Discontinued · road · Race day / Tempo · $200
Puma Deviate Nitro Elite: 36 mm heel stack, 8 mm drop, 200 g — specs from independent lab testing.
Built for race day, tempo, at a target pace of 5:30–7:15 /mi on road.
This model is no longer in production. The closest shoe you can buy today is Puma Deviate Nitro Elite 4.
Puma tuned this midsole balanced (3/5 on our cushioning scale). Energy return is above average: the midsole rebounds well without feeling unstable. 36 mm of heel stack is the modern daily-trainer sweet spot — enough foam for long miles without losing contact with the road. Combined, the ride reads as explosive at 5/5 responsiveness.
A full-length carbon plate stiffens the forefoot and works with the foam as a lever: it smooths the transition off the toes and cuts the effort of holding fast paces. It also asks for speed — at easy paces a carbon plate feels stiff and does little for you, and it is the main reason super-shoes wear out sooner than trainers.
A 8 mm drop is the mainstream middle — familiar to almost anyone coming from a standard trainer. The rocker is aggressive: the sole is curved and stiff enough to tip you into the next stride on its own, which saves the calf on long runs but feels strange when you slow right down. Forefoot flex is middle of the road. It is a neutral platform with no built-in correction.
The toe-box is standard width — comfortable for most feet without swimming. It fits true to size. Expect roughly 250 miles from the outsole, about $0.80 per mile at $200.
For the foams and plates Puma uses across its line, read the Puma brand guide.
Measured against the 542 currently-available shoes in the catalog. The bar shows where this shoe sits in that range.
Weight
190 g / 6.7 oz
85 g lighter than the catalog median of 275 g
Heel stack
36 mm
Level with the catalog median of 36 mm
Drop
8 mm
2 mm higher than the catalog median of 6 mm
Price
$200
40 pricier than the catalog median of 160
Responsiveness
5 / 5
Catalog median 3 / 5
Cushioning
3 / 5
Catalog median 4 / 5
Energy return
4 / 5
Catalog median 3 / 5
Durability
~250 mi
Catalog median ~400 mi
Within the Puma line it is lighter than the brand's median (259.5 g / 9.2 oz) and sits lower than its median stack (38 mm).
Current shoes with the nearest combination of weight, stack, drop, foam feel and plate.
Adidas Adizero Takumi Sen 10(2024)
196 g / 6.9 oz · 33 mm · 6 mm drop · Carbon · $180
Firm, brutal 5K–10K racer. All snap, no lounging.
New Balance FuelCell SuperComp Pacer v3
190 g / 6.7 oz · 32 mm · 6 mm drop · Carbon · $180
Short-course carbon racer for 5K to half marathon.
Salomon S/Lab Phantasm 3
199 g / 7.0 oz · 39 mm · 6 mm drop · Carbon · $280
Aerodynamically shaped carbon racer on PEBA optiFOAM+; narrow, fast fit.
On Cloudboom Echo 3
225 g / 7.9 oz · 37 mm · 9 mm drop · Carbon · $290
Carbon marathon racer with a rockered, aggressive toe-off.