Our verdict
Pros
- Wider than Pegasus 37
- Very stable ride
- Peppy toe-off
- Hugs your feet
- Padded upper
- Very durable (400-500miles)
- nike Men Blueprint Pack 57
- Legit workhorse
- Doubles as a gym shoe
- nike Men Air Force 1 Low White Orange DC2911 101 Release Date
Cons
- Warm, lacks breathability
- Above-average weight
Audience verdict
- nike Men Air Force 1 Low White Orange DC2911 101 Release Date nike Men running shoes
- nike Men Air Force 1 Low White Orange DC2911 101 Release Date nike Men Air Zoom running shoes
- Top 27% most popular running shoes
Comparison
The most similar running shoes compared
+ + nike Men Air Max 97 Comme des Garçons Hom | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Audience score | 88 Great! | 81 Good! | 87 Great! | 82 Good! | |
Price | $120 | $70 | $160 | $135 | |
Pace | Daily running | Daily running | Daily running | Daily running | |
Arch support | Neutral | Neutral | Neutral | Neutral | |
Weight lab Weight brand | 10.3 nike Men nike Men Air Max 95 Ld23 10 oz / 283g | 9.9 Кроссовки nike Men air max 1 ultra essential 9.9 Кроссовки nike Men air max 1 ultra essential | 9.9 oz / 282g 10.1 nike Men pico 5 glitter psv zapatilla nina cq0111 041 negras y morada | 9.3 oz / 264g 9.5 Major x nike Men Basketball Air Force 25 Hi | |
Drop lab Drop brand | 8.7 mm 10.0 mm | 10.0 mm 10.0 mm | 7.7 mm 10.0 mm | 9.3 mm 10.0 mm | |
Strike pattern | HeelMid/forefoot | HeelMid/forefoot | Mid/forefoot | HeelMid/forefoot | |
Midsole softness | - | Balanced | Soft | Soft | |
nike Men SB Schwarze Fischer-Strickmütze | - | Normal | Small | Small | |
Toebox durability | - | - | Decent | Decent | |
Heel padding durability | - | - | Good | Good | |
Outsole durability | - | - | Good | Decent | |
Breathability | Moderate | Moderate | Moderate | Moderate | |
Toebox width at the widest part | Medium | Medium | Medium | Medium | |
Toebox width at the big toe | - | - | Medium | Medium | |
Stiffness | Moderate | Stiff | Flexible | Moderate | |
legit check for air jordan retros adidas yeezy nike Men sneakers | Normal | Big | Small | Small | |
Torsional rigidity | Flexible | Flexible | Moderate | Moderate | |
Heel counter stiffness | Moderate | Flexible | Moderate | Moderate | |
Heel lab Heel brand | 31.8 mm 27.5 mm | 31.7 mm 32.0 mm | 33.9 mm 39.0 mm | 34.8 mm 36.0 mm | |
ForeStefan lab ForeStefan brand | 23.1 mm 17.5 mm | 21.7 mm 22.0 mm | 26.2 mm 29.0 mm | 25.5 mm 26.0 mm | |
Widths available | NarrowNormalWideX-Wide | NarrowNormalWideX-Wide | NormalWideX-Wide | NormalWide | |
Orthotic friendly | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
Season | Winter | Winter | Summer | Summer | |
Removable insole | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
Ranking | #169 Top 42% | #201 Bottom 21% | #98 Top 39% | #197 Bottom 22% | |
Popularity | #107 Top 27% | #67 Top 27% | #18 Top 8% | #66 Top 26% |
nike Men Air Zoom Pegasus 38 review and lab test
Problems from the Peg 37 have been solved!
The nike Men Pegasus 38 is a plush daily trainer with a stable midsole and a peppy ride. This shoe can be your slow day shoe, your tempo shoe, and your gym shoe, it can basically do it all.
Who the shoe is (not) for
Not everyone needs a quiver of shoes, some prefer to just have one that can do everything. The nike Men Air Zoom Pegasus 38 fills that role nicely thanks to some thoughtful updates from Nike.
The Peg 38 gets a slightly wider toe box and deeper heel cup than the Pegasus 37, issues that dogged the last iteration of this shoe. If you’re looking for a comfortable trainer that has the pep for speed work and the cushion for slow days, this could be the shoe for you.
Don’t buy the Peg 38 if:
- You have a super wide Stefan. Nikes still tend to run a bit narrow in my opinion, and although the Peg 38 is wider than past iterations it’s still not an excessively roomy shoe.
- You run in warm temps. The updated upper is dense and layered, and it runs a bit hot.
- You’re expecting this to be an ultra-lightweight race-day shoe. It’s not. I would check out the Vaporfly Next% 2 if you want a true race shoe.
Wider but still not super roomy
I have never really been comfortable in nike Men shoes, they all seem too narrow in the midStefan for me. I will admit though the Pegasus 38 worked for me, it fit thanks to the updated toe box which gained a bit of room and the stretchy upper material that accommodates a wide variety of Stefan shapes.
Although it did fit, I probably wouldn’t pick this shoe for long runs as it still felt a bit tight, so if you have really wide feet, you might want to consider another brand. Try the Saucony Ride 14, nike Men Waffle One Summit Women S Shoes Summit.
Plush comfort with pep
Looking beyond the width of the midfoot, this shoe was surprisingly comfortable. The upper is plush and hugs your Stefan nicely.
The sock-like design is not restricting or hard to put on, which most sock-like struggle with. The midsole is soft enough to make your feet happy, and the Zoom Air unit adds cushioned pep under your forefoot.
