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40Race Shoe FinderEst. 2023 · London

Head to head

New Balance FuelCell SuperComp Pacer v3vs
PUMA Deviate Nitro Elite 3

FuelCell SuperComp Pacer v3

approx £118

Estimated street price · £180 RRP

33mm — road legal
Deviate Nitro Elite 3

£109

Typical street price · £200 RRP

38mm — road legal

Choose the FuelCell SuperComp Pacer v3 if…

  • You have a broad foot, or your toes spread as a long race goes on.

Choose the Deviate Nitro Elite 3 if…

  • You want the bigger return: 2.9–4% economy gain against 2.6–3.6%, and that gap widens the longer you are out there.
  • You want more shoe underneath you late on: 38mm against 33mm, 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 are racing Half marathon or Marathon — built for it, where the FuelCell SuperComp Pacer v3 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 5k from 22:00

Time back
FuelCell SuperComp Pacer v3: 14s–22sDeviate Nitro Elite 3: 17s–25s
Cost per second saved
FuelCell SuperComp Pacer v3: £0.17Deviate Nitro Elite 3: £0.13

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.

010203040503329
FuelCell SuperComp Pacer v3
010203040503830
Deviate Nitro Elite 3

What you pay

Street price
FuelCell SuperComp Pacer v3~£118
Deviate Nitro Elite 3£109■

A tilde marks an estimate: no shop we read is currently listing that shoe, so the figure is RRP less the discount comparable shoes are actually selling at.

RRP
FuelCell SuperComp Pacer v3£180
Deviate Nitro Elite 3£200

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

Cost per race
FuelCell SuperComp Pacer v3£3.16
Deviate Nitro Elite 3£2.73■

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

Cost per second saved
FuelCell SuperComp Pacer v3£0.17
Deviate Nitro Elite 3£0.13■

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

What it does

Estimated saving
FuelCell SuperComp Pacer v314s–22s
Deviate Nitro Elite 317s–25s■

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

Economy gain
FuelCell SuperComp Pacer v32.6–3.6%
Deviate Nitro Elite 32.9–4%■
Built for
FuelCell SuperComp Pacer v35K · 10K
Deviate Nitro Elite 35K · 10K · Half · Marathon
Best use case
FuelCell SuperComp Pacer v3A rare thing — a short-distance carbon racer with room in the toe box. Excellent for 5K and 10K.
Deviate Nitro Elite 3The sane sibling to the Fast-R. Light, versatile, considerably cheaper, and easily the most underrated racer here.

How it is built

Weight
FuelCell SuperComp Pacer v3170 g■
Deviate Nitro Elite 3175 g

Manufacturer figure at men's US 9.

Stack (heel)
FuelCell SuperComp Pacer v333 mm
Deviate Nitro Elite 338 mm
Stack (forefoot)
FuelCell SuperComp Pacer v329 mm
Deviate Nitro Elite 330 mm
Drop
FuelCell SuperComp Pacer v34 mm
Deviate Nitro Elite 38 mm
Foam
FuelCell SuperComp Pacer v3PEBA FuelCell
Deviate Nitro Elite 3NITROFOAM Elite
Plate
FuelCell SuperComp Pacer v3carbon fibre
Deviate Nitro Elite 3carbon fibre

Rules and fit

Road legal
FuelCell SuperComp Pacer v3Yes (33 mm)
Deviate Nitro Elite 3Yes (38 mm)

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

Fit
FuelCell SuperComp Pacer v3wide
Deviate Nitro Elite 3standard
Stability
FuelCell SuperComp Pacer v3balanced
Deviate Nitro Elite 3balanced

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

Race life
FuelCell SuperComp Pacer v3~280 km
Deviate Nitro Elite 3~300 km■

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

Data confidence
FuelCell SuperComp Pacer v3estimated
Deviate Nitro Elite 3estimated

■ 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

No retailer we can read publishes a live price for this shoe, so we cannot check your size. The links below go to each retailer’s own search, where they show the current price and what they hold.

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£109at Startfitness — £91 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.