Nike Pegasus Premium Introduction
Again in 2016, Nike launched a efficiency operating shoe known as the Air Zoom All Out with a visual, 3-quarter size Zoom Air cushioning system. There have been 2 variations of it: a Flyknit model and a Low model.
It was marketed as a pace shoe and Nike claimed that it was probably the most responsive trip in your quickest runs. This was one of many extra revolutionary trainers that Nike launched within the final 10 years- it had the wow issue. The value was $200 for the Flyknit model and $150 for the Low model.
I purchased the Low model when it got here out. As a operating shoe, it actually upset me. It was heavy, coming in at 11.1 oz (315g) for a males’s US9 and it was approach too agency. I couldn’t run greater than 10 kilometres in it with out my toes hurting. I used it primarily as a gymnasium & cross coaching shoe.
The issue with this shoe was its Phylon (EVA) midsole foam. It was too agency and there wasn’t sufficient of it. This was earlier than the times of ZoomX foam and it felt very bottom-heavy. The All Out Low was one of the vital clunky sneakers I’ve ever run in.
The Pegasus Premium was impressed by that shoe. To enhance the trip, Nike has changed Phylon with a mixture of ZoomX and ReactX. They’ve additionally made the Zoom Air unit full-length for extra constant transitions.
The stack heights are rather more, 45 mm/35 mm, in comparison with the All Out’s 31 mm/21 mm. The Pegasus Premium is even heftier than the Air Zoom All Out Low, weighing 11.5 oz (325 g) for a males’s commonplace measurement. This isn’t shocking contemplating the Zoom Air unit is longer and the midsole is far thicker.
The Pegasus Premium is the top-of-the-range coach within the Pegasus street household. The Pegasus 41 is the entry stage Pegasus, the Pegasus Plus is mid-range and the Pegasus Premium is the sovereign.
To create extra hype, the Pegasus Premium was introduced in April of 2024, which was very, very early. Sometimes, new iterations are solely introduced a pair months earlier than the launch date, not 10 months earlier than.
This technique appeared to have labored as a result of the Pegasus Premium within the launch colourway was bought out after a few hours (within the areas the place it launched).
Nike Pegasus Premium First Impressions
My first run was a 17 km restoration run. I used to be relieved as a result of the Pegasus Premium had a a lot better trip than the All Out Low: extra steady and extra cushioned. I used to be shocked how a lot power was returned with every footstrike and the trip was one of the vital enjoyable that I’ve skilled shortly.
It didn’t really feel like a pace shoe however I might do a gentle tempo comparatively simply (for brief bursts) because of the energetic ZoomX and the springy Air Zoom unit. The higher was comfy and breathable however the heavy sole made it really feel bottom-heavy.
It jogged my memory of the discontinued Nike Tempo Subsequent%, the coaching companion of the Alphafly however a a lot heavier model. The Tempo Subsequent% additionally had Zoom Air and a mixture of ZoomX and React.
Nike Pegasus Premium Higher
The Pegasus Premium’s higher appears like a hybrid between a racer and a each day coach. The mesh is skinny and light-weight. It has massive holes on the highest of the toe-box and on the tongue so breathability is superb.
The collar and the heel tab are generously padded for additional consolation and I skilled no heel slippage. Reflectivity is the most effective of any shoe I’ve examined. There’s a thick, reflective strip that goes across the complete higher so there’s 360 diploma reflectivity. The laces are additionally reflective which provides it a really stylish really feel.
It has the everyday Nike slender match and I don’t suggest it for large toes. The midfoot and the toe-box are significantly very slender. It matches true to measurement and it really works greatest for me with skinny socks.
Nike Pegasus Premium Sole Unit
If you happen to’ve ever run within the Alphafly, you’d have skilled the characteristic that makes it really feel totally different to each different racer in the marketplace: the two Zoom Air pods in its forefoot. These make it really feel tremendous springy throughout toe-offs.
Within the Pegasus Premium, you get an identical feeling however all through all the size of the shoe. The enormous airbag compresses once you load it, after which decompresses, propelling you want a coil spring.
The caveat is that you must be operating beneath a sure pace to learn from the Zoom Air, in any other case it simply feels agency and unresponsive. For my weight and operating kind, I must be operating beneath 5:45 minutes per kilometre to correctly interact the Zoom Air.
There isn’t any plate or shank within the Pegasus Premium’s midsole however the thick Zoom Air unit acts as a stiffening system. This makes the forefoot stiffer and makes it really feel snappier than your common max-cushioned coach.
There are 2 totally different midsole foams within the Pegasus Premium, ZoomX above the airbag and ReactX beneath the airbag. The softer ZoomX gives the power return and the firmer ReactX gives the soundness and sturdiness.
The Pegasus Premium is the tallest Nike operating shoe that you could purchase, however weirdly, it doesn’t really feel very mushy or as cushioned as different 45 mm stack peak trainers. It is because the Zoom Air cushioning offers the trip a agency undertone.
It feels softer and extra cushioned than the Pegasus 41 which has no ZoomX in it. In comparison with the Pegasus Plus, it feels firmer however extra deeply cushioned. The ZoomX midsole of the Pegasus Plus has an insane quantity of compression however bottoms out very simply.
So far as stability goes, the Pegasus Premium just isn’t steady. The issue is that it has a really slender midfoot and rearfoot so heel or midfoot strikers would possibly wrestle on longer runs. The longest run I did in it was 21 kilometres and I wouldn’t do something longer. Not solely is the rearfoot unstable however the substantial 11.5 oz (325 g) begins to develop into very noticeable from 15 km onwards.
The grip of the Pegasus Premium is de facto good. It has the signature Pegasus waffle lugs all through all the size of the outsole and the rubber feels softer than the Pegasus 41 rubber so it feels extra cheesy. Outsole sturdiness is common for a coach.
Nike Pegasus Premium Conclusions
The Pegasus Premium lives as much as the “premium” in its identify: it feels and it appears to be like like an costly shoe. It’s probably the most revolutionary and most fun Pegasus up to now but it surely doesn’t actually really feel like a Pegasus workhorse. I feel they need to have given it a recent identify.
Nike claims that it’s probably the most responsive Pegasus ever and I agree with that assertion. The issue is that its heavy weight cancels out the power return and there’s no approach to convey down the load as a result of the full-length Zoom Air unit is so heavy. It’s one of many heaviest trainers I’ve ever examined.
If you happen to have a look at what the elite Nike athletes are coaching in, none of them use the Pegasus Premium. Most of them do their each day coaching within the Pegasus 41, Construction 25 or Vomero 17. The Pegasus Premium feels an excessive amount of like a life-style sneaker.
I loved testing the Pegasus Premium as a result of it has such a novel trip but it surely gained’t keep in my rotation- it doesn’t really feel significantly good at gradual paces. For sooner paces (regular state operating), there are extra environment friendly trainers that are lighter and extra propulsive.
I feel $210 is simply too excessive for the Pegasus Premium. Comparative trainers such because the Superblast, Glycerin Max and Kinvara Professional have extra tempo and distance vary than the Pegasus Premium and they’re all cheaper.