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40Race Shoe FinderEst. 2023 · London

Head to head

HOKA Cielo X1 2.0vs
New Balance FuelCell SC Elite v5

Cielo X1 2.0

£150

Typical street price · £250 RRP

■ 46mm — over limit
FuelCell SC Elite v5

£135

Typical street price · £250 RRP

40mm — on the limit

Choose the Cielo X1 2.0 if…

  • You want more shoe underneath you late on: 46mm against 40mm, which is protection over a long race rather than speed over a short one.
  • You want a conventional fit rather than a narrow or wide last.
  • You want more races out of one pair: about 350km of competitive life against 250km.
  • You are racing Ultra / 50K+ — built for it, where the FuelCell SC Elite v5 is not.

Choose the FuelCell SC Elite v5 if…

  • Your race is run under World Athletics rules — this one is legal at 40mm and the Cielo X1 2.0 is not.
  • You want the bigger return: 3.3–4.5% economy gain against 2.8–4%, and that gap widens the longer you are out there.
  • You want the lighter shoe: 182g against 230g, a 48g difference you will feel late in a race.
  • You have a broad foot, or your toes spread as a long race goes on.
  • You are racing Half marathon — built for it, where the Cielo X1 2.0 is not.

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
Cielo X1 2.0: 138s–219sFuelCell SC Elite v5: 172s–253s
Cost per second saved
Cielo X1 2.0: £0.15FuelCell SC Elite v5: £0.16

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.

010203040504639
Cielo X1 2.0
010203040504036
FuelCell SC Elite v5

What you pay

Street price
Cielo X1 2.0£150
FuelCell SC Elite v5£135■

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

RRP
Cielo X1 2.0£250
FuelCell SC Elite v5£250

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

Cost per race
Cielo X1 2.0£27■
FuelCell SC Elite v5£34

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

Cost per second saved
Cielo X1 2.0£0.15■
FuelCell SC Elite v5£0.16

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

What it does

Estimated saving
Cielo X1 2.0138s–219s
FuelCell SC Elite v5172s–253s■

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

Economy gain
Cielo X1 2.02.8–4%
FuelCell SC Elite v53.3–4.5%■
Built for
Cielo X1 2.0Marathon · Ultra
FuelCell SC Elite v5Half · Marathon
Best use case
Cielo X1 2.0Enormous, cushioned and surprisingly stable. For heavier runners and slower marathoners it may genuinely be the most comfortable way to cover 42km fast.
FuelCell SC Elite v5The best super shoe for wide feet, and one of the most stable at full stack. A 4mm drop and a broad platform make it unusually forgiving late in a marathon.

How it is built

Weight
Cielo X1 2.0230 g
FuelCell SC Elite v5182 g■

Manufacturer figure at men's US 9.

Stack (heel)
Cielo X1 2.046 mm
FuelCell SC Elite v540 mm
Stack (forefoot)
Cielo X1 2.039 mm
FuelCell SC Elite v536 mm
Drop
Cielo X1 2.07 mm
FuelCell SC Elite v54 mm
Foam
Cielo X1 2.0PEBA
FuelCell SC Elite v5PEBA FuelCell
Plate
Cielo X1 2.0carbon fibre
FuelCell SC Elite v5carbon fibre

Rules and fit

Road legal
Cielo X1 2.0No (46 mm)
FuelCell SC Elite v5Yes (40 mm)■

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

Fit
Cielo X1 2.0standard
FuelCell SC Elite v5wide
Stability
Cielo X1 2.0stable
FuelCell SC Elite v5stable

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

Race life
Cielo X1 2.0~350 km■
FuelCell SC Elite v5~250 km

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

Data confidence
Cielo X1 2.0verified
FuelCell SC Elite v5verified

■ 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£150at Armaghsports — £100 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£135at Runningbear — £115 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.