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40Race Shoe FinderEst. 2023 · London

Head to head

HOKA Rocket X 3vs
Saucony Endorphin Elite 2

Rocket X 3

£140

Typical street price · £220 RRP

39mm — road legal
Endorphin Elite 2

£149

Typical street price · £250 RRP

39.5mm — on the limit

Choose the Rocket X 3 if…

  • You are racing 10K — built for it, where the Endorphin Elite 2 is not.

Choose the Endorphin Elite 2 if…

  • 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–219sEndorphin Elite 2: 152s–233s
Cost per second saved
Rocket X 3: £0.17Endorphin 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.

010203040503934
Rocket X 3
0102030405039.531.5
Endorphin Elite 2

What you pay

Street price
Rocket X 3£140■
Endorphin Elite 2£149

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

RRP
Rocket X 3£220
Endorphin Elite 2£250

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

Cost per race
Rocket X 3£32■
Endorphin Elite 2£39

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

Cost per second saved
Rocket X 3£0.17■
Endorphin Elite 2£0.20

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

What it does

Estimated saving
Rocket X 3145s–219s
Endorphin Elite 2152s–233s■

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

Economy gain
Rocket X 32.9–4%
Endorphin Elite 23–4.2%■
Built for
Rocket X 310K · Half · Marathon
Endorphin Elite 2Half · 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.
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.

How it is built

Weight
Rocket X 3200 g
Endorphin Elite 2199 g■

Manufacturer figure at men's US 9.

Stack (heel)
Rocket X 339 mm
Endorphin Elite 239.5 mm
Stack (forefoot)
Rocket X 334 mm
Endorphin Elite 231.5 mm
Drop
Rocket X 35 mm
Endorphin Elite 28 mm
Foam
Rocket X 3PEBA
Endorphin Elite 2IncrediRUN
Plate
Rocket X 3carbon fibre
Endorphin Elite 2carbon fibre

Rules and fit

Road legal
Rocket X 3Yes (39 mm)
Endorphin Elite 2Yes (39.5 mm)

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

Fit
Rocket X 3standard
Endorphin Elite 2standard
Stability
Rocket X 3balanced
Endorphin Elite 2balanced

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

Race life
Rocket X 3~280 km■
Endorphin Elite 2~240 km

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

Data confidence
Rocket X 3estimated
Endorphin Elite 2verified■

■ 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£149at Startfitness — £101 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.