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40Race Shoe FinderEst. 2023 · London

Head to head

ASICS Metaspeed Sky Tokyovs
HOKA Rocket X 3

Metaspeed Sky Tokyo

£200

Typical street price · £250 RRP

39.5mm — on the limit
Rocket X 3

£140

Typical street price · £220 RRP

39mm — road legal

Choose the Metaspeed Sky Tokyo if…

  • You want the bigger return: 3.5–4.7% economy gain against 2.9–4%, and that gap widens the longer you are out there.
  • You want the lighter shoe: 183g against 200g, a 17g difference you will feel late in a race.
  • You would rather buy on measured numbers: this shoe's specs are manufacturer-confirmed, the Rocket X 3's are estimated.

Choose the Rocket X 3 if…

  • Money matters: it is selling around £140 against £200, and the time difference between them is smaller than the price difference suggests.

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 Sky Tokyo: 186s–266sRocket X 3: 145s–219s
Cost per second saved
Metaspeed Sky Tokyo: £0.22Rocket X 3: £0.17

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 Sky Tokyo
010203040503934
Rocket X 3

What you pay

Street price
Metaspeed Sky Tokyo£200
Rocket X 3£140■

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

RRP
Metaspeed Sky Tokyo£250
Rocket X 3£220

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

Cost per race
Metaspeed Sky Tokyo£51
Rocket X 3£32■

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

Cost per second saved
Metaspeed Sky Tokyo£0.22
Rocket X 3£0.17■

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

What it does

Estimated saving
Metaspeed Sky Tokyo186s–266s■
Rocket X 3145s–219s

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

Economy gain
Metaspeed Sky Tokyo3.5–4.7%■
Rocket X 32.9–4%
Built for
Metaspeed Sky Tokyo10K · Half · Marathon
Rocket X 310K · Half · Marathon
Best use case
Metaspeed Sky TokyoFor stride-length runners — the Sky is built to let your stride open up rather than turn over faster. Arguably the best all-round marathon shoe currently made.
Rocket X 3HOKA’s legal racer, and much the better shoe for anyone who actually needs to comply with the rules. Balanced and predictable.

How it is built

Weight
Metaspeed Sky Tokyo183 g■
Rocket X 3200 g

Manufacturer figure at men's US 9.

Stack (heel)
Metaspeed Sky Tokyo39.5 mm
Rocket X 339 mm
Stack (forefoot)
Metaspeed Sky Tokyo34.5 mm
Rocket X 334 mm
Drop
Metaspeed Sky Tokyo5 mm
Rocket X 35 mm
Foam
Metaspeed Sky TokyoFF Leap over FF Turbo+
Rocket X 3PEBA
Plate
Metaspeed Sky Tokyocarbon fibre
Rocket X 3carbon fibre

Rules and fit

Road legal
Metaspeed Sky TokyoYes (39.5 mm)
Rocket X 3Yes (39 mm)

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

Fit
Metaspeed Sky Tokyostandard
Rocket X 3standard
Stability
Metaspeed Sky Tokyobalanced
Rocket X 3balanced

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

Race life
Metaspeed Sky Tokyo~250 km
Rocket X 3~280 km■

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

Data confidence
Metaspeed Sky Tokyoverified■
Rocket X 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

Your UK size

Best price today — some sizes£199.90at Startfitness — £50.10 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£140at Interval Running — £80 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.