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Less than a decade ago road racing shoes were simple things, designed to be as lightweight as possible while providing just enough cushioning that your legs didn’t completely fall apart before the end of your race.
That all changed with the advent of the carbon plate super-shoe, sparked by the Nike Vaporfly 4%. Now every brand offers a carbon racing shoe, with most following a similar design where that plate is slipped into a high stack of soft and bouncy foam in the midsole.
Check out our round-up of the best running shoes available right now
Between us we have tested pretty much every major carbon shoe on the market and reviewed them on the channel. Below you’ll find our round-up of the best carbon plate tuning shoes available right now, along with individual reviews of each shoe.
Check out the YouTube channel for many more carbon shoe vids, including comparisons of shoes plus race tests.
Who Are The Run Testers?
The Run Testers are a group of experienced journalists based in the UK who have been testing and reviewing kit for many years. We’ve been reviewing carbon shoes since the original Vaporfly 4% – Kieran even got to test the Nike Vaporfly Elite shoe used by Eliud Kipchoge at the Breaking2 event at Monza..
There’s more info on the core Run Tester team here, including some insights into their preferred kit and PBs. Since we’re talking carbon shoes, for the record Nick set his marathon PB in the Asics Metaspeed Sky Tokyo, Kieran was in the Puma Fast-R 3, Tom was in the Saucony Endorphin Pro 3 for his PB, and Mike was in the Asics Metaspeed Sky+.
The Best Carbon Plate Running Shoes 2026
We’ve broken our round-up of the best carbon shoes available into three sections. The first is our top tier of racers; the ones we’d pick to use ourselves when in shape and hunting for PBs.
Then we have the largest section that contains a whole load of other excellent shoes that don’t suit us quite as well, but are still very fast options that might be perfect for some runners. Finally we have a few also-ran carbon shoes that we don’t think will be the best option for runners.
This video was made in late 2025 and there have been some notable new releases to consider in 2026, including the Adidas Adizero Adios Pro Evo 3, Mizuno Hyperwarp Pure and Hoka Cielo X1 3.0, but the advice on the shoes in the video still holds true and it contains our favourite overall racers.
Puma Fast-R Nitro Elite 3
Price: £260/$250 | Weight: 187g/6.6oz UK 9) | Drop: 8mm
The Puma Fast-R 3 launched amid a maelstrom of hype thanks to research suggesting it boosting running efficiency even more than top racing options like the Nike Alphafly 3 and Adidas Adios Pro Evo 1.
In our testing, we found that the Fast-R 3 lived up to the hype, and it’s immediately become one of our top options for race day, with Kieran and Nick using it at the London Marathon.
The ride you get from the Nitro Elite foam and carbon plate, which extends beyond the front of the shoe, helps making holding faster paces feel easier, and even when we are tired at the end of a marathon we found the Fast-R 3 still helped us to keep ticking over at a good pace.
It’s also an exceptionally lightweight shoe, which is the biggest upgrade you get here on the Puma Fast-R 2, which was a good shoe but too bulky to compete with the very best.
Read our full Puma Fast-R Nitro Elite 3 review
Asics Metaspeed Sky Tokyo
Price: £240/$270 | Weight: 169g/6oz (UK 9) | Drop: 5mm
The Asics Metaspeed Sky Paris was our top racer of 2025 and its successor is even better thanks to the addition of FF Leap foam to the midsole. This makes the Sky Tokyo even lighter and bouncier than the Sky Paris, and it’s undoubtedly one of the very best racers you can buy for any event.
It has a poppy and responsive ride that feels aggressive and quick for short races and reps, but enough comfort for long events, where the Metaspeed Sky Tokyo helps you lock into your race pace and hold it until you hit the finish line.
As with past models of the Metaspeed Sky and Edge, we’re leaning towards the Sky as our preference, but the Edge Tokyo is also an excellent option, and both are a little cheaper and more stable than the new Asics Metaspeed Ray, which is the softest and lightest Asics racer in the line-up.
