9 Best Carbon Plate Running Shoes – Tried and Tested Super Shoes

1. HOKA Cielo X1 3.0

Also Available at
Zappos ; Amazon

Arguably HOKA’s best carbon racer to date, certainly in terms of punchiness, the Cielo X1 3.0 is a bit of a wild ride. Springy, locked in, highly rockered and a whole lot of fun.

It’s also incredibly light, dropping around 15g over the X1 2.0. It’s not as light as the ASICS Metaspeed or Puma Fast-R3 but it still feels admirably agile on the foot.

Fans of its predecessor will be pleased to hear there’s still an aggressive rocker to help propel you forward. And you still get a highly energetic bounce from the big dual stack of responsive PEBA foam. This time round though, the lateral cutaway in the midsole has been removed giving some welcome added stability.

Other changes in the third gen include a streamlined upper, a little less padding in the heels and asymmetrical lacing for a more secure feel. I’m a fan of the wrap and feel of the uppers but it’s worth noting that the Cielo has a very close, hugging race fit. If you have wide feet, you may want a bit more flex and room for manoeuvre.

The Cielo X1 3.0’s plate and rocker combination work best when you’re moving up the gears, running with dialled-in form. It may fare less well in the last six ragged miles of a marathon when your form goes. But if you enjoy a high-bounce midsole, this is a great shoe. 

If you want a more natural feel underfoot, though, the HOKA Rocket X3, with its smooth reliability, might be more your bag.

2. ASICS Metaspeed Edge Tokyo

Also Available at
ASICS

It might be among the pricier carbon shoes on the market but the ASICS Metaspeed Edge Tokyo delivers premium performance.

Designed for runners who up the pace by increasing cadence, the Edge Tokyo is the sibling of the Sky Tokyo. (If you move up a gear by lengthening strides, then the Sky is designed for you.)

Its predecessor, the Metaspeed Paris, proved a popular race shoe in both its Edge and Sky forms. And there have been some interesting changes in the latest iteration. 

While the stack height remains the same, the Tokyo is impressively lighter, weighing in at 171g in my US size 9.5 test shoe. Some of those weight savings come from the incredibly light and race-ready MotionWrap 3.0 engineered mesh upper – although the flimsy tongues can be a bit fiddly. 

There’s also a new gram-shaving dual-foam midsole. A top layer of ASICS’ new lightweight and bouncy FF Leap foam gives comfort and life underfoot. That’s combined with a bottom layer of FF Blast Turbo Plus, adding stiffness to enhance stability and control. Sandwiched between is a curved full-length carbon plate, which sits lower than in the Sky Tokyo to help quick-cadence runners generate propulsion efficiently.

With an excellent barely-there feel, I was impressed by how light, smooth and efficient these shoes felt. They’re a bit softer than some carbon racers – including the Paris Sky and Edge – but there’s a lot of bounce and energy here without being too wild. 

The shoe felt consistent across paces from just under marathon pace to an all-out 5k and if you’re on the hunt for a great race day shoe for distances up to the marathon, this is right up there with the best.

3. Brooks Hyperion Elite 6

Also Available at
Zappos ; Brooks

The latest super shoe to join the Brooks stable, the Hyperion Elite 6 is a great pick if you want a comfortable, nimble ride, that serves up fast-run energy but stays reliable even at slower paces. 

With plenty of protection, I never felt too exposed in this shoe. Even at slower speeds there was energy coming back. It’s a shoe that’s going to drive you forward when you’re running with good form and still look after you if you’re struggling in the later stages of a marathon.

The Brook’s PEBA DNA Gold foam midsole has been tweaked since the Elite 5, kicking the performance up a notch. It's now softer and delivers more cushioning and responsiveness, springing back quickly with good immediacy underfoot. The SpeedVault+ carbon plate has also had an upgrade with a steeper shape accentuating the rocker for snappier toe offs. 

