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40Race Shoe FinderEst. 2023 · London

Head to head

New Balance FuelCell SC Elite v5vs
Nike Vaporfly 4

FuelCell SC Elite v5

£135

Typical street price · £250 RRP

40mm — on the limit
Vaporfly 4

£120

Typical street price · £255 RRP

35mm — road legal

Choose the FuelCell SC Elite v5 if…

  • You want more shoe underneath you late on: 40mm against 35mm, which is protection over a long race rather than speed over a short one.
  • 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 have a broad foot, or your toes spread as a long race goes on.

Choose the Vaporfly 4 if…

  • You race off a strong, repeatable stride and want the more aggressive ride rather than the safer one.
  • You want a conventional fit rather than a narrow or wide last.
  • You are racing 5K or 10K — built for it, where the FuelCell SC Elite v5 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
FuelCell SC Elite v5: 172s–253sVaporfly 4: 165s–246s
Cost per second saved
FuelCell SC Elite v5: £0.16Vaporfly 4: £0.15

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.

010203040504036
FuelCell SC Elite v5
010203040503529
Vaporfly 4

What you pay

Street price
FuelCell SC Elite v5£135
Vaporfly 4£120■

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

RRP
FuelCell SC Elite v5£250
Vaporfly 4£255

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

Cost per race
FuelCell SC Elite v5£34
Vaporfly 4£32■

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

Cost per second saved
FuelCell SC Elite v5£0.16
Vaporfly 4£0.15■

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

What it does

Estimated saving
FuelCell SC Elite v5172s–253s■
Vaporfly 4165s–246s

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

Economy gain
FuelCell SC Elite v53.3–4.5%■
Vaporfly 43.2–4.4%
Built for
FuelCell SC Elite v5Half · Marathon
Vaporfly 45K · 10K · Half · Marathon
Best use case
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.
Vaporfly 4The most versatile super shoe on sale. Light enough for a 5K, cushioned enough for a marathon, and the fourth generation fixed the upper problems that made the VF3 divisive.

How it is built

Weight
FuelCell SC Elite v5182 g■
Vaporfly 4184 g

Manufacturer figure at men's US 9.

Stack (heel)
FuelCell SC Elite v540 mm
Vaporfly 435 mm
Stack (forefoot)
FuelCell SC Elite v536 mm
Vaporfly 429 mm
Drop
FuelCell SC Elite v54 mm
Vaporfly 46 mm
Foam
FuelCell SC Elite v5PEBA FuelCell
Vaporfly 4ZoomX
Plate
FuelCell SC Elite v5carbon fibre
Vaporfly 4carbon fibre

Rules and fit

Road legal
FuelCell SC Elite v5Yes (40 mm)
Vaporfly 4Yes (35 mm)

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

Fit
FuelCell SC Elite v5wide
Vaporfly 4standard
Stability
FuelCell SC Elite v5stable
Vaporfly 4balanced

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

Race life
FuelCell SC Elite v5~250 km■
Vaporfly 4~240 km

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

Data confidence
FuelCell SC Elite v5verified
Vaporfly 4verified

■ 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£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.

Where to buy

Your UK size

Best price today — some sizes£110.25at Runlimited — £144.74 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.