The wide-foot answer to the Alphafly: a broader platform, a 4mm drop, and £35 less.
The New Balance FuelCell SC Elite v5 is 36g lighter (182g against 218g), the New Balance FuelCell SC Elite v5 is £35 cheaper at RRP (£250 against £285), and both hold their foam for roughly 250km of racing. Both are inside the World Athletics 40mm road limit.
Weight · men's US 9
Price · UK RRP
Competitive life · km before the foam fades
■ marks the better figure, where better is not a matter of taste
FuelCell SC Elite v540mm — on the limit
Alphafly 340mm — on the limit
| Specification | FuelCell SC Elite v5 | Alphafly 3 |
|---|---|---|
| RRP | £250 (advantage) | £285 |
| Weight | 182g (advantage) | 218g |
| Stack | 40 / 36mm | 40 / 32mm |
| Drop | 4mm | 8mm |
| Road legal | yes | yes |
| Plate | carbon fibre | carbon fibre |
| Foam | PEBA FuelCell | ZoomX with Air Zoom pods |
| Competitive life | ~250km | ~250km |
| Price per km of life | £1.00 (advantage) | £1.14 |
| Fit | wide | standard |
| Underfoot | stable | balanced |
| Built for | Half · Marathon | Half · Marathon |
| Economy gain | 3.3–4.5% | 3.4–4.6% |
= 5:20/km
Modelled economy gain adjusted for pace and your current shoes; ranges reflect the spread published between individual runners. Full method.
| Race | For the time | For the money |
|---|---|---|
| Half marathonat a reference 1:45:00 | Alphafly 3−1m 30s to −2m 10s | FuelCell SC Elite v5cheaper per second saved |
| Marathonat a reference 3:45:00 | Alphafly 3−2m 59s to −4m 20s | FuelCell SC Elite v5cheaper per second saved |
Reference times, trainer baseline, whole-life economics. Your own time changes the answer — use the reading above.
The 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.
■ Caution The low drop asks a lot of your calves and Achilles if you are used to 8mm. Do not race in it untested.
Still the reference marathon shoe. The Air pods give a propulsive forefoot that nothing else quite replicates, and the wider platform makes it manageable late in a race when your form has gone.
■ Caution Sits at exactly 40mm — legal, but with no margin. It is a lot of shoe for anyone racing slower than about 4:30/km, and the forefoot pods reward a genuine forefoot strike.
Manufacturer-stated specs unless marked estimated on the shoe sheet · last reviewed 2026-08-13 · prices are UK RRP.