Up top, the light and breathable flat-knit uppers have been strategically engineered to add structure where it’s needed and cut weight where it’s not. 

With a great vanishing fit that feels really natural for a carbon racer, the Elite 6 is a shoe that lets you get on with business. It feels light. It's punchy. It's agile. And it ticks a lot of boxes right across the pace ranges.

4. Hoka Rocket X3

It might not be as punchy as some of the other carbon racers out there, but what it lacks in aggression, the Rocket X3 more than makes up for with reliability, consistency and enough stability and support for both racing and faster training.

It offers great bang for your buck if you don’t want to splash out on additional footwear for tempo miles as well as Sunday best.

Springy and efficient, the dual-density PEBA foam midsole has a slightly tamer rocker than its predecessor, the Rocket X2, making for a smoother ride over long distances. Combined with the carbon plate, which comes with lateral winglets to add stability, it delivers smooth transitions with an easy heel-to-toe roll that feels more natural than some carbon shoes and almost fades into the background.

HOKA’s Active Foot Frame – a kind of bucket seat for your foot – also drops you lower in the shoe, rather than on top of it, giving greater control when running at pace.

I clocked around 30 miles in the Rocket X3 in training, and found it accommodating at slower paces when my form was looser, as well as offering some welcome spring on faster runs. A more controlled ride than some carbon offerings, which can feel unstable when your form slips, it’s suited to a wide range of runners.

If you’re looking for a faster feeling race shoe though, the Cielo X1 2.0 tops my list of HOKA’s line-up for running with all-out intent.

5. Puma Deviate Nitro Elite 4

Also Available at
Puma

The super-efficient Puma Nitro Fast-R3 is a fast, top-tier carbon race shoe for chasing PRs up to the marathon distance but the more aggressive setup might not suit all runners and running styles. That’s where it’s new stablemate, the Deviate Nitro Elite 4 comes in.

The Nitro Elite 4 is still built for fast with everything you’d expect in a great race day shoe. That includes a big stack of Puma’s Nitro elite foam that’s tuned to be more forgiving on the landings, an updated carbon plate for added pop and crucially a significant weight drop from the Elite 3. At 6.1oz in a US men’s 9.5, it’s now one of the lightest carbon racers going.

On the run, that translates into a punchy, compact, agile and speedy ride that also manages to remain controlled and protective.

The uppers deliver a race-day fit that’s more immediately comfortable that some fast-run rivals, while premium details like saw tooth laces and highly breathable mesh uppers complete the package. A great option for racers who want lots of energy but also need a bit more reliability to carry them over the long haul. 

6. ASICS Metaspeed Ray Tokyo

Also Available at
ASICS

Incredibly light and serving up a powerful blend of speed and agility, at 129g for a UK size 8.5, this is just about the lightest race shoe out there.

The Matryx upper is super airy, keeping your feet locked down with a barely there feel on the foot. It may not suit those who need more structure or support but this is a punchy, energetic shoe perfect for chasing fast times.

The midsole is made of FF Leap, a new foam, which Asics says is 15.2% lighter, 13.7% bouncier and 30% softer, than its FF Blast Turbo Plus cushioning. (The Ray is around 50g lighter than its Sky Tokyo and Edge Tokyo stablemates, which use a 50/50 mix of both.)

The minimal carbon plate is skewed towards the front of the foot, giving a softer, more cushioned ride than the Metaspeed Sky Paris (I’m yet to run in the Tokyo). While this results in less stiffness and snap, the firmness is replaced by added movement and bounce.

Best suited to forefront runners, the Ray can take some controlling if your form slips, but when you’re engaging the shoe right, it’s incredibly lively and offers a surprisingly comfortable, smooth and cushioned feeling ride.

A brilliant half marathon or city marathon shoe, I found it best on straight lines and good road surfaces rather than twists and turns, where the narrow heel platform sometimes made it feel like I was swinging the back of my foot. You want to be flying to get the most from this racing shoe.

