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40Race Shoe FinderEst. 2023 · London

Head to head

PUMA Deviate Nitro Elite 3vs
Saucony Endorphin Elite 2

Deviate Nitro Elite 3

£109

Typical street price · £200 RRP

38mm — road legal
Endorphin Elite 2

£149

Typical street price · £250 RRP

39.5mm — on the limit

Choose the Deviate Nitro Elite 3 if…

  • You want the lighter shoe: 175g against 199g, a 24g difference you will feel late in a race.
  • Money matters: it is selling around £109 against £149, and the time difference between them is smaller than the price difference suggests.
  • You want more races out of one pair: about 300km of competitive life against 240km.
  • You are racing 5K or 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 Deviate Nitro Elite 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
Deviate Nitro Elite 3: 145s–219sEndorphin Elite 2: 152s–233s
Cost per second saved
Deviate Nitro Elite 3: £0.13Endorphin 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.

010203040503830
Deviate Nitro Elite 3
0102030405039.531.5
Endorphin Elite 2

What you pay

Street price
Deviate Nitro Elite 3£109■
Endorphin Elite 2£149

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

RRP
Deviate Nitro Elite 3£200
Endorphin Elite 2£250

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

Cost per race
Deviate Nitro Elite 3£23■
Endorphin Elite 2£39

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

Cost per second saved
Deviate Nitro Elite 3£0.13■
Endorphin Elite 2£0.20

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

What it does

Estimated saving
Deviate Nitro Elite 3145s–219s
Endorphin Elite 2152s–233s■

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

Economy gain
Deviate Nitro Elite 32.9–4%
Endorphin Elite 23–4.2%■
Built for
Deviate Nitro Elite 35K · 10K · Half · Marathon
Endorphin Elite 2Half · Marathon
Best use case
Deviate Nitro Elite 3The sane sibling to the Fast-R. Light, versatile, considerably cheaper, and easily the most underrated racer here.
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
Deviate Nitro Elite 3175 g■
Endorphin Elite 2199 g

Manufacturer figure at men's US 9.

Stack (heel)
Deviate Nitro Elite 338 mm
Endorphin Elite 239.5 mm
Stack (forefoot)
Deviate Nitro Elite 330 mm
Endorphin Elite 231.5 mm
Drop
Deviate Nitro Elite 38 mm
Endorphin Elite 28 mm
Foam
Deviate Nitro Elite 3NITROFOAM Elite
Endorphin Elite 2IncrediRUN
Plate
Deviate Nitro Elite 3carbon fibre
Endorphin Elite 2carbon fibre

Rules and fit

Road legal
Deviate Nitro Elite 3Yes (38 mm)
Endorphin Elite 2Yes (39.5 mm)

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

Fit
Deviate Nitro Elite 3standard
Endorphin Elite 2standard
Stability
Deviate Nitro Elite 3balanced
Endorphin Elite 2balanced

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

Race life
Deviate Nitro Elite 3~300 km■
Endorphin Elite 2~240 km

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

Data confidence
Deviate Nitro Elite 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£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.

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.