Skip to content
40Race Shoe FinderEst. 2023 · London

Head to head

PUMA Fast-R Nitro Elite 3vs
Saucony Endorphin Elite 2

Fast-R Nitro Elite 3

£260

Typical street price · £260 RRP

39mm — road legal
Endorphin Elite 2

£149

Typical street price · £250 RRP

39.5mm — on the limit

Choose the Fast-R Nitro Elite 3 if…

  • You want the bigger return: 3.5–4.7% economy gain against 3–4.2%, and that gap widens the longer you are out there.
  • You want the lighter shoe: 170g against 199g, a 29g difference you will feel late in a race.
  • You race off a strong, repeatable stride and want the more aggressive ride rather than the safer one.
  • You are racing 10K — built for it, where the Endorphin Elite 2 is not.

Choose the Endorphin Elite 2 if…

  • You want something more forgiving. This is the steadier platform — useful if your form goes late, or if you are on your feet longer.
  • Money matters: it is selling around £149 against £260, and the time difference between them is smaller than the price difference suggests.

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
Fast-R Nitro Elite 3: 186s–266sEndorphin Elite 2: 152s–233s
Cost per second saved
Fast-R Nitro Elite 3: £0.30Endorphin 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.

010203040503931
Fast-R Nitro Elite 3
0102030405039.531.5
Endorphin Elite 2

What you pay

Street price
Fast-R Nitro Elite 3£260
Endorphin Elite 2£149■

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

RRP
Fast-R Nitro Elite 3£260
Endorphin Elite 2£250

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

Cost per race
Fast-R Nitro Elite 3£69
Endorphin Elite 2£39■

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

Cost per second saved
Fast-R Nitro Elite 3£0.30
Endorphin Elite 2£0.20■

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

What it does

Estimated saving
Fast-R Nitro Elite 3186s–266s■
Endorphin Elite 2152s–233s

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

Economy gain
Fast-R Nitro Elite 33.5–4.7%■
Endorphin Elite 23–4.2%
Built for
Fast-R Nitro Elite 310K · Half · Marathon
Endorphin Elite 2Half · Marathon
Best use case
Fast-R Nitro Elite 3The most aggressive shoe on this list. The decoupled heel and exposed plate make it feel like it is actively throwing you forward.
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
Fast-R Nitro Elite 3170 g■
Endorphin Elite 2199 g

Manufacturer figure at men's US 9.

Stack (heel)
Fast-R Nitro Elite 339 mm
Endorphin Elite 239.5 mm
Stack (forefoot)
Fast-R Nitro Elite 331 mm
Endorphin Elite 231.5 mm
Drop
Fast-R Nitro Elite 38 mm
Endorphin Elite 28 mm
Foam
Fast-R Nitro Elite 3NITROFOAM Elite
Endorphin Elite 2IncrediRUN
Plate
Fast-R Nitro Elite 3carbon fibre
Endorphin Elite 2carbon fibre

Rules and fit

Road legal
Fast-R Nitro Elite 3Yes (39 mm)
Endorphin Elite 2Yes (39.5 mm)

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

Fit
Fast-R Nitro Elite 3standard
Endorphin Elite 2standard
Stability
Fast-R Nitro Elite 3demanding
Endorphin Elite 2balanced

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

Race life
Fast-R Nitro Elite 3~240 km
Endorphin Elite 2~240 km

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

Data confidence
Fast-R Nitro Elite 3verified
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£182at Upandrunning — £78 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.