The New Balance SC Elite v4 and Nike Alphafly 3 are two of the most exciting new racing shoes of 2024, and both are among the best carbon shoes available, but which should you spend your hard-earned on? Tom and Nick talk through the pros and cons of both shoes in this video, and sa which shoe they’d get.
Check out our full reviews of both shoes:
Nike Alphafly 3 Review:
New Balance SC Elite v4 Review:
JUMP STRAIGHT IN:
00:00 – Intro
00:134 – Design & Key Stats
02:16 – How’s The Fit
04:27 – The Run Test
11:09 – Verdict
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Hello and welcome to run testers my name Is Nick and in this video we're going to Be comparing the Nike alphafly 3 and the New Balance SC Elite V4 so the outfly 3 and the SC Elite V4 Are two of the newer and more exciting Carbon shoes that have already been Released in 2024 they now sit at the top Of both their company's ranges Especially for those looking for a Marathon racing shoe the 3 is the more Expensive shoe it's £285 or $285 whereas New balance is £260 or $250 outfly is a Tad lighter is 220 G or 7.7 o in a uk9 Whereas new balance is 243 G or 8.6 o Got a 4 mm drop in the new balance and An 8 mm drop in the alphafly and both of Them have stackit that hit that 40 mm Limit at the heel the Ally 3 you've got An atom knit 3.0 upper which is a very Breathable open material lots of padding Around the heill and a fair bit of Structure at the the back there and it Hugs the Achilles quite tightly at the Back of the shoe then in the midsole You've obviously got Nike zoomx foam the Pea foam they've been using since the Original Vapor fly along with the Air Zoom pods under the forefoot which are The key feature that separate the Alphafly from the vaporfly in Nike's Range got a ful length carbon plate Running through the shoe and the mids Sole is now continuous from front to
Back rather than having the cutouts you Had in the middle of the alphafly one And two just a big long Canyon like cut Out along the bottom of the shoe now and You've got a far shot rubber out soole Pretty minimal coverage at the heel There with those like little diamonds of Uh rubber with a lot more coverage on The foref foot of the shoe there your Balance V4 has a mesh upper with really Very minimal padding around the tongue And heel it's very interesting heel Design in particular it's a very open One that doesn't really cradle or pad The Achilles very much at all and it's Quite notably different to the alply and Other shoes you now got a new version of Fuel cell in the midell of the shoe it's Now a peber based foam as opposed to the Different materials used on past Versions of the elite shoes in new Balance's Range you've also got a Fulllength carbon plate running through The shoe with new balance's energy Rocker again you've got a big long Canyon likee cutout on the bottom of the Shoe and you've got quite good rubber Coverage on the New Balance the for Foot's really well covered you've got Slightly more extensive coverage on the Back of the shoe than you have with the Alphafly as well the all round is so Pretty minimal outside of the mid soole To try and keep the weight
Down right start with a fit and I'm now Joined by Tom Tom what's the fit like on These two shoes uh I would say the Alphafly 3 is um I'm a size eight in the UK I've I found the fit to be fine in my Size eight uh but it's an alphafly it's One of the most um you know racy shoes Going so it's a pretty tight fit but I Found the upper I really like the upper On the newly 3 it's very very thin it's A little bit uh stretchy but I did find Them quite hard to get on initially but Once I had them on absolutely fine New Balance um I have found them to Uh I'm a size eight yeah so uh I found These to be absolutely fine in my size But I did find them a little bit loose To begin with around the heel I haven't Had any problems with the fit um and Once I've sort of tied them down Properly they've been fine but um yeah I Just I just say they just feel a little Bit looser in my size eight but I would Have sticked to that size cool cool uh So I haven't really any problems with Either of these shoes so it's worth Saying a uk9 in both of these shoes is Different sizes because in the US and You balance uk9 is a US 9.5 and it's a US 10 in the Nike so you'd expect it to Be a bit roomier but I don't think That's really the case I haven't found That anyway I prefer the fit of the AL Around the heel for sure I think it
Holds the heel quite nicely doesn't Irritate my achilles very much or Anything like that I have been able to Slip it on quite well because I quite a Narrow foot it's not really a problem For me to get this off and on so yeah Really good fit in the Ally the normal Size same size I've had for basically All Nike Racing shoes New Balance I do Think the heel is a bit loose you can See how open it is at the back there There's not really anything that's Really gripping the back of the heel Which is a good way one good thing about That is that it doesn't irritate my Achilles at all I don't get any kind of Rubbing there which is great but you can Get some General Skin rubbing rather Than necessarily irritating the Achilles I've heel locked the shoe and I haven't Had any problems with that as a result But it's something to look out for Sometimes in you Balance shoes can be Very tight in their Racing shoes uh I Don't think that's the case with this Shoe here even in a US 9.5 which is Roughly I'm usually between a US 9.5 and US 10 I had a pretty good fit with Enough room in the toe box for long runs So yeah I was happy sticking with my Normal size but maybe look out for the Heel on the new Balance on to the run test these are two Big new launches for 2024 you've been