7. Adidas Adizero Adios Pro 4

Also Available at
Adidas

Designed for a range of distances but with the marathon firmly in mind, this is a shoe that’s full of energy and urges you to push up the pace.

The Adios Pro 4’s predecessor, the Adios Pro 3, was a firm favourite with many runners. And the latest iteration offers improvements that should boost this durable shoe’s popularity even further.

The midsole has a new-formula Lightstrike Pro foam, offering added softness and bounce as you clock up the miles. The forefoot rocker has also moved further back, sitting around 60% of the way along the length of the shoe – the same position as in the elite-friendly Pro Evo 1. This boosts efficiency and helps you roll you onto and off your toes quickly with each stride.

The carbon-infused ENERGYRODS 2.0 remain the same as the 3, offering stiffness and snap.

Arguably the biggest improvement, though, is in the upper. One of the gripes people had with the Pro 3 was the fit, with some runners – me included – finding it lacked the disappearing feel of other carbon shoes. In the Adios Pro 4, the tongues are stitched in to stop them moving around and remove discomfort. There’s also a simplified lacing structure and more padding to reduce any pinch around the laces.

Coming in at a slightly lower price point than many of its rivals, the Adios Pro 4 still packs that important super shoe punch when you’re running with intent. And the cushioning and protection were on point when I struggled towards the end of a marathon test run.

A word of warning, the length of the toe box does seem to come up slightly short so it’s worth experimenting with sizes.

8. Puma Fast-R Nitro Elite 3

A top-efficiency shoe with lab tests to prove it, Puma’s research suggests this is the most efficient carbon racer you can buy right now, meaning it could help you nail those faster paces with less effort than many of its rivals.

This is definitely Puma’s lightest and most responsive shoe so far with a number of tweaks and upgrades from its Fast-R2 predecessor. It’s a whopping 30% lighter for starters, our test shoe weighed in at just 175g in a UK size 8.5. While this is still heavier than the featherweight Asics Metaspeed Ray Tokyo, it’s lighter than many other racing options, including the Metaspeed Sky Paris and Adidas Adizero Adios Pro 4.

Some of that weight saving comes from the super-responsive Nitro Elite midsole, with any superfluous foam trimmed off to reduce weight in this latest iteration. The improved minimal ULTRAWEAVE upper also offers weight saving as well as great breathability. It's snug, maybe a bit too snug if you have really wide feet, but moves with you foot and I enjoyed the tighter race-day fit.

Where the Fast R3 really comes to life is when you start moving at marathon-pace effort. The full-length carbon fibre PWRPLATE offers more flex in the midsole than some stiffer shoes and gives assertive propulsion without feeling too aggressive. It took me a few runs to find the sweet spot with foot placement but once you do, this is a shoe that really works.

9. Mizuno Hyperwarp Pure

If you’re serious about hunting down a personal best, the Mizuno Hyperwarp Pure is a cracking little race shoe. Incredibly light and efficient with a really bouncy midsole, it has everything you need to chase fast times.

Weighing just 137g, it’s in the mix with the ASICS Metaspeed Ray Tokyo in a growing group of impossibly lightweight, cushioned but highly propulsive race shoes. 

With a lower stack than some carbon racers, there’s loads of bounce to the dual layer MIZUNO ENERZY XP midsole – Mizuno’s lightest midsole material. Combined with a 3D carbon plate it serves up a bounding energy with smooth, fast transitions, all while feeling like there’s not much on your feet.

There’s a bit more ground feel than some shoes thanks to the quick-returning, lower forefoot stack of PEBA. This shoe engages with the road but gives back plenty for forward spring. It’s not as exposed as you might expect for a shoe this stripped back, but it won’t be everyone’s cup of tea on the cushioning front. 

It might not offer enough protection for a full marathon. Though for lighter, faster runners, it might be deceptively capable. A lot of fun for full-tilt efforts, this is an ‘I’m in my best form’ shoe. And if you are, it’s a really exciting package.