By Kieran Alger
Ever since Eliud Kipchoge started smashing marathon records in the original Nike Vaporfly 4%, carbon running shoes have transformed running. From the elites right down to your Saturday morning parkrun, they’ve been a bona-fide game changer. They had such a dramatic impact at the top level, that World Athletics had to regulate them.
A few years later and virtually every running shoe brand now has its own take on the magic super shoe recipe: a big stack of light and responsive superfoam, carbon plate and stripped-back lightweight uppers. Rock up to the start of any major city marathon and the corrals will be awash with race-ready carbon running shoes. We’ve even seen carbon plates make the transition from road and track to the trails.
If you’re shooting for a PR, it’s almost inevitable that you’ll consider lacing up a pair to give you the edge. But what do the best carbon plated running shoes have in common? And do they guarantee you a winning performance? Here’s everything you need to know about carbon-plate super shoes.
HOKA Rocket X2
What is a Carbon-Plated Running Shoe?
On a basic level, the term ‘carbon-plated running shoe’ covers any shoe with a carbon plate in it. Pretty obvious. But it’s also shorthand for the combination of highly bouncy and responsive midsole foams, with a carbon plate sandwiched somewhere in the midsole unit and minimal, race-ready uppers.
Carbon shoes tend to be lightweight and made for racing anything from 5km up to the marathon and beyond. The Nike Alphafly Next% 2, the Saucing Endorphin Elite and the Adidas Adios Pro 3 are good examples of top-rated carbon race shoes.
We’ve also seen carbon plates added to some heavier daily trainers and easy day shoes, like the HOKA Mach X and the HOKA Bondi X, too. There’s a growing trend for carbon plate trail shoes, too. These try to balance structure, support and durability with the efficiency gains.
Adidas Prime X2 Strung
How do Carbon Plate Running Shoes Work?
Each time your foot strikes the ground, the carbon plate flattens and loads, storing and releasing energy as you transition from midstance to toe off. It basically springs you forward, potentially improving running efficiency and reducing fatigue.
The carbon fibre plate also has a stabilising effect on your ankle. A more stable ankle means less rotational force and that equates to a lower workload for your calf muscles. That can not only help stave off fatigue but it can also mean you might recover quicker from hard efforts.
Yet while the plate is important – it’s essential for adding stiffness to the superfoams during toe off – it’s the combination of the ultra-responsive midsole foam and the plate that really creates the feelings of propulsion in good carbon-plated running shoes.
Run in a shoe with a superfoam but no plate – like the Nike Streakfly that has springy ZoomX foam – and you’ll see it’s a different proposition to the Nike Vaporfly Next% 2 where the plate has a stiffening and spring effect. There are also plenty of running shoes with plates stuck in the middle of sub-par foams that fall flat. You ned both to create a winning shoe.
Also carbon plates aren’t made from 100% carbon. Designers use additional materials to enhance the properties, fine tuning the strength, stiffness, flexibility and durability. That means you can get significantly different rides across the brands.
Some carbon plates span the whole foot, others like those in the Adidas Adios Pro, feature carbon rods that sit under your metatarsals to create the spring effect but retain some flexibility.
New Balance SC Elite V3
What are the Benefits of Carbon Plated Running Shoes?
Carbon plated running shoes are designed to deliver a few simple but powerful benefits: to help you run faster, for longer and feel less tired. They achieve this by improving efficiency, cutting energy expenditure and helping muscles to stay fresh for longer.
On a physiological level they help you expend less oxygen with each step, so you tire more slowly. This can assist in achieving faster paces with potentially less effort.
In some cases, carbon plates can also be used to enhance stability. Though you often need a bigger stack of midsole foam to accommodate the plate, and that higher stack often creates a less stable ride.
Adidas Adios Pro 3
Do Carbon Shoes Guarantee Faster Running Times?
Not necessarily. Not all carbon shoes offer the same efficiency gains and not all runners respond equally to all shoes. There’s a growing weight of research that shows a wide disparity between the performance-enhancing potential of the best carbon plate shoes and the also-rans.
There are also various studies that demonstrate that some runners can eke out bigger gains than others. So some carbon shoes have little effect compared to regular running shoes, regardless of who runs in them. Others offer efficiency gains to most runners but at different levels. Choosing the right carbon shoe is important and there’s a very real danger that you could shell out top dollar for a shoe that’s bringin zero benefits over cheaper shoes.
UA Velociti Elite
How Much do Carbon Running Shoes Cost?
They’re pricey. The normal range for the latest-generation carbon running shoes is anywhere between $200 and $300. But we’ve even seen them hit $500 with the recent launch of the Adidas Adizero Adios Evo Pro 1.
Nike Vaporfly 3
Anything Else I Need to Know About Carbon Running Shoes?
This won’t really matter unless you’re planning on competing at the highest levels but not all carbon shoes are legal. The World Athletics governing body set rules that stipulate shoes must not have a stack height of more than 40mm or more than one carbon fibre plate. Not all shoes follow these regulations – the Adidas Prime X2 Strung, for example. So if you are competing, make sure you check.
Finally, the jury is still out on whether carbon-plate running shoes may lead to more injuries. The technology is still very new and while some research has raised concerns about the injury risk and proper use of carbon super shoes, more studies are needed.
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