Impressed by them what do you think I've Been impressed by the alphafly 3 um okay So the let's start there then so the Alpha 3 I think um I never got a chance To try the Ally 2 so I'm coming straight From the Ally one here but um I think Straight from the off I can see it is Follows on from what I've experienced in The AL one which is one of my favorite RAC shoes of all time I've used it for Many many races and still absolutely Love it I bought a new pair of bfly ones Recently because I was worried that i' I'd lose out on uh when when when they Disappear uh but the outfly 3 I think it Is fantastic shoe still it's very fast Very comfortable um I think I know that You've talked about this before and You're obviously going to go into more Depth in that in a bit um for me I'm Still a bit on the fence whether it is As I mean I enjoy it as much as the AL Fine one um I think the main reason is The heel section of the shoot so uh I Find it noticeably softer than the AL Fly one um and I'm not I haven't quite Worked out if I that's a problem for me Yet uh I've only done uh I've only done Short distance races in this so far so I Have done a longer run in this but I've Only racing it uh for 10K so I really Want to do a marathon in the out fly Through to really see what that that That new phone uh well it's not new
Phone but the new design uh feels like Um I have uh in all the runs I've done In it it has been fantastic I really Like the front of the shoe the um the Mid sole at the front I think it's I think it's a little bit better than The AL one I just think got a little bit More pop to it but overall I think it is A fantastic shoe and definitely a nice Progression of the Ally range from what I know of the outfly one yeah I love the Outfly 3 as well I think right now it's The shoe to beat for me in the racing Shoe World I think the changes they've Made I really like I think the new Continuous Mido in particular really Makes it flow a bit better for me I get A nice Tippy forward feeling from it Similar almost to the vaporfly but then With the extra punch and propulsion you Have from the alpha flies slightly more Foamy design and then those Air Zoom Pods at the front I think they're more They're better engaged in the latest Version of the shoe than on previous Versions just because of the way the mid Is continuous and it drives you into Those Air Zoom pods and you get that big Old bounce off those as well so I do Think it's a very effective shoe it's Notably lighter than uh the alply 2 Which I have tested which is a much more Of a bouncy Focus shoe was really good About really provided a lot of spring
But it didn't have the same kind of Aggressive turnover I think you get with The alply 3 and as a result I just think It's more or less perfect like I think Everything every run I've done in it I've raced twice and it a lot of hard Sessions it's just felt so good and That's going right down to short reps Like really fast 1K reps and stuff like That around 5K Pace a 5K race and then Two longer extended sessions with more Marathon paced efforts that kind of Thing and it's just felt really good for Everything so I do think it is all round A great racing shoe tilted slightly more Towards long distances maybe but I think It's a very accomplished allrounder and Then comparing that to the new balance For me this is a really great shoe but I Think it's coming out at a time when That's almost not enough and I think one The reasons for that is because of the AL 3 but terms of my testing of it I Really loved using the shoe I do think It has impressed me a lot more as time's Gone on but Tom what do you make of the SC Elite V4 yeah I3 I mean I wasn't massive RAC I Would never have put it in my top tier Collection and I'd never have just I'd Never have thought about using the SE Elite 3 for like a big Marathon that I Wanted to do I would have reached for it As a as an option um I do like the SE
Elite V4 I think it is a fast Improvement on the three I think there's A lot more similarities to most of the Big super shoes that are out there for The uh for the four uh the foam is just There's more to it it just feels a Little bit bouncier um it feels a little Bit more propulsive to me but like you Say I just it doesn't seem to be all the Way there when you compare it with some Of the other Super Shoes at the moment Um I liking it quite a bit to the S Endorphin Pro 3 uh the Pro 3 is a shoed That if you're comparing with things Like the fly the outfly it's a much more Natural um uh subtle uh Super Shoe which Is what I like when I do a marathon I Don't want I really liked the comfort of It and the bounce and everything um and I think it's like that I think it's a Much more subtle shoe in comparison to Things like uh the vaporfly but um it's Too subtle for me I'm not really getting Loads off of it i' I've raced it I did a 10K in the weekend at it wearing it and It was almost there I mean I I reckon if I did use this shoe for a marathon I Think I'd be very very happy doing a Marathon in it but for me it's just that Marginal difference where I there still Other shoes that I'd pick up instead of It from what I've tested with it so far Yeah I I kind agree with I really have Liked using the shoe and I the first run
