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40Race Shoe FinderEst. 2023 · London

Head to head

HOKA Rocket X 3vs
PUMA Fast-R Nitro Elite 3

Rocket X 3

£140

Typical street price · £220 RRP

39mm — road legal
Fast-R Nitro Elite 3

£260

Typical street price · £260 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.
  • Money matters: it is selling around £140 against £260, and the time difference between them is smaller than the price difference suggests.

Choose the Fast-R Nitro Elite 3 if…

  • You want the bigger return: 3.5–4.7% economy gain against 2.9–4%, and that gap widens the longer you are out there.
  • You want the lighter shoe: 170g against 200g, a 30g 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 would rather buy on measured numbers: this shoe's specs are manufacturer-confirmed, the Rocket X 3'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
Rocket X 3: 145s–219sFast-R Nitro Elite 3: 186s–266s
Cost per second saved
Rocket X 3: £0.17Fast-R Nitro Elite 3: £0.30

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
010203040503931
Fast-R Nitro Elite 3

What you pay

Street price
Rocket X 3£140■
Fast-R Nitro Elite 3£260

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

RRP
Rocket X 3£220
Fast-R Nitro Elite 3£260

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

Cost per race
Rocket X 3£32■
Fast-R Nitro Elite 3£69

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

Cost per second saved
Rocket X 3£0.17■
Fast-R Nitro Elite 3£0.30

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

What it does

Estimated saving
Rocket X 3145s–219s
Fast-R Nitro Elite 3186s–266s■

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

Economy gain
Rocket X 32.9–4%
Fast-R Nitro Elite 33.5–4.7%■
Built for
Rocket X 310K · Half · Marathon
Fast-R Nitro Elite 310K · Half · 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.
Fast-R Nitro Elite 3The most aggressive shoe on this list. The decoupled heel and exposed plate make it feel like it is actively throwing you forward.

How it is built

Weight
Rocket X 3200 g
Fast-R Nitro Elite 3170 g■

Manufacturer figure at men's US 9.

Stack (heel)
Rocket X 339 mm
Fast-R Nitro Elite 339 mm
Stack (forefoot)
Rocket X 334 mm
Fast-R Nitro Elite 331 mm
Drop
Rocket X 35 mm
Fast-R Nitro Elite 38 mm
Foam
Rocket X 3PEBA
Fast-R Nitro Elite 3NITROFOAM Elite
Plate
Rocket X 3carbon fibre
Fast-R Nitro Elite 3carbon fibre

Rules and fit

Road legal
Rocket X 3Yes (39 mm)
Fast-R Nitro Elite 3Yes (39 mm)

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

Fit
Rocket X 3standard
Fast-R Nitro Elite 3standard
Stability
Rocket X 3balanced
Fast-R Nitro Elite 3demanding

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

Race life
Rocket X 3~280 km■
Fast-R Nitro Elite 3~240 km

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

Data confidence
Rocket X 3estimated
Fast-R Nitro Elite 3verified■

■ 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£182at Upandrunning — £78 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.