Read our full Asics Metaspeed Sky Tokyo review
Asics Metaspeed Ray
Price: £265/$300 | Weight: 136g/4.8oz (UK 9) | Drop: 5mm
An all-new shoe for 2025, the Metaspeed Ray is the lightest Asics racer and one of the most phenomenally fun shoes on the market from any brand. It’s unbelievably light and bouncy thanks to the full FF Leap midsole, and even though it only uses a teardrop-shaped half plate, it still has a highly propulsive and efficient ride.
There are drawbacks to its design though, with the Metaspeed Ray being very unstable, especially when landing at the heel, and it’s not a durable shoe even compared with other carbon racers. For the right runner, this might be the best racer out there, but Asics’s other options are safer bets both in terms of value and performance for longer events.
Read our full Asics Metaspeed Ray review
Mizuno Hyperwarp Pure
Price: £260/$300 | Weight: 140g/5oz (UK 8.5) | Drop: 3.5mm
The Mizuno Hyperwarp Pure is one of the lightest racers available and has an extremely fun and exciting ride that’s perfect for 5K and 10K races in particular. It has a lower stack than most carbon super-shoes, standing 34mm tall at the heel, but still felt cushioned and springy to us during testing.
While it might not be the best pick for a marathon compared to more cushioned racers like the Asics Metaspeed line-up, the Hyperwarp Pure is as fast as anything available for shorter races.
It heads up the Hyperwarp line-up, which also contains the higher-stack Mizuno Hyperwarp Elite and trainer/racer Hyperwarp Pro. The Elite is a solid shoe but doesn’t stand out from other racers, whereas the Pure is something a bit special.
Read our full Mizuno Hyperwarp Pure review
Adidas Adizero Adios Pro Evo 3
Price: £450/$500 | Weight: 97g/3.4oz | Drop: 3mm
We’ve not yet got to our full multi-tester review of the Adidas Pro Evo 3, the shoe used by Sebastian Sawe to run the first sub-2 marathon at London this year, but Kieran has run a marathon in it himself and gives an idea of how the shoe holds up for mere mortals like us in his race video.
The Pro Evo 3 is extremely light – under 100g, in fact – and uses a carbon rim rather than a full plate to stabilise the very soft Lightstrike Pro Evo foam in the midsole. It’s crazily expensive, hard to get hold of and unlikely to be very durable, but right now the Pro Evo 3 is the most cutting-edge racer on the market.
Read our Adidas Adizero Adios Pro Evo 3 review
Nike Alphafly 3
Price: £285/$285 | Weight: 220g/7.7oz (UK 9) | Drop: 8mm
The Nike Alphafly 3 is the lightest Alphafly to date and manages to retain the incredible propulsion the line is known for in its new, sleeker design, that has a more aggressive ride thanks to the continuous midsole. It’s a shoe with incredible pedigree at the pro level, with both the men’s and women’s world marathon records being set in the Alphafly 3, and one we also found to be an amazing option for amateurs.
While there are lighter and more nimble racers out there, the Alphafly 3 is still a light shoe and the extra bounce it has from the Air Zoom pods under the forefoot make it a great option for marathoners in particular. It’s not just for marathons either, with Nick recently setting his 10K PB in the shoe.
As the Alphafly 3 is one of the older carbon shoes available, we’d expect the Nike Alphafly 4 to make an appearance sometime in 2026, but for now the Alphafly 3 is the best Nike option for racing.
Read our full Nike Alphafly 3 review
Kiprun Kipstorm Lab
Price: £240/€300 | Weight: 174g/6.1oz (UK 8.5) | Drop: 4mm
The Kipstorm Lab is the best racing shoe yet from Decathlon’s in-house brand Kiprun, and one of the lightest shoes on the market from any brand. It uses a combo of PEBA and TPU foams in its midsole, along with a J-shaped plate, to deliver a very fluid and fast ride, and is an especially good pick for shorter events like 5Ks and 10Ks.
In our testing the Kiprun Kipstorm Lab performed at a very high level for all-out track workouts as well as road sessions doing longer reps at slower race paces, and it can compete with the best racing shoes available. A quick note on fit; this is one where we recommend going half a size down.
While the Kipstorm Lab is not widely available, the Kiprun Kipstorm Elite is set to go on sale around the world. It’s not as light and quick as the Kipstorm Lab, but has a fast ride that’s more natural than many super-shoes, and the Elite is very good value in the UK.
