Deviate NITRO™ 3

Puma R3 - competition Puma DNE3 - speedwork (comp. before R3) 2 x Puma DN3 - Tempo up to 10k-ish pace (got 2 pairs 'cuz double threshold days) Puma velocity - easy <- wouldnt buy again, DN3 - better fast dailytrainer, magmax -better easy shoe IMO Puma Magmax - easy & recovery i use the DN3 / DNE3 as trailshoe, IMO somewhat casual-competative trailrunning gets too fast for normal trailshoes if trails are not technical.

puma DN3, is plated but more ridgid & a little more supportive. also has a more resilient foam. i get \~700km out of a pair. its the dailytrainer&tempo version (and labeled as a faster dailytrainer rype of shoe) of the DNE3.

Puma especially since they now have the top-of-the-list raceshoe aswell at the moment. everything is just 20-30% cheaper then the competition, stuff is durable, grip is good. the only real lack in puma was a high-end supershoe for very fast people, but that has been solved with the r3. magmax is a good max-cushion, velocity is a good dailytrainer, you have the plated dailytrainer with DN3 that is durable for like 600-800km. DNE3 is good enaugh for me for non-technical competative trailracing and shorter races where i dont want to grind away the moneys-worth of my R3's. the only thing missing is a good trailshoe for very technical hiky-type of trails.

You mention wearing every iteration of the DN so curious if you can compare to the fit of the DN3? I tried the DN3 on in a size 13 and found them really tight in the midfoot, and I don't normally have issues with foot width. VN3 is comfortably snug in the same size so that caught me by surprise a bit. Also do you also wear your Fast R3 in size 13? With how difficult the shoe is to get a hold of, there's really no option to try so I thought I'd ask someone who wears the same size how it compares to other shoes in Puma's lineup

Sure thing. I wouldn’t personally recommend the vaporflys because they’re just middle of the road and it’s a bad taste to use a super shoe for training instead of racing. If I had to pick one race shoe it would be the alphaflys. If I had to pick one tempo/speed shoe to go with that it would be the deviate nitro 3, although i’m excited to see if the endorphin speed 5 is a return to the speed 2 which I loved.

I think its also important to do speed sessions in your super shoes. Makes your feet get used to it. If you dont mind me sharing, I usually train my speed sessions in Deviate Nitro 2/3. When there are sale, I try to buy discounted previous gen/year super shoes. Recently, I bought a discounted Anta supershoe that costed me around USD 100.00. But hey, train is train and shoes are shoes. Every sec you spend on the road contributes to your running progress. Happy runnin!

Did boston hyrox with the deviate nitro 3 elite, amazing shoes never gave me a problem at any of the stations. I have all three of the hyrox version shoes. The regular deviate nitro is fine. All of them will get the job done. Amazing traction on all of pumas shoes

20 min 5k at 190lbs is already plenty fast, don't let us lighter runners warp your view. Your cardio needs to be in far better shape than someone running the same time who is 40-50lbs lighter. That said, are you looking specifically for race shoes/speed shoes? Getting a super shoe just for long runs (unless it's the SC Elite v4) is kind of a waste, there's other shoes that don't degrade as fast for that kind of work. For races, you're going to feel the benefits of race foam at any weight, it's more about finding the right shoe and the SC Elite v5 has typically been good for heavier runners. I think the Puma Deviate Nitro Elite v3 (rides much different than the non-elite, which I personally didn't like) could also work. I've heard the v4 isn't as good.

DN3 has a full plate, I don't think it's really ideal to do every run in them because of lack of toe flexion.  Evo SL only has a mid foot shank so that should be fine. Neo Zen another option.

Really need more info to make a better recommendation. What kind of time are you targeting? How high effort is the race going to be for you (i.e., full effort race vs. just looking to finish)? How much are you running now/how much experience do you have? Do you have a preference on shoe stiffness? For example, I love the Neo Vista but I'd never race in them nor would I do any race pace miles in them. They're too soft and unstable for that for me. They're more a daily/long run/recovery shoe for me. But if you're less concerned with maxing out pace and more concerned with finishing runs/races with your feet feeling fresh they could be a good option. The Deviate Nitro 3 is a totally different feel from the Neo Vista (very stiff/firm and also narrow in the midsole). I unfortunately found the complaints about the narrow midsole rang true as they ended up giving me foot pain even after trying some different lacing techniques and inserts. I didn't like their flavor of stiff either and I didn't find them particularly special at any pace in the 60 miles I put on them before giving up. That said, others have had completely different experiences so they could be worth a shot if you're shooting for something firm. I haven't personally run in the Superblast 2 but my friend who has an insane running shoe collection (and is a 2:50 marathon guy) rates them as his favorite daily which means they should be able to comfortably handle all your use cases.  No experience with the ZF6 but maybe also look at the Saucony Endorphin Speed 4. I'd describe it as a friendlier Deviate Nitro 3. Both the Speed and Deviate Nitro are more geared for speed work while the Neo Vista and Superblast would be more geared for your long runs/daily training. If you're newer to running and want 1 shoe to do it all I'd probably go Superblast but it comes down to preferences.

I think you might have to rethink the test. These results correlate poorly with my and other people’s practical experience. If inferred test results align poorly with anecdotal evidence, there is an issue. My hypothesis is that it is due to what is the benefit of “grip”, and it’s to maintain traction in suboptimal conditions, like in wet and gravelly/dusty conditions. But the amount of force you put into it, might skew the results? In good conditions, it’s not likely that the traction of a shoe makes a meaningful difference, and it seems (based on anecdotal data) that this test doesn’t translate well to suboptimal conditions. Curious on your thoughts! Thanks a bunch for sharing.

I certainly have noticed that the grip falls off when running in slick/grimy conditions. Both on old asphalt and cobble stones. We have a lot of that here in the Netherlands. I think my running style exacerbates the issue (especially steady to marathon efforts and faster (4:00/km). In my limited range of experience for that example Id say for some of my recent shoes: Poor: alphafly 3/zoom fly 6/superblast 1/Noosa Tri 14/Vomero 18 Good: Superblast 2/Metaspeed Paris Great: Puma Nitro 3/Adidas Boston 12 Just ran a HM on Alphafly 3s in rainy conditions and as soon as we hit the cobbles, I could feel me slipping on my toe offs on every stride. That costs speed/increases effort.