Today, I’m comparing two very popular running sneakers, the Adidas Ultra Boost vs Nike Pegasus 35 Turbo.
A lot of people have been huge fans of the Adidas Ultra Boost and they just consider it one of their favorite lifestyle sneakers of all time.
There’s a lot of reasons why, one, it’s stupid comfortable, two, it just looks really really good and it’s one of those sort of evergreen shoes that you can pretty much wear with anything.
Nike released a couple of different cushioning technologies that have really taken an aim at the Boost crown for the most comfortable cushion.
Accordingly, Nike released a shoe that includes both of those cushioning technologies, ZoomX and React. The Nike Zoom Pegasus 35 Turbo is Nike’s latest addition to the prosumer running market and it includes a couple of different technologies that really make this shoe stand out.
Both the Adidas Ultra Boost and the Nike Pegasus 35 Turbo are excellent sneakers. So the question becomes which shoe should you buy?
Before we dive right in, we’ve recently done a comparison of the Adidas Ultra Boost Caged vs Uncaged.
So, here we go …
Adidas Ultra Boost vs Nike Pegasus 35 Turbo
Price
Right off the bat, the first thing that we should cover is the price point. The interesting thing about both of these sneakers is that they both retail for the same price. You can check their current prices here: Adidas Ultra Boost, Nike Air Zoom Pegasus 35 Turbo.
Because the Adidas Ultra Boost has been out a lot longer, there are a lot of pairs that you can find on sale. Conversely, there are also a couple of limited edition pairs that cost even more money.
Nike Pegasus 35 Turbo just released and there are not many pairs on sale. In fact, it is relatively hard to find this sneaker on store shelves. However, if you are able to find a pair in-store or online, it will cost you the same thing as the Adidas Ultra Boost.
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Upper
On the upper, the Ultra oost comes with the one-piece Primeknit sock-like constructed upper. Primeknit is extremely soft and extremely comfortable and feels great on your foot.
When I say this gives you a sock-like fit, that’s definitely no exaggeration. It really feels like you’re genuinely just wearing another sock on top of your sock.
Even though that combination sounds like it could get a little bit warm on foot, Primeknit is extremely breathable.
I’ve never had a problem with the Ultra Boost getting too hot on my foot. The only time I’ve ever had a problem with the temperature of the Ultra Boost is that when I’m wearing it in the winter and my toes get frozen, but that’s an easy problem to fix by just wearing another pair of socks.
The Nike Pegasus 35 Turbo comes with a mesh underlay and a clear plastic mesh on top. This combination of materials obviously isn’t as soft or as flexible, but that’s kind of a good thing because this shoe is more performance-based than the Ultra Boost.
So by trading off some of that stretch and that flex, you do get a little bit more of a one-to-one fit and the shoe does feel like it will be a little bit more durable as you wear it.
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Tongue
Another difference between the Pegasus 35 Turbo and the Adidas Ultra Boost is that unlike the Ultra Boost, the Pegasus Turbo has a semi-detached tongue.
This semi-detached tongue is good for fit purposes. So when you actually tighten up the shoe, you’re not going to get any sort of crinkling around the midfoot. The sides of the shoe will actually creep over the tongue and give you a more snug fit.
Fit
Moving on to one of the most important things of any sneaker, the fit.
I own both of these shoes in my true size and there’s definitely a pretty noticeable difference between these two sneakers.
I have relatively narrow feet and the Pegasus Turbo seems to fit my foot perfectly like a one-to-one fit, no questions asked.
While the Ultra Boost does feel good on foot and it does fit relatively well, it does feel like there’s a lot of room around my toes and it’s a pretty wide sneaker. It’s relatively wide and it’s not the widest sneaker in the world, but there’s definitely a noticeable difference between this shoe and the Pegasus 35 Turbo.
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Ankle Collar
The ankle collars of both shoes are different as well. The Ultra Boost has a very sock-like very slip in and out sort of feel. Once you get your foot into the Pegasus Turbo and tie the laces, you’re locked in and you’re definitely not coming out of this shoe, not that you wouldn’t in the Ultra Boost, but I can almost wear the Ultra Boost like a slip-on and I definitely can’t do that with the Pegasus 35 Turbo.
Lacing system
One of the most noticeable differences between these two shoes is the lacing system.
On the Ultra Boost, you have an exposed TPU midfoot cage. The way this cage works is that when you tighten up the laces of the shoe, it pulls these two pieces of TPU together and in theory gives you a much more snug fit around the midfoot.