Read our full Kiprun Kipstorm Lab review
Asics Metaspeed Edge Tokyo
Price: £240/$270 | Weight: 166g/5.9oz (UK 9) | Drop: 5mm
The Asics Metaspeed Edge Tokyo is one of the best racing shoes on the planet, but for us suffers in comparison to the Metaspeed Sky Tokyo and Metaspeed Ray. That said, some runners will prefer the feel of the Edge Tokyo, and it’s undoubtedly an extremely fast racing shoe for any distance.
The Sky and Edge do feel a bit different on the run, with Asics suggested the Sky Tokyo will benefit runners who primarily lengthen their stride length when racing, while the Edge Tokyo benefits those who primarily increase their cadence. Rather than worry about that too much we reckon you should try both if you can and go with the one that feels best to you for fast runs.
Here’s a more in-depth comparison of the Asics Metaspeed Sky Tokyo and Edge Tokyo, for those trying to decide between the two.
Hoka Rocket X3
Price: £220/$250 | Weight: 208g/7.3oz (UK 9) | Drop: 7mm
The Hoka Rocket X3 is an interesting update on the Rocket X2, in that Hoka has focused on making it a more stable and friendly shoe. This makes sense in its line-up as the Rocket X3 sits alongside the wildly-rockered Hoka Cielo X1 3.0, which is a more aggressive shoe, making the Rocket X3 a better pick for those who want more comfort and support in their racer.
It’s still a fast shoe though, and the lightest carbon racer Hoka has produced to date. The Rocket X3 is one that we keep going back to in training too, because of its more controlled ride, and it won’t let you down on race day. While it doesn’t have the verve of our favourite racers, the Rocket X3 will be a great pick for lots of runners, and it’s a little cheaper than most super-shoes as well.
Read our full Hoka Rocket X3 review
Adidas Adizero Adios Pro 4
Price: £220/$250 | Weight: 202g/7.1oz (UK 8.5) | Drop: 6mm
The Adios Pro 4 was a long-time coming, with Adidas opting not to update the popular Adios Pro 3 for two years, though they did launch the elite-focused Adidas Adizero Pro Evo 1 in the meantime (a shoe we’ve not been able to get our hands on yet). The Adios Pro 4 is lighter and softer than the Pro 3, with a new rocker shape that’s inspired by the design of the Pro Evo 1.
Run Tester Kieran has put in the miles testing the Adios Pro 4, which has impressed with its ride, though the comfort of the upper still leaves a little to be desired, with the shoe lifting Kieran’s toe-nails during the course of a marathon test. If that doesn’t happen to you, the Adios Pro 4 is a top racing option to consider.
Read our full Adidas Adizero Adios Pro 4 review
Hoka Cielo X1 3.0
Price: £250/$270 | Weight: 200g/7.1oz (UK 9) | Drop: 7mm
The Hoka Cielo X1 3.0 is the lightest and fastest Hoka racing shoe to date, and offers one of the bounciest rides of any carbon super-shoe. The dramatic rocker and stack of soft, springy foam create a very aggressive ride, and the Cielo X1 3.0 stands out a little from the crowd of recent releases that have focused on hyper-light designs with slightly firmer ATPU midsoles.
Check out more of the best Hoka running shoes
It’s not the most stable shoe, though a little improved on that front compared with the Hoka Cielo X1 2.0 by virtue of the fact the 3.0 doesn’t have a medial side cut-out, and some runners might prefer a more supportive and natural racer like Hoka’s own Rocket X3.
If you do click with the Cielo X1 3.0, you’re in for a wild and highly enjoyable ride, whatever distance you plan on tackling.
Read our full Hoka Cielo X1 3.0 review
Puma Deviate Nitro Elite 4
Price: £210/$250 Weight: 177g/6.2oz (UK 8.5) | Drop: 8mm
Puma has two excellent carbon plate running shoes in its range, with the Deviate Nitro Elite 4 being the more approachable and accommodating yin to the wildly rockered Puma Fast-R 3’s yang.
