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40Race Shoe FinderEst. 2023 · London

Head to head

ASICS Metaspeed Sky Tokyovs
PUMA Fast-R Nitro Elite 3

Metaspeed Sky Tokyo

£200

Typical street price · £250 RRP

39.5mm — on the limit
Fast-R Nitro Elite 3

£260

Typical street price · £260 RRP

39mm — road legal

Choose the Metaspeed Sky Tokyo 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.
  • Money matters: it is selling around £200 against £260, and the time difference between them is smaller than the price difference suggests.

Choose the Fast-R Nitro Elite 3 if…

  • You race off a strong, repeatable stride and want the more aggressive ride rather than the safer one.

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–266sFast-R Nitro Elite 3: 186s–266s
Cost per second saved
Metaspeed Sky Tokyo: £0.22Fast-R Nitro Elite 3: £0.30

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
010203040503931
Fast-R Nitro Elite 3

What you pay

Street price
Metaspeed Sky Tokyo£200■
Fast-R Nitro Elite 3£260

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

RRP
Metaspeed Sky Tokyo£250
Fast-R Nitro Elite 3£260

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

Cost per race
Metaspeed Sky Tokyo£51■
Fast-R Nitro Elite 3£69

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

Cost per second saved
Metaspeed Sky Tokyo£0.22■
Fast-R Nitro Elite 3£0.30

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

What it does

Estimated saving
Metaspeed Sky Tokyo186s–266s
Fast-R Nitro Elite 3186s–266s

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

Economy gain
Metaspeed Sky Tokyo3.5–4.7%
Fast-R Nitro Elite 33.5–4.7%
Built for
Metaspeed Sky Tokyo10K · Half · Marathon
Fast-R Nitro Elite 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.
Fast-R Nitro Elite 3The most aggressive shoe on this list. The decoupled heel and exposed plate make it feel like it is actively throwing you forward.

How it is built

Weight
Metaspeed Sky Tokyo183 g
Fast-R Nitro Elite 3170 g■

Manufacturer figure at men's US 9.

Stack (heel)
Metaspeed Sky Tokyo39.5 mm
Fast-R Nitro Elite 339 mm
Stack (forefoot)
Metaspeed Sky Tokyo34.5 mm
Fast-R Nitro Elite 331 mm
Drop
Metaspeed Sky Tokyo5 mm
Fast-R Nitro Elite 38 mm
Foam
Metaspeed Sky TokyoFF Leap over FF Turbo+
Fast-R Nitro Elite 3NITROFOAM Elite
Plate
Metaspeed Sky Tokyocarbon fibre
Fast-R Nitro Elite 3carbon fibre

Rules and fit

Road legal
Metaspeed Sky TokyoYes (39.5 mm)
Fast-R Nitro Elite 3Yes (39 mm)

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

Fit
Metaspeed Sky Tokyostandard
Fast-R Nitro Elite 3standard
Stability
Metaspeed Sky Tokyobalanced
Fast-R Nitro Elite 3demanding

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

Race life
Metaspeed Sky Tokyo~250 km■
Fast-R Nitro Elite 3~240 km

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

Data confidence
Metaspeed Sky Tokyoverified
Fast-R Nitro Elite 3verified

■ 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£182at Upandrunning — £78 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.