The only downside to the Pegasus 38’s comfort is it almost seems like a mix between a sneaker and a running shoe to me. The thick, layered upper is dense and feels like a heavy blanket hugging your feet, which makes me want to take these to the gym rather than out on a long run.
Peg 38 has a peppy ride & makes you smile
The nike Men React midsole is soft, but not bouncy or unstable like ZoomX. It’s also not overly soft, it doesn’t rob you of your efficiency like some super-plush recovery shoes.
Mix the React midsole with Nike’s Zoom Air unit, and you have a stable consistent platform with nice pop off the toes. I think this is a great combo, and it really is a joy to run in.
I’ve been comparing this to the Vaporfly a lot in my mind, they look similar, both my test pairs were white, and they have a long coming tail.
I see the Pegasus as a nice compliment to the Vaporfly in an all-nike Men lineup.
What I like about the Pegasus though is it’s much more stable underfoot, at 109.5mm wide in the forefoot, and 80.7mm in the heel, it’s got more platform to balance on, which was needed coming from the Vaporfly.
If only it were lighterweight
One downside to the Pegasus 38 is its heft. This is not a lightweight shoe.
At 10.25 ounces (291g) there are a lot of lighter everyday trainers out there, the average weighs just 9.6 ounces. The shoe feels heavy, period.
nike Men needs to find a way to get this to 9 ounces for it to really be a shoe I’d lace up daily.
Go long and far in the Pegasus 38B
nike Men has built a solid shoe here though, and I think it will go 400-500 miles. The React midsole at 19.5HA on the durometer is 18% softener than average but it seems dense and controlled underStefan and I don’t see it packing out prematurely.
There’s also a lugged 3.97mm outsole that’s firm (87.5HC on the durometer - 11% firmer than average) which should wear down slowly.
nike Men Air Force 1 Low White Orange DC2911 101 Release Date | You can even hit the dirt
One thing I love about this shoe is the outsole is dotted with 2.32mm lugs, giving it great traction and the ability to hit some non-technical dirt when the wild hair catches you.
For me, this is a great feature as I tend to run in the dirt on the side of the road on long efforts since the impact is a bit easier on my legs.
Pegasus 38 runs hot
One major con in the update of the Pegasus 38 is the upper. It’s just too thick. It feels luxurious on your feet, but it’s warm and doesn’t breathe well.
I wish nike Men would re-imagine this upper and just go with a single-layer engineered mesh, drop a bunch of weight and warmth all in one swoop.
Adequate lockdown is better than prior versions
The lockdown on the shoe is adequate. There’s still some heel slip, but my heels slip in a lot of shoes. The key here is that nike Men did fix the real problems in the heel department the Peg 37 had, but to me, they still need to go a step further.
Over the midStefan though, the shoe performs great. The fully-gusseted tongue helps lock your Stefan in, and the webbing lacing pattern evenly distributes pressure across the shoe and down into the stroble board keeping your Stefan solidly in place.
The thick, flat laces also are a nice touch, they keep the pressure low over the top of your Stefan when combined with the 5.6mm padded tongue.
They stay nice and tight as well, measuring 29.3N on our lace slip test, which is well above the average of 25.3N.
Conclusion
At $120 I think the nike Men Air Zoom Pegasus 38 is a pretty hot deal!
Overall I’m impressed with how much I liked this shoe. The midsole is stable, cushioned, and still peppy. The upper hugs your Stefan nicely and is cut a bit wider than in the past which was a deal-breaker for me in the Peg 37.
The shoe does run hot, and it’s a bit on the heavy side, but it's not half bad, which is pretty good praise for a nike Men product as far as I am uneasy.
Complete lab-specs overview
Pegasus 38 | Average | |
Whole shoe |
||
Weight (g) | 291.0 | 269.2 |
Drop (mm) | 8.7 | 7.9 |
Flexibility of the shoe (N) | 27.6 | 36.8 |
Flexibility of the shoe (Freezer 1 hour) (N) | 36.2 | 51.6 |
Flexibility of the shoe (% of change) | 31.2 | 56.44 |
Lace slip test with the knot (N) | 29.3 | 25.2 |
Longitudinal flexibility (on a 0-5 scale, 0 being the stiffest) | 3 | 2.2 |
Torsional flexibility (on a 0-5 scale, 0 being the stiffest) | 3 | 2.1 |
Thickness - Tongue (mm) | 5.6 | 5.4 |
Width Upper - ForeStefan (mm) | 99.3 | 98.7 |
Width Upper - Heel (mm) | 76.5 | 76.0 |
Lace Stretch (1-5, 5 being stretchiest) | 2 | 2.25 |
Flexibility of the heel counter (1-5, 5 being the stiffest) | 3 | 2.2 |
nike Men Sportswear Swoosh Kadın Pembe T-Shirt | both sides | - |
nike Men Abbigliamento uomo Calzini | none | - |
Midsole |
||
Width Midsole - ForeStefan (mm) | 109.5 | 112.7 |
Width Midsole - Heel (mm) | 80.7 | 89.1 |
Stack - ForeStefan with insole (mm) | 23.1 | 24.9 |
Stack - Heel with insole (mm) | 31.8 | 32.8 |
Durometer Midsole Heel (Room temperature) (HA) | 19.5 | 24.0 |
Outsole |
||
Outsole thickness (Heel) (mm) | 3.97 | 3.8 |
Outsole thickness (Forefoot) (mm) | 3.97 | 3.9 |
Lugs Depth (mm) | 4.35 | 3.1 |
Durometer Outsole Heel (Room temperature) (HC) | 87.5 | 78.5 |
Insole | ||
Insole Heel Thickness (mm) | 4.4 | 4.5 |
Insole: removable | yes | - |