Head to head
Brooks Hyperion Elite 5vs
Saucony Endorphin Elite 2
Choose the Hyperion Elite 5 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 are racing 10K — built for it, where the Endorphin Elite 2 is not.
Choose the Endorphin Elite 2 if…
- You want the bigger return: 3–4.2% 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.
- 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–213sEndorphin Elite 2: 152s–233s
- Cost per second saved
- Hyperion Elite 5: £0.19Endorphin Elite 2: £0.20
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.
What you pay
- Street price
- Hyperion Elite 5~£151
- Endorphin Elite 2£149■
- RRP
- Hyperion Elite 5£230
- Endorphin Elite 2£250
- Cost per race
- Hyperion Elite 5£34■
- Endorphin Elite 2£39
- Cost per second saved
- Hyperion Elite 5£0.19■
- Endorphin Elite 2£0.20
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.
List price. Almost nobody pays it for a race shoe.
Street price divided by the races the foam stays fast for.
The whole-life question: what each second of race time costs you.
What it does
- Estimated saving
- Hyperion Elite 5138s–213s
- Endorphin Elite 2152s–233s■
- Economy gain
- Hyperion Elite 52.8–3.9%
- Endorphin Elite 23–4.2%■
- Built for
- Hyperion Elite 510K · Half · Marathon
- Endorphin Elite 2Half · 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.
- Endorphin Elite 2Superseded by the Elite 3, which means it is now one of the best-value top-end racers you can find if you catch it discounted.
Against a standard trainer, over the distance and time set above.
How it is built
- Weight
- Hyperion Elite 5196 g■
- Endorphin Elite 2199 g
- Stack (heel)
- Hyperion Elite 539 mm
- Endorphin Elite 239.5 mm
- Stack (forefoot)
- Hyperion Elite 531 mm
- Endorphin Elite 231.5 mm
- Drop
- Hyperion Elite 58 mm
- Endorphin Elite 28 mm
- Foam
- Hyperion Elite 5DNA Flash v2
- Endorphin Elite 2IncrediRUN
- Plate
- Hyperion Elite 5carbon fibre
- Endorphin Elite 2carbon fibre
Manufacturer figure at men's US 9.
Rules and fit
- Road legal
- Hyperion Elite 5Yes (39 mm)
- Endorphin Elite 2Yes (39.5 mm)
- Fit
- Hyperion Elite 5standard
- Endorphin Elite 2standard
- Stability
- Hyperion Elite 5stable
- Endorphin Elite 2balanced
- Race life
- Hyperion Elite 5~280 km■
- Endorphin Elite 2~240 km
- Data confidence
- Hyperion Elite 5estimated
- Endorphin Elite 2verified■
World Athletics caps road racing shoes at 40 mm of stack.
Neither is better in the abstract — it depends on your stride.
How long the foam stays fast, not how long the shoe survives.
■ 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
- Alexandra Sports£168Go to size at Alexandra Sports ↗
- AmazonPrice not published hereSearch at Amazon ↗
- SportsShoesPrice not published hereSearch at SportsShoes ↗
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
Best price today — some sizes£149at Startfitness — £101 under RRP
- Startfitness£149Go to size at Startfitness ↗
- Alexandra SportsPrice not published hereSearch at Alexandra Sports ↗
- AmazonPrice not published hereSearch at Amazon ↗
- SportsShoesPrice not published hereSearch at SportsShoes ↗
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.