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40Race Shoe FinderEst. 2023 · London

Head to head

ASICS Superblast 3vs
HOKA Skyward X

Superblast 3

£200

Typical street price · £200 RRP

■ 45.5mm — over limit
Skyward X

£190

Typical street price · £225 RRP

■ 48mm — over limit

Choose the Superblast 3 if…

  • You want the bigger return: 2.2–3.4% economy gain against 1.6–2.8%, and that gap widens the longer you are out there.
  • You want the lighter shoe: 248g against 314g, a 66g difference you will feel late in a race.
  • You want a conventional fit rather than a narrow or wide last.
  • You are racing Half marathon — built for it, where the Skyward X is not.

Choose the Skyward X if…

  • You have a broad foot, or your toes spread as a long race goes on.

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
Superblast 3: 97s–179sSkyward X: 56s–138s
Cost per second saved
Superblast 3: £0.13Skyward X: £0.18

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.

0102030405045.537.5
Superblast 3
010203040504843
Skyward X

What you pay

Street price
Superblast 3£200
Skyward X£190■

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

RRP
Superblast 3£200
Skyward X£225

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

Cost per race
Superblast 3£18
Skyward X£17■

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

Cost per second saved
Superblast 3£0.13■
Skyward X£0.18

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

What it does

Estimated saving
Superblast 397s–179s■
Skyward X56s–138s

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

Economy gain
Superblast 32.2–3.4%■
Skyward X1.6–2.8%
Built for
Superblast 3Half · Marathon · Ultra
Skyward XMarathon · Ultra
Best use case
Superblast 3The best plateless shoe in the world and a cult favourite for good reason. Enormous stack, superb foam, and it will train and race happily for 700km.
Skyward XA cushioned plated trainer built for comfort over long, slow miles rather than speed.

How it is built

Weight
Superblast 3248 g■
Skyward X314 g

Manufacturer figure at men's US 9.

Stack (heel)
Superblast 345.5 mm
Skyward X48 mm
Stack (forefoot)
Superblast 337.5 mm
Skyward X43 mm
Drop
Superblast 38 mm
Skyward X5 mm
Foam
Superblast 3FF Turbo+ over FF Blast+
Skyward XPEBA over EVA
Plate
Superblast 3none
Skyward Xcarbon fibre

Rules and fit

Road legal
Superblast 3No (45.5 mm)
Skyward XNo (48 mm)

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

Fit
Superblast 3standard
Skyward Xwide
Stability
Superblast 3stable
Skyward Xstable

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

Race life
Superblast 3~700 km
Skyward X~700 km

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

Data confidence
Superblast 3verified
Skyward Xverified

■ 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 — £0.10 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£185at Alexandra Sports — £40 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.