Nike Alphafly 3 vs Adidas Adizero Adios Pro Evo 2:
Which to Choose

Despite matching metrics, these shoes feel meaningfully different underfoot. The biggest hard difference is weight: the Adios Pro Evo 2 is one of the lightest marathon shoes ever made at about 139g in a men's US 9, while the Alphafly 3 comes in around 198g — close to a 60g gap that you notice over the back half of a race. Both ride on near-maximum stack heights right around the 40mm heel limit, so neither is short on foam; the difference is in the engine. The Alphafly pairs ZoomX foam with a full-length carbon plate and twin forefoot Air Zoom pods, producing a pronounced, almost trampoline-like pop at toe-off and a powerful, aggressive turnover once you're pressing. The Adios Pro Evo 2 uses CNC-carved Lightstrike Pro Evo foam over carbon-infused Energy Rods and a rocker, which delivers a smoother, quicker, more rolling transition rather than that snappy Nike bounce. Drops are close — 8mm for the Alphafly versus an effective ~7mm for the Adios — so neither feels dramatically more or less forward-tipping than the other. Both are deliberately unstable neutral platforms that get wobbly and unwieldy at easy jogging paces, but the Adios feels the more precarious of the two on its narrow, ultralight platform if your form breaks down late. Fit also separates them: the Adios runs very snug, especially through a tight toebox, while the Alphafly's AtomKnit upper is the more forgiving of the two. Durability is limited on both — soft superfoams and thin racing outsoles — but the Adios is the more extreme, pared-to-the-bone build meant to be hoarded for the biggest days, whereas the Alphafly is marginally more robust for race-pace workouts as well as racing.