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40Race Shoe FinderEst. 2023 · London

Head to head

Brooks Hyperion Elite 5vs
Nike Vaporfly 4

Hyperion Elite 5

approx £151

Estimated street price · £230 RRP

39mm — road legal
Vaporfly 4

£120

Typical street price · £255 RRP

35mm — road legal

Choose the Hyperion Elite 5 if…

  • You want more shoe underneath you late on: 39mm against 35mm, which is protection over a long race rather than speed over a short one.
  • You want something more forgiving. This is the steadier platform — useful if your form goes late, or if you are on your feet longer.

Choose the Vaporfly 4 if…

  • You want the bigger return: 3.2–4.4% economy gain against 2.8–3.9%, and that gap widens the longer you are out there.
  • You race off a strong, repeatable stride and want the more aggressive ride rather than the safer one.
  • Money matters: it is selling around £120 against £151, and the time difference between them is smaller than the price difference suggests.
  • You are racing 5K — built for it, where the Hyperion Elite 5 is not.
  • You would rather buy on measured numbers: this shoe's specs are manufacturer-confirmed, the Hyperion Elite 5's are estimated.

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
Hyperion Elite 5: 138s–213sVaporfly 4: 165s–246s
Cost per second saved
Hyperion Elite 5: £0.19Vaporfly 4: £0.15

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.

010203040503931
Hyperion Elite 5
010203040503529
Vaporfly 4

What you pay

Street price
Hyperion Elite 5~£151
Vaporfly 4£120■

A tilde marks an estimate: no shop we read is currently listing that shoe, so the figure is RRP less the discount comparable shoes are actually selling at.

RRP
Hyperion Elite 5£230
Vaporfly 4£255

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

Cost per race
Hyperion Elite 5£34
Vaporfly 4£32■

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

Cost per second saved
Hyperion Elite 5£0.19
Vaporfly 4£0.15■

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

What it does

Estimated saving
Hyperion Elite 5138s–213s
Vaporfly 4165s–246s■

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

Economy gain
Hyperion Elite 52.8–3.9%
Vaporfly 43.2–4.4%■
Built for
Hyperion Elite 510K · Half · Marathon
Vaporfly 45K · 10K · Half · Marathon
Best use case
Hyperion Elite 5Unfashionable and quietly good. Firmer and more controlled than most of the field, which suits heel strikers and heavier runners.
Vaporfly 4The most versatile super shoe on sale. Light enough for a 5K, cushioned enough for a marathon, and the fourth generation fixed the upper problems that made the VF3 divisive.

How it is built

Weight
Hyperion Elite 5196 g
Vaporfly 4184 g■

Manufacturer figure at men's US 9.

Stack (heel)
Hyperion Elite 539 mm
Vaporfly 435 mm
Stack (forefoot)
Hyperion Elite 531 mm
Vaporfly 429 mm
Drop
Hyperion Elite 58 mm
Vaporfly 46 mm
Foam
Hyperion Elite 5DNA Flash v2
Vaporfly 4ZoomX
Plate
Hyperion Elite 5carbon fibre
Vaporfly 4carbon fibre

Rules and fit

Road legal
Hyperion Elite 5Yes (39 mm)
Vaporfly 4Yes (35 mm)

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

Fit
Hyperion Elite 5standard
Vaporfly 4standard
Stability
Hyperion Elite 5stable
Vaporfly 4balanced

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

Race life
Hyperion Elite 5~280 km■
Vaporfly 4~240 km

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

Data confidence
Hyperion Elite 5estimated
Vaporfly 4verified■

■ 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

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£110.25at Runlimited — £144.74 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.