Running shoes have gotten very expensive in the past few years. Nike released the Vaporfly for $250, and despite their steep cost, they sold out instantly. Other brands saw the success Nike was having, and tried to bring their own "Elite", cushioned, carbon-plated racer to the table, and with the expensive price tag to match.
So that brings us to this new "budget" category, where companies have made alternatives to their "super shoes" at prices that are still high, just not heart attack inducing.
With everyone's eyes on the AlphaFly Next%, the Tempo Next% hasn't gotten as much attention. It's a stripped down version of the AlphaFly that is great for training and tempo days as well as race day. It essentially replaces the Zoom Fly AND the Pegasus Turbo.
Everyone is calling the Saucony Endorphin Pro the "Vaporfly Killer". It uses the same midsole material, a carbon plated midsole, and is lightweight, AND it's $50 cheaper. What people are overlooking is the Endorphon Speed.
The Saucony Endorphin Speed is almost identical to the Endorphin Pro, but replaces the carbon plate with a TPU plate, and adds a more supportive and padded upper, for $40 less.
Hoka was early to the carbon plate game. It released the Carbon Rocket a few years ago, and it now has a few different models of carbon plated running shoes. The Carbon X is their highest cushioned, carbon-plated racer, and with the amount of cushioning on this guy, and it's sub $200, price point, it may appeal to more people than the less cushioned Rocket X which costs $200.
This is one of the few models on the list without a carbon plate, but it's still an excelent light weight racer, almost like a racing flat before they had plates and thick midsoles. The higher end version of this guy, the Brooks Hyperion Elite 2, is a whopping hundred dollars more, and provides the same midsole material, but with a carbon plate and larger stack height.