I don’t usually wear my Ultra Boost tightened all the way up. In fact, when I’m not running in them, I usually just wear them unlaced. One thing I noticed when I really tightened up the shoe for a much more snug fit, I had some issues with this TPU actually digging into my foot.
It wasn’t a huge deal and the problem obviously differs depending on people’s foot shapes, but it’s something to keep in mind.
Moving over to the Pegasus 35 Turbo, the lacing system is very very different. The Turbo utilizes Nike’s proprietary lacing system Flywire.
The way Flywire works is that the laces are actually woven through these wires or cables that run throughout the inside of the shoe. So, when you tighten up the laces, it pulls on these little wires or cables which in turn tighten up the entire upper of the shoe.
I personally much prefer this lacing system at least when you’re trying to get a true one-to-one fit. There’s no pinch points, there’s no areas where it gets uncomfortable and it seems to be very adaptive to your needs.
The one thing that always scares me about Flywire though is that if you’re unlacing your shoes and this wire kind of drops into the upper of the sneaker, it would be very very difficult to get it out.
So that’s one concern that I’ve always had. It’s only ever happened to me on the LeBron 13s which were awful shoes, but other than that, I haven’t had that issue.
To wrap up on the upper of these sneakers, if you prefer a much more one-to-one sort of snug fit that’s great for performance running, I would definitely go with the Pegasus 35 Turbo.
If you prefer a slightly more loose fit that’s a lot more flexible and a lot more breathable, I would go with the Ultra Boost.
So, I guess to give you guys an example of how I wear these two shoes, if I’m just wearing a shoe strictly for lifestyle, I definitely prefer the Ultra Boost. I like the more casual sort of sock-like breathable fit and honestly, I think I actually prefer the look of the Ultra Boost upper to the Pegasus Turbo upper.
However, if I’m running in a shoe and I want a really snug lockdown fit, I’m definitely going to go for the Pegasus 35 Turbo. The upper doesn’t look bad on the Turbo at all. It just has a very performance look when compared to the Ultra Boost.
Moving on to the part of the shoe that you’re probably most excited for, the midsole cushion.
Midsole (Boost vs ZoomX and React)
Boost has always been a lot of people’s favorite cushion because it’s just so incredibly cloud-like and comfortable.
The Ultra Boost though hasn’t always been my favorite running sneaker because I feel like with this amount of Boost and the fact that it’s not caged means that it does get a little bit mushy.
It’s actually a really great shoe if you’re running long distances and you need that kind of really soft comfortable ride. However, on shorter runs, I definitely feel like sometimes I’m sinking into the shoes rather than sort of getting bounced back from the Boost.
When it comes to lifestyle wear though, I love this Boost cushion. It’s incredibly soft, and incredibly comfortable and if I could put Boost in just every sneaker, I definitely would.
Something interesting about Boost is that it has a very Styrofoam-like look. The reason for that is that the way it’s actually created is that they put all these pellets into a mold and then heat them up and they slowly expand. Because of that, you get this very textured look which some people like and some people don’t.
One downside to this manufacturing method is that they can’t actually color the Boost. I mean they can paint over top of it, which unfortunately doesn’t last forever, but it does give it a nice look.
You would think that you could dye the material or add in some sort of coloring during the manufacturing process, but apparently that messes with the chemical reaction when the midsole is being formed.
Moving over to the new Pegasus 35 Turbo, you’ve got this really interesting combination of foams that create a pretty incredible midsole cushion.
If you didn’t already know, this shoe is literally two different kinds of foams stacked on top of each other.
The top foam that’s actually painted with this black to gray fade is actually ZoomX and the bottom half that comes in all white with ironically this ZoomX logo is actually Nike React.
The difference between these two foams is that ZoomX is actually incredibly softer than Boost. However, it doesn’t offer a lot of support or stability.
Then there’s Nike React on the bottom. While still soft, it is definitely firmer and offers you a little bit more stability and some more support.
For comparison purposes, the ZoomX is a little bit softer than Boost and the React is a little bit firmer than Boost.
So when running in the Pegasus Turbo, you definitely get the best of both worlds. You get this incredibly soft ZoomX which is great for impact protection and then you get the Nike React underneath for added stability and some nice bounce-back.
When directly comparing these two cushions, Boost is definitely a little bit softer overall. Even though the ZoomX is a softer foam because it’s paired with the React, it definitely has a little bit of a more firm ride. I mean it’s only just a little bit more firm-like and it’s barely noticeable.
