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40Race Shoe FinderEst. 2023 · London

Head to head

ASICS Metaspeed Rayvs
PUMA Deviate Nitro Elite 3

Metaspeed Ray

approx £164

Estimated street price · £250 RRP

39.5mm — on the limit
Deviate Nitro Elite 3

£109

Typical street price · £200 RRP

38mm — road legal

Choose the Metaspeed Ray if…

  • You want the bigger return: 3.7–4.9% economy gain against 2.9–4%, and that gap widens the longer you are out there.
  • You want the lighter shoe: 129g against 175g, a 46g 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 Deviate Nitro Elite 3's are estimated.

Choose the Deviate Nitro Elite 3 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.
  • Money matters: it is selling around £109 against £164, and the time difference between them is smaller than the price difference suggests.
  • You want more races out of one pair: about 300km of competitive life against 130km.
  • You are racing 5K or 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–280sDeviate Nitro Elite 3: 145s–219s
Cost per second saved
Metaspeed Ray: £0.33Deviate Nitro Elite 3: £0.13

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
010203040503830
Deviate Nitro Elite 3

What you pay

Street price
Metaspeed Ray~£164
Deviate Nitro Elite 3£109■

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
Deviate Nitro Elite 3£200

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

Cost per race
Metaspeed Ray£80
Deviate Nitro Elite 3£23■

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

Cost per second saved
Metaspeed Ray£0.33
Deviate Nitro Elite 3£0.13■

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

What it does

Estimated saving
Metaspeed Ray199s–280s■
Deviate Nitro Elite 3145s–219s

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

Economy gain
Metaspeed Ray3.7–4.9%■
Deviate Nitro Elite 32.9–4%
Built for
Metaspeed RayHalf · Marathon
Deviate Nitro Elite 35K · 10K · 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.
Deviate Nitro Elite 3The sane sibling to the Fast-R. Light, versatile, considerably cheaper, and easily the most underrated racer here.

How it is built

Weight
Metaspeed Ray129 g■
Deviate Nitro Elite 3175 g

Manufacturer figure at men's US 9.

Stack (heel)
Metaspeed Ray39.5 mm
Deviate Nitro Elite 338 mm
Stack (forefoot)
Metaspeed Ray34.5 mm
Deviate Nitro Elite 330 mm
Drop
Metaspeed Ray5 mm
Deviate Nitro Elite 38 mm
Foam
Metaspeed RayFF Leap
Deviate Nitro Elite 3NITROFOAM Elite
Plate
Metaspeed Raycarbon fibre
Deviate Nitro Elite 3carbon fibre

Rules and fit

Road legal
Metaspeed RayYes (39.5 mm)
Deviate Nitro Elite 3Yes (38 mm)

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

Fit
Metaspeed Raynarrow
Deviate Nitro Elite 3standard
Stability
Metaspeed Raydemanding
Deviate Nitro Elite 3balanced

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

Race life
Metaspeed Ray~130 km
Deviate Nitro Elite 3~300 km■

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

Data confidence
Metaspeed Rayverified■
Deviate Nitro Elite 3estimated

■ 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£109at Startfitness — £91 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.