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40Race Shoe FinderEst. 2023 · London

Head to head

On Cloudboom Strikevs
Saucony Endorphin Elite 3

Cloudboom Strike

£175

Typical street price · £270 RRP

39mm — road legal
Endorphin Elite 3

£300

Typical street price · RRP £270

39.5mm — on the limit

Choose the Cloudboom Strike if…

  • You have a narrow foot and want to be locked in.
  • Money matters: it is selling around £175 against £300, and the time difference between them is smaller than the price difference suggests.

Choose the Endorphin Elite 3 if…

  • You want the bigger return: 3.3–4.5% economy gain against 3–4.2%, and that gap widens the longer you are out there.
  • You want a conventional fit rather than a narrow or wide last.
  • You are racing 10K — built for it, where the Cloudboom Strike is not.
  • You would rather buy on measured numbers: this shoe's specs are manufacturer-confirmed, the Cloudboom Strike'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
Cloudboom Strike: 152s–233sEndorphin Elite 3: 172s–253s
Cost per second saved
Cloudboom Strike: £0.23Endorphin Elite 3: £0.37

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.

010203040503933
Cloudboom Strike
0102030405039.531.5
Endorphin Elite 3

What you pay

Street price
Cloudboom Strike£175■
Endorphin Elite 3£300

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

RRP
Cloudboom Strike£270
Endorphin Elite 3£270

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

Cost per race
Cloudboom Strike£44■
Endorphin Elite 3£79

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

Cost per second saved
Cloudboom Strike£0.23■
Endorphin Elite 3£0.37

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

What it does

Estimated saving
Cloudboom Strike152s–233s
Endorphin Elite 3172s–253s■

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

Economy gain
Cloudboom Strike3–4.2%
Endorphin Elite 33.3–4.5%■
Built for
Cloudboom StrikeHalf · Marathon
Endorphin Elite 310K · Half · Marathon
Best use case
Cloudboom StrikeA genuinely competitive marathon racer and the first On shoe that belongs in this conversation on merit.
Endorphin Elite 3The softest ride at this level by some distance, and the third generation finally made it serious rather than just fun. A genuine top-tier option.

How it is built

Weight
Cloudboom Strike195 g
Endorphin Elite 3190 g■

Manufacturer figure at men's US 9.

Stack (heel)
Cloudboom Strike39 mm
Endorphin Elite 339.5 mm
Stack (forefoot)
Cloudboom Strike33 mm
Endorphin Elite 331.5 mm
Drop
Cloudboom Strike6 mm
Endorphin Elite 38 mm
Foam
Cloudboom StrikeHelion HF
Endorphin Elite 3IncrediRUN (twin layer)
Plate
Cloudboom Strikecarbon fibre
Endorphin Elite 3carbon fibre

Rules and fit

Road legal
Cloudboom StrikeYes (39 mm)
Endorphin Elite 3Yes (39.5 mm)

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

Fit
Cloudboom Strikenarrow
Endorphin Elite 3standard
Stability
Cloudboom Strikebalanced
Endorphin Elite 3balanced

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

Race life
Cloudboom Strike~250 km■
Endorphin Elite 3~240 km

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

Data confidence
Cloudboom Strikeestimated
Endorphin 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£175at Fitstuff — £95 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

Cheapest in stock£299.90at Startfitness — RRP is £270

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.