In fact, I found when I was just walking around the house, my foot wouldn’t actually compress all the way down to the React. I’d mainly just be walking on sort of the ZoomX portion of the shoe. The feeling of that was definitely softer than the Boost.
However, when you’re actually running in the Pegasus Turbo, your foot does seem to compress the ZoomX a little bit more, which allows you to get down to the React. The React definitely provides a bit more bounceback than the Boost does.
Also, even though the Pegasus 35 Turbo’s midsole is a little bit thinner, it does provide a little bit more stability than the Ultra Boost. Honestly, I think that’s purely just because of the firmness of the React foam.
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Aesthetics
As for the aesthetics of each cushion, they both have their upsides and their downsides.
Although the ZoomX and React combination can be painted and molded in whatever color or shape that they want, it does crease extremely, extremely easily. The creasing doesn’t actually look terrible, but it just looks very worn very quickly.
With the boost cushion, you can only paint the midsole and you’re kind of restricted to having the Styrofoam look. The one upside to it is that even if the shoe creases, you wouldn’t be able to tell. You could wear the shoe for years on end and unless it got discolored, you wouldn’t even be able to tell if it’s worn.
So rounding off the cushion portion, again for performance wear, I would definitely go with the Pegasus over the Ultra Boost.
The feedback and the stability of the Pegasus 35 Turbo is definitely superior to the UltraBoost more mushy Boost cushion. Although this is softer than other running shoes, I never felt like I was sinking into the sneaker.
Lifestyle
Talking about the lifestyle wear of things, this is where it gets kind of interesting. I would always wear the Adidas Ultra Boost if I want something that is extremely soft and extremely comfortable.
The ZoomX is stupid soft especially when you’re just walking around. In some cases, it even feels softer than the Ultra Boost, which is definitely saying something.
Visually, when it comes to the actual look of the midsole, I’m just very used to the Boost look and I think it goes well with pretty much everything.
The Pegasus 35 Turbo definitely has a very fast sleek and futuristic look. Honestly, there are certain things that I wouldn’t wear this shoe with that I think could go really well with the Ultra Boost.
I guess, in a very specific category of midsole aesthetics, I’d probably choose the Ultra Boost.
Outsole
Finally moving to the bottom of both sneakers, the outsole.
The Ultra Boost comes with a full Continental rubber webbed outsole and yes that’s the same Continental that makes tires.
The Pegasus 35 Turbo has rubber on the forefoot and on the heel of the sneaker, but that middle white portion is actually just exposed React.
Durability-wise, one thing that I’ve noticed about the Ultra Boost is that even though it is using a Continental rubber webbed outsole, the webbed outsole does actually wear down pretty quickly because the rubber is relatively thin.
With that being said, I’m also not too optimistic about the Pegasus 35’s outsole. I feel like there just isn’t enough rubber and the rubber that’s there is also very thin.
Also, the fact that the middle of the outsole is just exposed React definitely scares me a little bit.
So, when it comes to the outsole, I honestly think it’s probably going to be a toss-up. I don’t think one’s going to last really much longer than the other and, to be honest, I think this is probably the weakest point of both shoes.
I honestly wouldn’t consider the Pegasus 35 Turbo an everyday lifestyle sneaker even though you could wear it as that. But when it comes to performance wear, I definitely prefer the Pegasus 35 Turbo in any sort of running situation.
As for the Ultra Boost, I still definitely prefer this shoe for lifestyle wear. I just think it looks better and that’s totally my own opinion.
I know a lot of people who prefer the Pegasus 35 Turbo to the Ultra Boost purely for aesthetics, but there’s honestly something about the Ultra Boost that I think is going to be a very classic and very recognizable look for years to come.
If we’re talking strictly lifestyle, when it comes to the upper, I would definitely prefer the Ultra Boost.
Again, both of these shoes retail for the same price with the Ultra Boost actually having a lot of pairs on sale. So if you prefer the Ultra Boost, you have a lot of different options.
The Pegasus 35 Turbo just released and there’s only two different colorways as of right now, but I can guarantee you more colorways will come out and pairs will eventually go on sale.
That pretty much wraps up this Nike Air Zoom Pegasus 35 vs Adidas Ultra Boost comparison for now.
Thank you so much for making it this far reading. I’d love to know your thoughts on the Nike Pegasus 35 Turbo and the Adidas Ultra Boost and which one you like best.
So make sure to leave those comments in the comment section down below.