In it I was tired I wasn't on you know Very fresh legs but I still ran you know Pretty solid long run in it and theyve Done a couple of sessions in it and Track session I did the last track Session I was doing mile reps at 530 per Mile with just 400 m float recovery so I Was still doing the recoveries at around 620 per mile kind of thing so it ended Up being about 12 122k at around Marathon pace of 333 a k for me 540 a Mile and it felt really good in that Shoe very comfortable that marathon pace I think really is a sweet spot I almost Feel like the SC elite3 had a bit more Aggression to it and a faster rocker for Maybe shorter stuff it felt a bit more Nimble on the foot whereas this feels Like a big bouncy shoe it doesn't have The tip forward for me of the alphafly Or Sho some shoes like the VAP fly or Even the SC elb 3 but got a lot of Propulsion there it feels like a really Bouncy shoe protects legs really well it Feels very soft and accommodating a very Friendly carbon shoe a bit like the RC Elite V2 the second New Balance Super Shoe which really had well I thought was A great comfortable shoe but still had a Lot of pace there's certainly a lot of Pace in the shoe and it'll do a lot of Stuff really well but it does feel quite Marathon Focus to me I know new balance Is going to have the SC Pacer V2 which
Is going to be a slightly lower stack Peba Super Shoe coming out later this Year probably I think towards the back End of the year but for now I do think This is really really good but to me it Almost comes in as a competitor to the Alply 2 in a way it's like it's got Similar weight similar kind of bouncy Design and that's come out at a time now When Nike has gone and released the Ally 3 where they've gone yeah we're going to Get all that propulsion all that stack Heite airing pods in a slightly more Tipy Forward Design give you everything You had before but also make it a fair Bit lighter and now that's what really I Think makes the big difference me like This is a lighter more aggressive shoe That still has the bounce of the new Balance for me so while I'll be Delighted to run a marathon in this you Know any you know it's a fantastic shoe I really don't think you're going to Lose out much compared to any shoe I Would pick the alphafly for a marathon Marathon like you know 100 times out of 100 I think it's a slightly more Effective shoe but we're talking fine Margins here but at this kind of price Probably not going to be going and Buying both of them so the fine margins Are really Important all right Tom verdict on these Two big old Super Shoes so I think these
Are two fantastic Super Shoes I think They're both really good Super Shoes um I uh would be happy to wear both of them For most races that I would do um but I Think when it comes to the how much These shoes cost and they're both very Expensive shoes now I'm looking at what 285 for the alphafly 3 is it 260 New Balance yeah 260 and $250 so it's a bit A bit of a saving in the US so for that Price you you know you are getting to The point where you what you're you're You're paying for the the slightest bit Of difference in these shoes um so if I'm paying that much money I'm going to Go Alpha fly 3 all the way I just think It's a a little bit faster I just I it Just it's just Superior in every way for Me uh the AL the AL fly 3 um and uh I Definitely you know I've got a boss of The marathon coming up um I probably Going to go for the AL 3 the New Balance SE before I I don't think it I would put It in as an option um you know for a t For a race that I really want to get a Good time in I'm gonna I'm going to go For AI 3 just because I think it's Superior in performance um and comfort Uh but having said that se B before is Fine um the other thing I'd say is as Well I think if the so doin Pro 3 I Think that came when that was like 220 When it came out wasn't it maybe a bit Cheaper um that difference in price is
Is noticeable and I mean I Dophin Pro 3 Is one of my favorite shoes possibly Even more so than the Alp one um but That price is noticeable that difference And if if the SE before was like maybe 220 210 then I'd say actually there's a Big difference in that price you're Actually the marginal game the marginal Difference between the two you're Actually saing bit of cash there because They're so similar in price going Al fly 3 all the way I I do agree like I think The AL 3 like I think it's the best Ration sh on the market I do think it Beats out the new balance for any Distance and this is fine margins we Talking about but it's an expensive shoe So I would get the alph 3 the St Elite Before an amazing R if I never had the Ally 3 and this was on my foot for a Marathan I would have no problems even With the Ally 3 I went and did an event And I only had the S Elite before I'd be Very happy to run a marathon it I think I would be able to deliver my best Performance pretty much in it but I just Feel more confident running in the alpha Fly 3 I think it's the slightly better Shoe all around I you say Comfort I do Think the one thing the SC Elite before Might have going for here is I think It's a very approachable Super Shoe I Think a lot of Runners will get on with It you maybe aren't so sure about the
Alpha fly maybe find it too aggressive Or something like that I do think you Get a very comfortable experience with The SE before almost hekling back to the The days of the RC Elite V2 which was Was such a comfortable shoe and a great Training shoe as a result I think you Can probably log a miles in this but I Don't think it's like more durable than The alphafly so all around for me it is The alphafly 3 in this comparison se4 Great shoe really see what the pace is Like when it comes out but for the Moment I think New Balance are just Losing out to the best Nike Shoe
