Puma Deviate Nitro Elite Review: Nitro Foam at Its Finest

Introduction

Puma has only recently re-entered the running space, and its biggest problem has been simple availability: nobody could get their hands on the shoes. That changes the conversation around the Deviate Nitro Elite, a shoe that has finally become easier to find just over a year after its initial release.

This particular version is a Tracksmith collaboration edition celebrating Speed City, the San Jose State track team whose sprinters, including Tommy Smith, Lee Evans, and John Carlos, were among the fastest men in the world and used their platform to advocate for civil rights around the 1968 Olympic Games. It is a shoe with genuine substance underfoot and a story worth knowing.

Who This Shoe Is For

The Deviate Nitro Elite is a lightweight racing shoe built for runners who want speed without giving up versatility. At just 6.7 ounces, it pairs Puma’s PEBA-based Nitro Elite foam with an InnoPlate carbon plate, targeting threshold workouts, tempo runs, and race days.

If your training revolves around mile repeats, tempo efforts, and faster paces, this shoe is squarely aimed at you. The foam even holds a comfortable rhythm at warm-up paces, which is unusual for a nitrogen-infused supercritical midsole.

Main Strengths

The standout is the foam. Puma starts with a PEBA puck rather than EVA, then infuses it with nitrogen through a supercritical process. The result is a lightweight, resilient, responsive midsole that delivers all the qualities you associate with premium super foams. The harder you push into it, the more you get back, and the sensation is genuinely exhilarating at threshold effort.

The shoe stacks up at 36 millimeters in the heel with an 8 millimeter drop, putting 28 millimeters under the forefoot. Despite that height, it feels remarkably low to the ground on foot, closer to a racing flat than the numbers suggest. The carbon plate is present but not aggressive: it never overpowers the foam or disrupts the natural gait cycle, so everything works in harmony.

The upper reinforces that impression. It is a translucent, see-through material that is both strong and flexible, holding the foot in a snug racing position while keeping weight to a minimum. The thin translucent tongue stays out of the way, and a soft suede-like padding at the back of the ankle feels excellent. Outsole rubber coverage is similar to the non-elite Deviate Nitro, though with a shorter, less robust lug pattern.

Things to Consider Before Buying

You will get a lot of road feel in this shoe. At easy paces and at threshold, you notice more of the bumps and impact than you would in an extra-tall max-cushion trainer. That is a trade-off many racers will accept, but it is worth knowing going in.

The second quirk is the drop. Although it is listed at 8 millimeters, at slower paces the shoe feels much lower, almost like a 4 millimeter or even zero-drop platform. There is a noticeable stretch in the calf and Achilles at easier efforts. Some runners will enjoy how the shoe seems to guide a wider range of motion when going easy and tune itself for toe-off when pushing hard; others may find the stretch uncomfortable.

Long-run durability is also still an open question. More testing is needed to confirm whether the shoe holds up over very long efforts and the marathon distance without bottoming out.

Buying Advice

If you have been searching for the Deviate Nitro Elite and given up because of stock issues, it is worth checking again. The Speed City collaboration edition has been available on Puma’s website, and a sunburst orange colorway has also been in stock.

For tempo days, threshold workouts, and shorter races, this is a shoe that makes you shine while still providing plenty of shock absorption and a bit of pop with each step. If your priority is a plush max-cushion ride for easy miles or you are sensitive to a lower-feeling heel, consider your options carefully before committing.

Conclusion

The Deviate Nitro Elite earns its place among the best-feeling super foams on the road: light, resilient, and versatile across paces, with a beautifully minimal upper and a thoughtful collaboration story behind it. If you race or train at faster paces and want a shoe that rewards effort the harder you push, it is absolutely worth tracking down.