Adidas Adizero Adios Pro Evo 2

Best for: Elite racers and athletes for whom racing is their job; Adidas themselves say to choose the Pro 4 for everyday runners seeking a PR

A statement shoe that adds 3mm of forefoot foam and a more aggressive toe spring over v1, but keeps the same ultralight weight. Comfort underfoot and speed-pickup are there — dreadful wet-weather traction is the biggest functional flaw.

Best for: Elite athletes or runners who want to flex on the start line. Everyone else: two pairs of Adios Pro 4 (train + race) is a better use of $500.

A marathon-capable upgrade over v1 — same featherweight 138g / 4.8oz package, but the later/steeper rocker makes this a forefoot-striker shoe (more like Adios Pro 3 than the Tacumi-like Evo 1). Still $500, still not for most runners, but Kofuzi now considers it a marathon shoe for the masses — if you can absorb the price.

Best for: Forefoot-striking runners who will use the shoe from 5K through marathon distances and have $500 to spend. Unlike v1, v2 is now viable for non-elites at the marathon distance.

A high-performing but not-fun pinnacle race shoe that both testers rank behind the Metaspeed Ray on both price and performance. Grip in the wet is the biggest functional problem.

Best for: Runners who need a stable, controlled race shoe with a defined forefoot rocker — especially those worried about form breakdown late in a marathon (more uniform stride than the Metaspeed Ray).

Ran his fastest half marathon (1:21 PB, ~2 min improvement) in his 4th run in the shoes. Grip held up in dry conditions but had to adjust around leaves/wet spots. A 'really good shoe' that he can't justify at £450 — he'd recommend it more readily at £270.

Best for: Runners who like a firmer, snappier, more immediate race shoe with a locked-in feel rather than a bouncy one — willing to accept the grip compromise and the price.

Genuinely fast on dry pavement and weirdly accommodating even at slower paces, but the £450/$500 shoe is unusable when it's wet. Hard to recommend given that other carbon racers handle damp conditions fine.

Best for: Chasing PBs over any distance up to the marathon on a DRY course. Not remotely a wet-weather shoe.

Top-tier racing performance but the £450/$500 price and poor wet-weather grip make it very hard to recommend over cheaper carbon racers.

Best for: Midfoot/forefoot strikers racing short to marathon distances in dry conditions.