter shoe: 129g against 195g, a 66g 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 Cloudboom Strike's are estimated.

Choose the Cloudboom Strike 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 250km of competitive life against 130km.

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–280sCloudboom Strike: 152s–233s
Cost per second saved
Metaspeed Ray: £0.33Cloudboom Strike: £0.23

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
010203040503933
Cloudboom Strike

What you pay

Street price
Metaspeed Ray~£164■
Cloudboom Strike£175

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
Cloudboom Strike£270

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

Cost per race
Metaspeed Ray£80
Cloudboom Strike£44■

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

Cost per second saved
Metaspeed Ray£0.33
Cloudboom Strike£0.23■

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

What it does

Estimated saving
Metaspeed Ray199s–280s■
Cloudboom Strike152s–233s

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

Economy gain
Metaspeed Ray3.7–4.9%■
Cloudboom Strike3–4.2%
Built for
Metaspeed RayHalf · Marathon
Cloudboom StrikeHalf · 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.
Cloudboom StrikeA genuinely competitive marathon racer and the first On shoe that belongs in this conversation on merit.

How it is built

Weight
Metaspeed Ray129 g■
Cloudboom Strike195 g

Manufacturer figure at men's US 9.

Stack (heel)
Metaspeed Ray39.5 mm
Cloudboom Strike39 mm
Stack (forefoot)
Metaspeed Ray34.5 mm
Cloudboom Strike33 mm
Drop
Metaspeed Ray5 mm
Cloudboom Strike6 mm
Foam
Metaspeed RayFF Leap
Cloudboom StrikeHelion HF
Plate
Metaspeed Raycarbon fibre
Cloudboom Strikecarbon fibre

Rules and fit

Road legal
Metaspeed RayYes (39.5 mm)
Cloudboom StrikeYes (39 mm)

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

Fit
Metaspeed Raynarrow
Cloudboom Strikenarrow
Stability
Metaspeed Raydemanding
Cloudboom Strikebalanced

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

Race life
Metaspeed Ray~130 km
Cloudboom Strike~250 km■

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

Data confidence
Metaspeed Rayverified■
Cloudboom Strikeestimated

■ 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£175at Fitstuff — £95 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.