Skechers Speed Elite is Now Available ($190)

awesome, thank you!

BTW who are you on the multi tester?

Thanks

Jeremy R wrote:

awesome, thank you!

BTW who are you on the multi tester?

Thanks

Michael. Happy to field any additional questions here, as well.

Alberto's Dog wrote:

Complete multi-tester review now available (linked below). It's a really sharp racer, and I think the feedback was overwhelmingly positive. Biggest gripes (besides limited sizing at this point) was traction, I think, plus concerns about aggressiveness over a marathon. Also tons of comparisons (as usual), and happy to provide any more, to the extent I'm able, here.

https://www.roadtrailrun.com/2020/02/skechers-performance-speed-elite-multi.html

nice review! nice to hear a few peoples opinion in one writeup. I was hoping this could be my next marathon shoe ( for reference, last shoe I wore for a marathon was the Reebok Floatride Run Fast) but from all the reviews I've read, this shoe seems to be more a Half marathon shoe and below.

Also, seen the comment in a few places that this shoe is better for forefoot strikers. Just curious why that would be? I would have thought that the push off is where the carbon plate would be beneficial regardless of where you land...unless I'm missing something. With the hyperburst heal, I would have thought having that cushion there would be beneficial for heal strikers?

Thanks!

It may be the case that overall, any runner can benefit from the geometry/setup of the Elite, definitely. I don’t mean to exclude. The reason I felt that forefoot strikers may see more of a “gain” is because of the way the plate is designed; it’s engaged around the mid foot and rocks “forward” (as I understand it), so landing too far back may not engage the plate to its fullest extent. If Sam comes across this thread, he may have more to say - he’s a guru in all things shoe design.

Skechers told us that the plate is “patent pending” - I’m actually pretty curious to see what they have claimed. It may be a design - I couldn’t find anything on Google Patents or PAIR. I may drop a line to Kurt (a named inventor on previous filings) and see what I can learn.

If you ran a marathon in the Run Fast, you could handle these too probably. My favorite workout shoes are the Run Fast and Razor 3 which I find pretty comparable. The Razor might be a little more forefoot cushioned and the Run Fast might be a little more heel cushioned. I have the Speed Elite prototypes and they are like Razor 3s optimized for racing.

Agreed, and meant to add this - I don't think this shoe is necessarily more aggressively than the Run Fast (and obviously considerably less aggressive than the RF Pro). I think you'd have a good chance with these in the marathon - worth tossing in for some longer workouts at least!

AhWhatTheCheese wrote:

If you ran a marathon in the Run Fast, you could handle these too probably. My favorite workout shoes are the Run Fast and Razor 3 which I find pretty comparable. The Razor might be a little more forefoot cushioned and the Run Fast might be a little more heel cushioned. I have the Speed Elite prototypes and they are like Razor 3s optimized for racing.

I've never worn Sketchers so have no comparable but how would you describe the difference between the Run Fast and Speed Elite? I think Run Fast has slightly more stack but obviously heavier. Would the Run fast be a softer than Sketchers?

Great review on RTR as always. Have my pair arriving from RW today. Was a bit concerned about the statement in the review that the shoe is hard to run in and not smooth at slow paces. Did all the reviewers feel that way... anyone running say 7/7'30 a mile feel that this was hard to run in...?

Tron wrote:

AhWhatTheCheese wrote:

If you ran a marathon in the Run Fast, you could handle these too probably. My favorite workout shoes are the Run Fast and Razor 3 which I find pretty comparable. The Razor might be a little more forefoot cushioned and the Run Fast might be a little more heel cushioned. I have the Speed Elite prototypes and they are like Razor 3s optimized for racing.

I've never worn Sketchers so have no comparable but how would you describe the difference between the Run Fast and Speed Elite? I think Run Fast has slightly more stack but obviously heavier. Would the Run fast be a softer than Sketchers?

Yes, I think the Run Fast will feel slightly softer underfoot, compared to the Skechers. In terms of soft/cushion feel, I'd think Run Fast > Speed Elite > Run Fast Pro. All a matter of degrees, of course.

a sunny day wrote:

Great review on RTR as always. Have my pair arriving from RW today. Was a bit concerned about the statement in the review that the shoe is hard to run in and not smooth at slow paces. Did all the reviewers feel that way... anyone running say 7/7'30 a mile feel that this was hard to run in...?

