The Topo Specter Elite is an all-new racer designed for comfort and speed. Priced at $250, it competes with shoes like the New Balance SC Elite v5 ($265) and On Cloudboom Strike 2 ($250). The Specter Elite is part of Topo’s new Pro Series of shoes. It features an ATPU foam, an aggressive rocker, heel bevel, a somewhat decoupled midsole, and a full-length carbon fiber plate. The upper is made of a lightweight mesh and the heel has good padding hugging the heel. The step-in feel is fantastic—it has a soft and silky insole, the fit is true to size with good lock-down and it has a decently wide forefoot, as is typical with Topo shoes. At 224 grams in our Men’s US Size 10.5, it comes in on the heavier side of competitive race day shoes, but it weighs similar to the Cielo X1 3.0, which is currently our favorite marathon racer of 2026. Out on the run we found the Specter Elite to be cushioned, energetic, responsive, and bouncy. It has a great smoothness and roll to it. There is a lot of foam underfoot, which makes it decently stable for a race day shoe. The foam is slightly firmer than that in the Endorphin Elite 3, but softer than the OG Endorphin Elite, but with a similar rocker geometry. It feels quick, powerful, and the foam is just really nice. Topo did a fantastic job with their first race shoe with every detail being very considered—a fantastic foam, a dialed geometry, great comfort, lots of cushioning in the forefoot, and a feel that is good for the masses and for faster runners.
