Puma Deviate Nitro Elite 3
I’ve been a Puma fan for a few years now, but this is the first pair of Elite’s to get my hands on. This shoe is built for speed but it’s also just a ton of fun to run in! Heads up, this is only going to be a running and gym review.
The Breakdown
Men: 6.8 oz
Women: 6.8 oz
(This is what Puma lists on their website…I don’t think the men’s and women’s are the same weight, but I always use the vendors numbers for consistency)
Drop: 8 mm
MSRP: $230.00
The Outsole
With a puma grip outsole I don’t care what your race conditions are or what weather you’re working out in…you are covered. I ran a 10k race in the rain recently and had one of my best closing miles in a year. This shoe will take corners on the rails and dominate against any other race shoe in a head to head for the outsole.
The Midsole
Nitrofoam Elite makes up the midsole, which combined with the plate provides an extremely bouncy and resilient midsole to work with. If you are familiar with the feel of the Deviate 3, this midsole feels much more plush underfoot feels fast at distances from 5k up through the marathon. There are extra weight savings in the cutout in the midfoot showing off the full length carbon powerplate. The plate feels incredibly springy and the shape of the midsole provides plenty of stability through the stride which seems to reduce the stress on the calf and achilles I can sometimes feel with the super shoes.
The Upper
This upper is stripped down to be as light as possible, but Puma struck a really good balance between weight and utility in my opinion. The heel collar has enough structure that I haven’t had any issues with blisters and key powertape locations keep the upper from collapsing in on you and losing control of your stride.
Running
This shoe is nothing short of a delight to run in. Everytime I reach for this shoe I know that I’m going to feel fast.
I can’t recommend this as a racing shoe enough for anyone, but especially folks who travel to races. The outsole grip is second to none and provides traction through any weather conditions. I don’t get to travel as much as I would like, do any of us, but this shoe takes a lot of the guesswork out of the equation for me, specifically when heading to environments i’m unfamiliar with. During testing I took this shoe to a 10k following a full night of rain, so the streets were incredibly wet and potentially slippery, especially on the paint, and the Elite took those conditions and owned them. I felt incredibly confident in every step of that race.
Once we take the weather conditions out, how does the shoe perform under normal circumstances? This is definitely a favorite speed day or race day shoe for me to grab. It is incredibly lightweight while providing the user with the structure needed to feel comfortable under any condition. If I’m taking it for a workout I don’t feel the need to warmup in a separate pair of shoes. I can run easier in this shoe and it feels like it has plenty of stability, but when I’m ready to hit the intervals, it responds like a finely tuned machine. For our Harry Potter fans, much like the Firebolt, this shoe feels like it responds to thought more than muscle. The plate and foam configuration in this shoe really feel like they are ready to go at a moments notice with any change in pace that you can throw at it. I never feel like I have to work my way into a certain pace when moving up or down on the scale.
While some shoes seem to slot into certain distances better than others, I think this shoe can thrive for racers anywhere from 5k to marathon. If you’re running a flat and smooth trail race it could do really well there as well, though Puma has just released a version of the Elite with a true trail outsole, so I’d recommend that shoe to have a little extra dig in the softer surfaces.
As with any race shoe I will emphasize again that I believe the carbon plated racing shoes can be beneficial for any runner, with any body type maintaining any pace because this is about physics. I think the other thing we are seeing as more people have access to carbon plated shoes is that you are able to push harder in your speed days, recover faster and have speed sessions more often in a training cycle using these shoes. I do NOT recommend using this as your only running shoe, as it is still a tool in the toolbox. If your budget only allows for one shoe, this should not be it.
Gym
Normally I wouldn’t review a carbon shoe for the gym, but with the advent of Hyrox and Hyrox racing specifically, I am going to add that I think this is a fantastic option for Hyrox racing. The Pumagrip outsole gives incredible purchase while doing the strength movements and the plate/midsole foam combo will give that extra pop on the run. I raced my Hyrox in the Deviate Nitro 3, because I wanted a little more stability in the lunges, but I think that now knowing how the event goes, and with more time to practice my lunges before next year, or the year after depending on where they are, I will use the Elite. I think the benefit of the elite on the run outweighs anything I might give up on the lunges.