I would just run in trainers at that pace. That is my easy/recovery/warmup type of pace and the shoes work at that pace, but feel kinda awkward. I keep them to sub-6 paces.

Some interesting observations about the Speed Elite in comparison to the prototypes:

-The prod version seems to have a different plate material and appearance/texture on the sides.

-Prod version seems to have paint/coating or something to cover up the poodle-noodle look of hyperburst on the midsole. My protos have that traditional hyper look on the midsole. Now it looks more white instead of sort of transparent.

-Prod version has some firmer material between plate and rubber in forefoot. This isn't in the protos.

-Goodyear logo blue instead of yellow

-Printing on side of midsole

AhWhatTheCheese wrote:

Some interesting observations about the Speed Elite in comparison to the prototypes:

-The prod version seems to have a different plate material and appearance/texture on the sides.

-Prod version seems to have paint/coating or something to cover up the poodle-noodle look of hyperburst on the midsole. My protos have that traditional hyper look on the midsole. Now it looks more white instead of sort of transparent.

-Prod version has some firmer material between plate and rubber in forefoot. This isn't in the protos.

-Goodyear logo blue instead of yellow

-Printing on side of midsole

Just to comment on your third observation:

Yes we can actually see a relative grey material under the forefoot plate, which is not seen in prototypes.

As someone who has never worn the Sketchers Performance line, could someone compare sizes for me? Do they run small or as normal? I wear 12.5s in everything else, including the Nike line of carbon plated shoes.

Tyler_Runs_Lifts wrote:

As someone who has never worn the Sketchers Performance line, could someone compare sizes for me? Do they run small or as normal? I wear 12.5s in everything else, including the Nike line of carbon plated shoes.

Depends on the model. I found the Ride 8 ran very large. Half size down was still pretty spacious. Razor 3 is pretty standard and Speed Elite is given that it is a racer. Speed 6 is definitely snug and could go a half size up probably, but is a short distance racer. Max Road 4 depends on if you want a roomy fit or not. In normal size it will be fairly roomy I think, but half size down is pretty snug. That said, I think a sock like knit upper like that is better snug when it doesn't have a ton of other stuff building it up. The Gorun 7 upper was way too voluminous vertically, but not wide enough to comfortably go half size down. It sounds like this is fixed with the new 7+. The speed trail was true to size for a fast shoe.

Do these shoes give a similar performance benefit as the vapor flys? Thoughts on this?

I tried on a 12 that my local skechers rep had on hand. I'm usually a 10.5 in trainers but could easily wear 11s. the 12s weren't all that big for me, so I'd probably go with an 11 instead of my usual racing shoe size 10. I'm guilty of wearing about a half size smaller than recommended in most shoes...and trying to fix that.

in terms of the feel in the 60 seconds I wore them for, running a couple strides, they definitely felt like they wanted a midfoot strike. felt very bouncy in a way I haven't felt in a shoe in a long time.

I really wish I was healthy enough to rip some workouts in these...assuming I got my hands on some.

hard to compare to the 4% as though I have a pair of the originals, I haven't run in them in about a year.

deleuze wrote:

Do these shoes give a similar performance benefit as the vapor flys? Thoughts on this?

Statistically, I don't know, and don't have a way of testing. I know some runners have concocted "scientific" tests to compare shoes - not to discount the methods (it's more work that I've put in), but it's probably not enough to really tell us how the shoe performs. Runner feedback will be the best we can do, until we get an independent study.

Alberto's Dog wrote:

deleuze wrote:

Do these shoes give a similar performance benefit as the vapor flys? Thoughts on this?

Statistically, I don't know, and don't have a way of testing. I know some runners have concocted "scientific" tests to compare shoes - not to discount the methods (it's more work that I've put in), but it's probably not enough to really tell us how the shoe performs. Runner feedback will be the best we can do, until we get an independent study.

I just picked up a pair of these and plan to use them in the LA Marathon on March 8th. Previously used the NB 1400 in marathons. I did an 8 mile test run and they seem faster than the NB. I've never used the VF. Should be right around 3:00. I'll report back after the race.

For people who have put some miles on the Speed Elite: Is it the same outsole (with same durability issues) as Razor 3? I love the Razors except for the razor-thin outsole.

I know they're meant mostly for races, thin outsole keeps the weight down, yada, yada, yada. I just hate this trend of expensive shoes designed for less than 100-200 miles. So you wear them for some test long runs and one or two races, and goodbye?