Despite not having the most aggressive design, the Deviate Nitro Elite 4 is as fast as anything on the market thanks to its lightweight design and responsive midsole foam. It might not match the Fast-R 3’s efficiency, and it’s not as springy as some of our favourite super-shoes, but the Deviate Nitro Elite 4 has a very fast transition and can hold its own against anything.
The more natural feel might suit many runners better than the more radical super-shoes available as well, so don’t discount the Deviate Nitro Elite 4 as the Fast-R 3’s lesser sibling; it’s top a super-shoe in its own right.
Read out full Puma Deviate Nitro Elite 4 review
Saucony Endorphin Elite 3
Price: $290 | Weight: 223g/7.9oz (UK 9) | Drop: 8mm
The Saucony Endorphin Elite 3 is one of the softest and bounciest racing shoes available from any brand, with the IncrediRun midsole foam used bucking the recent trend towards slightly firmer and very lightweight materials.
It has a unique feel, and although there are drawbacks to the design in that it’s heavier than most rival racers, quite unstable, and doesn’t transition as quickly from heel to toe, the Endorphin Elite 3 is perfect for runners who delight in using very soft and springy shoes.
The Endorphin Elite 3 is very comfortable too, and protects the legs well during your hardest efforts, but the price might be a little too high given the quality of its competition.
Salomon S/Lab Phantasm 3
Price: £260/$280 | Weight: 185g/6.5oz (UK 9) | Drop: 6mm
The Salomon S/Lab Phantasm 3 is the best racing shoe Salomon has made and competitive with the best on the market, though not quite as aggressively fast and light as our favourite options.
It’s distinctive upper is meant to make the shoe more aerodynamic, and no doubt does, but we found that this will have almost no real-world impact for amateur runners and makes the shoe hard to put on.
Instead it’s better to focus on the enjoyably bouncy midsole on the shoe, which delivers speed for short reps and races, but is also comfortable enough for longer workouts and races.
Read our full Salomon S/Lab Phantasm 3 review
Nike Vaporfly 4
Price: £240/$260 | Weight: 190g/6.7oz (UK 9) | Drop: 6mm
The latest version of the original super-shoes stands out on the market at large by having a lower stack height than most, standing 35mm tall at the heel rather than hitting the 40mm limit set by World Athletics.
This helps the Nike Vaporfly 4 to be one of the lightest racing shoes on the market, and gives it a firmer, more direct ride that’s great for short events. Some might runners might also like the Vaporfly 4 for the marathon more than more cushioned racing options, such as the Nike Alphafly 3, though in general a little extra foam is no bad thing for long events.
Read our full Nike Vaporfly 4 review
Brooks Hyperion Elite 5
Price: £240/$275 | Weight: 203g/7.2oz (UK 9) | Drop: 8mm
It took Brooks longer than most to release a competitive carbon plate racing shoe, but it has now launched two of them in 2025, with the Hyperion Elite 5 following hot on the heels of the Brooks Hyperion Elite 4 PB.
The Hyperion Elite 4 PB introduced DNA Gold, a PEBA midsole foam that produced a faster, springier ride than past Brooks races, and the Hyperion Elite 5 has built on that platform with a lighter design that has a bit more pop.
It’s an excellent racing shoe for any distance and has a more natural and stable ride than some of our favourites, like the Fast-R 3, though we do rate a few shoes as flat-out faster than the Brooks right now.
Read our full Brooks Hyperion Elite 5 review
New Balance SC Elite v5
Price: £260/$250 | Weight: 210g/7.4oz (UK 9) | Drop: 8mm
The New Balance SC Elite v5 is a lighter, leaner racer than the New Balance SC Elite v4, and swaps the stable, comfortable ride of the previous model for a more aggressive racing feel.
We liked the updates to the shoe, which make it a faster option for events of any distance, but especially shorter races like 5Ks and 10Ks, but those who loved the stability of the SC Elite v4 might prefer the older model.
It’s also true to say that the SC Elite v4 was a little different to most racing shoes, while the SC Elite v5 now sticks to a similar design to many rivals. It makes it a faster shoe for us, but it doesn’t really stand out from the crowd, and there are a few shoes we rate as better racers.