Mizuno Hyperwarp Elite Review

The Mizuno Hyperwarp Elite is for you if...

You want reliable high-speed performance for a marathon PR.

You’re seeking a race-day shoe to tackle a variety of uptempo paces.

You enjoy a snappy racer with high energy return for fast efforts.

What is the Mizuno Hyperwarp Elite made for?

With three exciting super shoes added to the Mizuno name, the Hyperwarp line has stepped onto the scene and swung big. Mizuno has made sure that there’s a racing shoe for every runner--the Hyperwarp Pure for those shorter-distance PRs, the Hyperwarp Elite for bringing high performance to your next marathon, and the Hyperwarp Pro for a steady blend of performance and comfort. 

All three have a similar durometer and feel—combining impact-absorbing comfort, highly responsive performance, and a naturally stable base footprint to rival its market competitors. All three shoes have the same upper material, thin tongues, and notched racing laces. Strategically placed G3 rubber in the outsole keeps things light, tacky and grippy during road runs. Figuring out which of these three shoes would be best for your next run all comes down to the finer details.

The Hyperwarp Elite is a pinnacle race-day shoe that balances speed and protection, perfect for a marathon or half-marathon. At a little over 6 ounces, it’s one of the lightest high-stack race options out there. The Enerzy XP midsole is composed of two layers—the majority in the PEBA-based top layer, which is very bouncy and light. The bottom layer of TPEE foam is just a little firmer, offering slightly more stability and protection while still contributing to a bouncy and fun ride. The winglet design of the embedded carbon plate also provides some torsional rigidity.

Overall, between all three of the Hyperwarps, the Elite gave us the most balanced experience between comfort and performance. This is a great option for race day or high-level workouts, if you're able to dial in the right size and fit. Let's break it down further.

Comfort

Comfort isn’t usually the main focus when we’re looking at ultra-lightweight racing shoes, but keeping that in mind, we were surprised by how comfortable our experience with the Hyperwarp Elite was.

A low heel-to-toe drop put the shoe's soft Enerzy XP foam immediately underfoot, which gave us a balanced experience of plush responsiveness. The PEBA top layer of foam was appreciably squishy and comfortable to land on without slowing us down. We had the exact right amount of sink-in feel before the carbon plate and TPEE foam layer kicked in to keep our stride snappy. The stack feels perfectly dialed for staying quick but protected through marathon-length efforts.

The material used for Mizuno’s upper is thin, lightweight, and breathable, with just a little bit of stretch, and a nice bit of padding around the heel collar. It has a more subtle rocker geometry than the Hyperwarp Pure which, when combined with the slightly higher stacked and more protective foam blend, kept us a little more comfortable through longer distances. 

Performance

The Hyperwarp Elite is fantastically quick and snappy. They’re wickedly fast shoes, but feel a little more comfortable and a little more stable than some of the other big race-day options on the market. The midsole feels great underfoot, with just enough softness for landings that accommodate longer efforts, including an 11+ mile tempo workout.

These shoes gave us an edge to accelerate quickly, round a sharp curve, or hold top speeds even when our legs started breaking down. We also love how Mizuno utilized the G3 outsole in strategic places, which crushes it rain or shine. We’ve been very impressed when taking these around tight corners and through puddles.

A lower drop and modest rocker geometry made for a less aggressive roll to our steps—but, this geometry felt more balanced to us than slow or restrictive, and the rigid plate was snappy enough to accelerate us forward. In all, we’re impressed with how light, responsive, and fast these shoes are. The only knock we have against their performance were related to the fit issues that some of us experienced, which we will expand on more in the Fit section.

Fit

We had mixed results when it came to sizing and fit. With respect to the fact that race-day shoes typically have a more snug fit, the majority of us found these shoes to run even shorter than expected, resulting in the desire to go up to the next available size. However, not everyone experienced this issue; in one case, this shoe felt true to size and secure on a slightly narrow foot.

For those of us that sized up, we were glad to have the additional room in our toes, but did experience issues with heel slippage. Those that choose to go up a half-size for some extra room in the toes may notice some looseness in the heel when going uphill, but you’ll still be able to achieve a good midfoot lockdown.

Larger feet that may only have the option to go up a full size—for example, a size 12 going up to a size 13—may find that having more room for your toes creates issues with too much room in the midfoot and heel. Excessively cinching laces to make up for this can lead to lacebite, and/or otherwise feeling like you’re trading cramped toes for a floating heel.

If you prefer a narrow, snug fit in your racing shoe, you may be able to get away with wearing your normal size. If you prefer some extra room in the toes, going up a half-size just might do the trick, and shouldn't take much finagling to get a secure lockdown. Sizing up any more than that, though, is bound to create more issues.