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40Race Shoe FinderEst. 2023 · London

Head to head

ASICS Metaspeed Sky Tokyovs
New Balance FuelCell SC Elite v5

Metaspeed Sky Tokyo

£200

Typical street price · £250 RRP

39.5mm — on the limit
FuelCell SC Elite v5

£135

Typical street price · £250 RRP

40mm — on the limit

Choose the Metaspeed Sky Tokyo if…

  • You race off a strong, repeatable stride and want the more aggressive ride rather than the safer one.
  • You want a conventional fit rather than a narrow or wide last.
  • You are racing 10K — built for it, where the FuelCell SC Elite v5 is not.

Choose the FuelCell SC Elite v5 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 have a broad foot, or your toes spread as a long race goes on.
  • Money matters: it is selling around £135 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–266sFuelCell SC Elite v5: 172s–253s
Cost per second saved
Metaspeed Sky Tokyo: £0.22FuelCell SC Elite v5: £0.16

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
010203040504036
FuelCell SC Elite v5

What you pay

Street price
Metaspeed Sky Tokyo£200
FuelCell SC Elite v5£135■

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

RRP
Metaspeed Sky Tokyo£250
FuelCell SC Elite v5£250

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

Cost per race
Metaspeed Sky Tokyo£51
FuelCell SC Elite v5£34■

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

Cost per second saved
Metaspeed Sky Tokyo£0.22
FuelCell SC Elite v5£0.16■

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

What it does

Estimated saving
Metaspeed Sky Tokyo186s–266s■
FuelCell SC Elite v5172s–253s

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

Economy gain
Metaspeed Sky Tokyo3.5–4.7%■
FuelCell SC Elite v53.3–4.5%
Built for
Metaspeed Sky Tokyo10K · Half · Marathon
FuelCell SC Elite v5Half · 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.
FuelCell SC Elite v5The best super shoe for wide feet, and one of the most stable at full stack. A 4mm drop and a broad platform make it unusually forgiving late in a marathon.

How it is built

Weight
Metaspeed Sky Tokyo183 g
FuelCell SC Elite v5182 g■

Manufacturer figure at men's US 9.

Stack (heel)
Metaspeed Sky Tokyo39.5 mm
FuelCell SC Elite v540 mm
Stack (forefoot)
Metaspeed Sky Tokyo34.5 mm
FuelCell SC Elite v536 mm
Drop
Metaspeed Sky Tokyo5 mm
FuelCell SC Elite v54 mm
Foam
Metaspeed Sky TokyoFF Leap over FF Turbo+
FuelCell SC Elite v5PEBA FuelCell
Plate
Metaspeed Sky Tokyocarbon fibre
FuelCell SC Elite v5carbon fibre

Rules and fit

Road legal
Metaspeed Sky TokyoYes (39.5 mm)
FuelCell SC Elite v5Yes (40 mm)

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

Fit
Metaspeed Sky Tokyostandard
FuelCell SC Elite v5wide
Stability
Metaspeed Sky Tokyobalanced
FuelCell SC Elite v5stable

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

Race life
Metaspeed Sky Tokyo~250 km
FuelCell SC Elite v5~250 km

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

Data confidence
Metaspeed Sky Tokyoverified
FuelCell SC Elite v5verified

■ 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£135at Runningbear — £115 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.