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40Race Shoe FinderEst. 2023 · London

Head to head

HOKA Rocket X 3vs
Mizuno Wave Rebellion Pro 4

Rocket X 3

£140

Typical street price · £220 RRP

39mm — road legal
Wave Rebellion Pro 4

£125

Typical street price · £220 RRP

39mm — road legal

Choose the Rocket X 3 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 want a conventional fit rather than a narrow or wide last.
  • You are racing 10K — built for it, where the Wave Rebellion Pro 4 is not.

Choose the Wave Rebellion Pro 4 if…

  • You want the lighter shoe: 185g against 200g, a 15g difference you will feel late in a race.
  • You race off a strong, repeatable stride and want the more aggressive ride rather than the safer one.
  • You have a narrow foot and want to be locked in.

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
Rocket X 3: 145s–219sWave Rebellion Pro 4: 145s–219s
Cost per second saved
Rocket X 3: £0.17Wave Rebellion Pro 4: £0.17

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.

010203040503934
Rocket X 3
010203040503933
Wave Rebellion Pro 4

What you pay

Street price
Rocket X 3£140
Wave Rebellion Pro 4£125■

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

RRP
Rocket X 3£220
Wave Rebellion Pro 4£220

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

Cost per race
Rocket X 3£32
Wave Rebellion Pro 4£30■

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

Cost per second saved
Rocket X 3£0.17
Wave Rebellion Pro 4£0.17■

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

What it does

Estimated saving
Rocket X 3145s–219s
Wave Rebellion Pro 4145s–219s

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

Economy gain
Rocket X 32.9–4%
Wave Rebellion Pro 42.9–4%
Built for
Rocket X 310K · Half · Marathon
Wave Rebellion Pro 4Half · Marathon
Best use case
Rocket X 3HOKA’s legal racer, and much the better shoe for anyone who actually needs to comply with the rules. Balanced and predictable.
Wave Rebellion Pro 4The cut-away heel forces you onto your forefoot whether you meant to or not. Divisive, distinctive, and fast if it suits you.

How it is built

Weight
Rocket X 3200 g
Wave Rebellion Pro 4185 g■

Manufacturer figure at men's US 9.

Stack (heel)
Rocket X 339 mm
Wave Rebellion Pro 439 mm
Stack (forefoot)
Rocket X 334 mm
Wave Rebellion Pro 433 mm
Drop
Rocket X 35 mm
Wave Rebellion Pro 46 mm
Foam
Rocket X 3PEBA
Wave Rebellion Pro 4Enerzy Lite+
Plate
Rocket X 3carbon fibre
Wave Rebellion Pro 4carbon fibre

Rules and fit

Road legal
Rocket X 3Yes (39 mm)
Wave Rebellion Pro 4Yes (39 mm)

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

Fit
Rocket X 3standard
Wave Rebellion Pro 4narrow
Stability
Rocket X 3balanced
Wave Rebellion Pro 4demanding

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

Race life
Rocket X 3~280 km■
Wave Rebellion Pro 4~260 km

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

Data confidence
Rocket X 3estimated
Wave Rebellion Pro 4estimated

■ 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£140at Interval Running — £80 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£124.99at Sportitfirst — £95.01 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.