Dead On Arrival: Brooks Hyperion Elite Performance Review

Interesting - I've never heard of going up for racing! If anything, I tend to go down. Fortunately we are the same size here - I wear an 8.5 in just about everything, and I'd actually lean towards a 8.5 here. While I really enjoyed the shoe - and plan to put a bunch more miles on it - I did notice the upper is a little "baggier" than I expected (compared to FlyKnit, or even Skechers upper material) and I think a 9 might just be too much material. Around the ankle in particular, I noticed I had more than I expected for a racer. Just my $0.02 - try on 8.5 and 9, if you have a chance!

Alberto's Dog wrote:

Interesting - I've never heard of going up for racing! If anything, I tend to go down. Fortunately we are the same size here - I wear an 8.5 in just about everything, and I'd actually lean towards a 8.5 here. While I really enjoyed the shoe - and plan to put a bunch more miles on it - I did notice the upper is a little "baggier" than I expected (compared to FlyKnit, or even Skechers upper material) and I think a 9 might just be too much material. Around the ankle in particular, I noticed I had more than I expected for a racer. Just my $0.02 - try on 8.5 and 9, if you have a chance!

It's quite common to size up in racing shoes for those with wider feet. Racing shoes are often tighter, which might be OK for someone with narrow or average width feet, but that can make them way too tight for someone who finds the average shoe borderline too narrow. I'm usually size 11.5, but go all the way up to 12.5 for my Takumi Sen 3s.

Came back a 16 mile effort in the Hyperion Elite, including some hard (~60 second) hills and a 5 mile tempo run. Again, I was impressed with the Elite. I don't get a "dead" feeling underfoot. It's a firm ride - the midsole foam here doesn't feel as springy as ZoomX, by any stretch, or even as Hyperburst - but I find it really comfortable in its control and familiarity. We will draft full comparisons with the Skechers Speed Elite on RoadTrailRun, but I think I would take the Brooks over the Skechers for 26.2, and the Skechers for anything shorter.

More to come. Lifespan will be interesting - between Sam and I, we've put more than 30 miles on the shoe... no visual signs of wear (it's actually very impressive how not-worn it looks, all told) but that obviously does not tell the full story.

Our complete multi-tester review for the Speed Elite is 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. We'll have the Hyperion Elite review up soon, which should provide some comparisons for those on the fence.

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

Alberto's Dog wrote:

Our complete multi-tester review for the Speed Elite is 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. We'll have the Hyperion Elite review up soon, which should provide some comparisons for those on the fence.

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

Thanks for all the updates! Trying to decide between the Hyperion Elite, Speed Elite, and upcoming adizero Pro. When will those be in for testing?

Runsplit wrote:

Alberto's Dog wrote:

Our complete multi-tester review for the Speed Elite is 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. We'll have the Hyperion Elite review up soon, which should provide some comparisons for those on the fence.

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

Thanks for all the updates! Trying to decide between the Hyperion Elite, Speed Elite, and upcoming adizero Pro. When will those be in for testing?

I don't know, exactly - I think reasonably soon (i.e. February-March) but I haven't heard specifics. I hope soon! Very exciting time for racing flats.

I really like these socks

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/nZiBaS_KvmzlsRdpn39BEwrud2WteqFy6Mc5yU37BtUx_zarwn3yT5sTtZcY5uG7h9QyBKnWbn-XpkJe4nvN8WjQrcv9FL2JCgJ07PmnZbW8HA9K9fnjKI63MbHvr0C79-MkDM97

also thanks to everyone at RTR for getting some decent performance reviews out on all the new distance racers.

Alberto's Dog wrote:

Runsplit wrote:

Thanks for all the updates! Trying to decide between the Hyperion Elite, Speed Elite, and upcoming adizero Pro. When will those be in for testing?

I don't know, exactly - I think reasonably soon (i.e. February-March) but I haven't heard specifics. I hope soon! Very exciting time for racing flats.

When are you expecting to talk about the sauconys?

AhWhatTheCheese wrote:

Alberto's Dog wrote:

I don't know, exactly - I think reasonably soon (i.e. February-March) but I haven't heard specifics. I hope soon! Very exciting time for racing flats.

When are you expecting to talk about the sauconys?

I've been told Saucony is trying to get shoes out ASAP (again, this means a lot of things, but hopefully in the next couple weeks). I don't know how many pairs we will get, which models, etc., but hopefully the Endorphin Pro, at least. It technically launches Feb. 29 in Atlanta, so they may try to time it with that.

Fortunately Sam and I are the same size (usually), so we can ship shoes back and forth as needed for testing... but always fun to have a more diverse lineup! So fingers crossed.

News out of Atlanta is that the OP may be 100% correct, looks like it is DOA. More to come but it has to do with the prototype vs production rule just instituted to help Nike.

El Cheapo wrote:

News out of Atlanta is that the OP may be 100% correct, looks like it is DOA. More to come but it has to do with the prototype vs production rule just instituted to help Nike.

Interesting...wonder what this means

Surprised it hasn't been leaked yet, if you want a pair you better buy them this weekend.

El Cheapo wrote:

Surprised it hasn't been leaked yet, if you want a pair you better buy them this weekend.

I heard a while back a rumor that the next version will have the DNA Flash midsole like the Tempo. Are they going to completely rework it after doing this limited release?

Runsplit wrote:

El Cheapo wrote:

Surprised it hasn't been leaked yet, if you want a pair you better buy them this weekend.

I heard a while back a rumor that the next version will have the DNA Flash midsole like the Tempo. Are they going to completely rework it after doing this limited release?

Would be interesting. The WSJ article mentioned a "Hyperion Elite 2" coming in April, but I thought we had ruled that as a typo. I certainly don't have any info in this area. I'm not in love with the Hyperion Tempo, but would of course be interested to see what changes they'd make.