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40Race Shoe FinderEst. 2023 · London

Head to head

ASICS Superblast 3vs
New Balance FuelCell SuperComp Trainer v4

Superblast 3

£200

Typical street price · £200 RRP

■ 45.5mm — over limit
FuelCell SuperComp Trainer v4

£157

Typical street price · £190 RRP

■ 47mm — over limit

Choose the Superblast 3 if…

  • You want the lighter shoe: 248g against 269g, a 21g difference you will feel late in a race.
  • 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.
  • You want more races out of one pair: about 700km of competitive life against 650km.
  • You are racing Half marathon — built for it, where the FuelCell SuperComp Trainer v4 is not.

Choose the FuelCell SuperComp Trainer v4 if…

  • You race off a strong, repeatable stride and want the more aggressive ride rather than the safer one.
  • You have a broad foot, or your toes spread as a long race goes on.
  • Money matters: it is selling around £157 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
Superblast 3: 97s–179sFuelCell SuperComp Trainer v4: 111s–186s
Cost per second saved
Superblast 3: £0.13FuelCell SuperComp Trainer v4: £0.10

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
010203040504741
FuelCell SuperComp Trainer v4

What you pay

Street price
Superblast 3£200
FuelCell SuperComp Trainer v4£157■

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

RRP
Superblast 3£200
FuelCell SuperComp Trainer v4£190

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

Cost per race
Superblast 3£18
FuelCell SuperComp Trainer v4£15■

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

Cost per second saved
Superblast 3£0.13
FuelCell SuperComp Trainer v4£0.10■

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

What it does

Estimated saving
Superblast 397s–179s
FuelCell SuperComp Trainer v4111s–186s■

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

Economy gain
Superblast 32.2–3.4%
FuelCell SuperComp Trainer v42.4–3.5%■
Built for
Superblast 3Half · Marathon · Ultra
FuelCell SuperComp Trainer v4Marathon · 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.
FuelCell SuperComp Trainer v4A max-stack plated trainer that makes easy miles feel effortless. Beloved for long runs.

How it is built

Weight
Superblast 3248 g■
FuelCell SuperComp Trainer v4269 g

Manufacturer figure at men's US 9.

Stack (heel)
Superblast 345.5 mm
FuelCell SuperComp Trainer v447 mm
Stack (forefoot)
Superblast 337.5 mm
FuelCell SuperComp Trainer v441 mm
Drop
Superblast 38 mm
FuelCell SuperComp Trainer v46 mm
Foam
Superblast 3FF Turbo+ over FF Blast+
FuelCell SuperComp Trainer v4PEBA FuelCell
Plate
Superblast 3none
FuelCell SuperComp Trainer v4carbon fibre

Rules and fit

Road legal
Superblast 3No (45.5 mm)
FuelCell SuperComp Trainer v4No (47 mm)

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

Fit
Superblast 3standard
FuelCell SuperComp Trainer v4wide
Stability
Superblast 3stable
FuelCell SuperComp Trainer v4balanced

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

Race life
Superblast 3~700 km■
FuelCell SuperComp Trainer v4~650 km

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

Data confidence
Superblast 3verified
FuelCell SuperComp Trainer v4verified

■ 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£157at Amphibianking — £33 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.