Puma Deviate Nitro Elite Review: A Super Shoe Built for Speed on the Trails
When it comes to running, I’ll take the smooth, predictable rhythm of the road over trails any day. There’s no feeling quite like those early morning tar sessions where it’s just you, your playlist, and the gentle morning sun. But, now that it’s winter my runs are less bright-eyed-and-bushy-tailed and more damp-clothes-and-soggy-shoes. So, I figure if I’m getting wet anyway, I might as well have some fun playing in the mud while I’m out there.
For whatever reason, when the weather turns bad, I get an urge to veer off the beaten track. I’m by no means a seasoned mountain trail runner, but I love the thrill of tackling gravel roads, winding farm paths, or whatever rugged terrain I stumble across during a weekend escape. So, when I got the chance to lace up the Puma Deviate Nitro Elite Trail running shoes, I was excited to see how the shoe would handle my off-road winter adventures.
After a few years of gear testing Puma’s Seasons trail range, I’ve seen how the technology across the range has evolved, and what a journey it has been! All that R&D has resulted in an elite trail shoe that is proof that the brand is listening to what runners really want from an off-road shoe. So, let’s dive into the mud together and see if you should add Puma’s performance-oriented trail shoe to your shoe rotation.
A speed shoe built for the trails
Puma’s elite trail running shoe is loaded with next-level tech that had me excited to take it for a spin!
Speaking to Believe in the Run, Damion Perry, Product Line Manager Performance Line Footwear at Puma, said the shoe was designed using the best technology from its road running range, and adapted specifically for the trails.
“Deviate represents speed over at Puma, so we wanted to take the best of our daily trainer, our race day shoe, and bring all those technologies over to the trail,” explained Perry. But, the Puma team didn’t want to just throw a new outsole on the Deviate Elite 3 road running shoe and call it a trail shoe. The team worked on a few updates to the Deviate Nitro Elite 3 to make a purpose-built trail shoe. “So, [we used] that same Nitro Elite foam that we have in our Deviate Elite 3, and then specifically engineered a plate and some of the details to bring that super shoe over to the trail,” Perry continued.
The star of the show in this new trail shoe is the Nitrofoam Elite cushioning. The high-tech foam is as light as a feather and helluva responsive, giving you the feeling you’re springing forward with every stride. The shoe offers a firmer version of Puma’s famous Nitrofoam found in the Deviate Nitro Elite road shoe, which provides a more stable response and underfoot feel on uneven ground.
Within the foam is Puma’s famous Pwrplate, a carbon fibre plate that’s designed for explosive propulsion while stabilising the midsole. The carbon fibre plate has been engineered specifically to be a little bit more torsionally flexible, so the plate has a little more give to it. This added flexibility ensures uphills are faster and more fun! These two powers combined act like a little turbo boost built into your shoe, which goes a long way if you’re chasing a PB.
Other updates included engineering a wider heel geometry, so the outsole is wider through the middle of the shoe to really provide a stable platform. The elite trail shoe boasts the Pumagrip ATR outsole, a trail-modified version of the famous Pumagrip outsole. The outsole is made from a trail-ready performance rubber compound designed for traction on ice, mud, and unstable surfaces. The sole’s 3mm lugs ensure that your grip is sorted. With these on your feet, you’ll be clinging to wet rocks and cruising through muddy trails like it’s nothing.
Backed by a super lightweight Ultraweave upper, the shoe hugs your foot in all the right places. There’s no slipping or sliding in these, and there was no need to break them in for a comfortable fit — they were perfect from the first wear. I didn’t experience any rubbing, slipping, or sliding inside the shoe on any of my runs.
Tipping the scales at just 210g (for a women’s size 4.5UK), the shoe features a 6mm drop, a stack of 36mm at the heel and 30mm up front. There’s a lot of cushioning below your feet without feeling clunky.
How’s the ride?
The shoe is a brilliant choice for transitional runners, where long runs call for cross-terrain environments. It’s especially handy for runners in South Africa where you might not be tackling mountain trails, but you’re in an area where there are a lot of demands of trails, gravel roads, and thick dirt roads on long runs. I gave this a good go on gravel farm roads, muddy nature reserve paths, and even on beach sand, and they were a dream on every type of surface.
The first thing that struck me about these is the outsole, which stuck to slippery descents and loose gravel like glue, giving me the confidence to push harder without worrying about eating dirt. As it turns out, wet winter conditions are the ideal time to put these to the test and have some fun. The cushioning in the shoe is another big one. The shoe soaked up the jolts from rough terrain without skipping a beat, but still had that zing to keep me moving, whether I was powering up a hill or cruising along on a flat stretch.
What really blew me away was how effortlessly these shoes switched from road to trail. Transitioning from smooth tarred pavements to slippery gravel roads and even rocky paths, the Deviate Nitro Elite Trail just rolled with it. If you’re all about exploring at speed, this is the type of shoe that will allow you to run fast and have a great time no matter the terrain.
An athlete weighs in
Plus, with its super shoe status, the Deviate Nitro Elite Trail is a great race day shoe if you’re tackling a trail running race. But don’t just take my word for it, we spoke to Puma Athlete, Lisa Geffen about her experience running in the Deviate Nitro Elite Trail on race day. Cape Town’s Lisa Geffen took third place in the women’s race at the FullSend Trail Grand Final 2025 on the 21st of June and reckons Puma’s new super shoe had a definite impact on her podium result.
Geffen described the Deviate Nitro Elite Trail as “outstanding” when asked how she found the experience racing in the shoe. “The shoe is so fast! It actually made me feel like I had a competitive advantage,” remarked Geffen. She went on to describe the shoe as “bouncy and grippy” underfoot, so if you had your doubts about taking advice from a transitional runner like myself, the expert insights from trail athlete Lisa Geffen should give you the confidence you need to try the Deviate Nitro Elite Trail.
Go Wild with the Puma Deviate Nitro Elite Trail
If you’re after a trail running shoe that can keep up with your off-road running adventures, then you can really go wild in the Puma Deviate Nitro Elite Trail. The shoe is comfortable, performs like a champ, and looks good as hell. The shoe launched in two colours — White, Glowing Red, Pure Magenta and Glowing Red, Black, Pure Magenta — for a look that stands out amongst the crowd.
Priced at R5,699, it’s a solid investment for anyone serious about hitting the trails or mixing it up with some off-road action this winter.
Header Image: Puma Athlete, Lisa Geffen competes in the Full Send Grand Final 2025. Image supplied: FullSend trail series | photographer: Michelle Geldenhuys.
