Today, I’m going to be doing the Nike Pegasus 38 review.
The Pegasus is a neutral road shoe. I ordered it true to size and I had no issues with the fit. It comes in at 9.9 oz for a men’s size 9 on my scales or 282 grams.
I enjoy the Pegasus line and they’re fun to run in. The Pegasus 37 was one of my top picks for 2020 and we’ll see if the Peg 38 makes this year’s list.
What are the updates that Nike brought to the Pegasus 38? How does it compare to the Pegasus 37?
Before we dive right into it, here’s the release date of the Pegasus 41 plus everything we know so far about the Pegasus.
Let’s find out…
Nike Pegasus 38 Review
The Pegasus and the Nike Invincible are two of Nike’s most comfortable sneakers.
Who is The Pegasus For?
I think the Pegasus is a shoe that fits a lot of different runners and running styles. So, whether you’re new to running or you’re an advanced runner, I think this shoe has a lot to offer for both of you.
In terms of performance, I found the shoe to be fun to run in. It’s a natural feeling smooth transition through your gait cycle from your footstrike all the way through to your toe-off.
The Pegasus is accommodating if you’re a heel striker because it does have a nice bevel on the heel, which aids in that transition from the heel to the toe. It’s soft, it’s cushioned, and it’s responsive.
The Pegasus is not the lightest daily trainer that’s out there. So, I like to use it more for those easy-run days where I’m not necessarily trying to set a best PB kind of a thing. However, it is light enough if you want to pick up the pace a little bit.
Let’s talk about the fit…
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Fit
Up in the toe box, we’ve got just a little bit more room than what we had in the Pegasus 37 in order to be able to splay our toes and that feels terrific.
They maintained that solid lockdown feeling across the midfoot, which is awesome. You’re going to feel locked in and secure all the way back to the heel cup.
Let’s take a real close look at the material that they made this upper out of.
Upper
The first thing you’re going to notice is that this feels more cloth-like. It’s softer to the touch than it was with the Pegasus 37. For me, the upper on the Pegasus 37 felt a little bit plasticky.
Also, the Pegasus 38 has a couple of layers of material on the upper, which, consequently, does make the shoe run a bit warm underfoot. But it’s very comfortable and it’s very flexible.
I never felt like it was inhibiting my gait at all. So, all the way from my heel strike through to my toe-off, I felt natural, flexible, and smooth and I never felt restricted by the upper.
Then, as we move around to the side of the shoe, you can see that they continue with the perforations up to about where the heel counter is. There’s not a whole lot going on there with the exception of their Nike Swoosh.
Let’s take a look at the eyelet chain and exactly how they did do that…
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Eyelet Chain
Nike kept the concept of those bands that they had in the Pegasus 37 where they had done away with the FlyWires. I felt like that was much more comfortable.
But with the 38, I think they did improve upon what they had going on with the Pegasus 37. They kept the parts that I liked the most and that’s that banded feeling across my midfoot. The way that they achieved that is they changed the bands and what they’re made out of.
With the Pegasus 37, it was somewhat of plastic or maybe a fake leather, I’m not sure what they used, but here for the bands, they’ve used more of a cloth style material.
How they’ve achieved it is they sewed the one side in basically to the upper part of the material and then it wraps around and goes all the way down and sewed into the midsole of the shoe.
So, you truly do feel like you’re banded across your midfoot and that locks you in nice and secure all the way back to your heel cup.
They also included that extra eyelet in case you want to run with the runner’s knot, which I always appreciate. I don’t always do, but it’s nice to have that option should I want to.
Let’s take a look at the tongue…
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Tongue
This is a more padded tongue than what they had in the 37th version and this is really a ¾ gusset. There’s a really booty feeling to it because they’ve got that tongue sewed in all the way up to basically the last band.
This way, you never have to worry about your tongue migrating around or anything along those lines. It lays nice and flat across the top of your foot. And because they’ve added that additional padding, you don’t feel the laces digging into the top of your foot, either.
I think that they did a good job here in the amount of padding that they use and I don’t think that it’s overly done. It does add a little bit of weight to the shoe, but overall, for a daily trainer that comes in under 10 oz, a little extra comfort is not a bad thing.
Heel Collar & Tab
Looking at the padding around the heel collar and the tab, I think they got it just about perfect for this shoe. It feels really comfortable and there’s plenty of padding up around that heel collar. I didn’t have any issues that way at all. No hot spots or anything along those lines.
Nike did make a slight change in the heel counter. It’s subtle, but it is noticeable. They’ve gone back to kind of that more traditional almost heel counter-style where with the Pegasus 37, they had a slight Achilles heel flare.
You can see that they’ve more or less flattened that out. Where that makes a difference is you don’t feel as loose in the heel as you do in the Pegasus 37. So, I think that they did a good job here. It was a small tweak but one that I think makes a difference in how you feel when you run.
Also, the way that they padded that and that slight change to the Achilles heel flare created a nice pocket for your heel to set in. I didn’t have any issues with my heel slippage either up or down or side to side.
With the Pegasus 37, I was pretty secure back in the heel, but I think that they just really tightened that up.
Let’s check out the heel counter and how much structure that they have back there to help hold your heel in place…
Heel Counter
As I squeezed the heel counter together, I’d say it’s about a moderate amount. It’s not overly done like you might find in a stability shoe, but there’s plenty there to help keep you comfortable while you’re out running.
Insole
Also, Nike did not disappoint me because they included a removable insole. As you might know, I just really appreciate being able to pull those out so I can clean them up, let them air dry, and put them back in my shoe.
Also, this insole is well-cushioned and adds a little bit of softness and a little bit of comfort to your run experience as well.
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Midsole & Air Unit
For me, the midsole is always where the magic happens. On the Nike Pegasus 38, you’ve got a 10-millimeter offset. So, Nike has maintained that and they have full-length React foam from the heel to the toe.
The Peg is an Air Zoom shoe and so it does have an Air unit that sets up in the forefoot of the shoe and you can kind of see where that’s marked on the midsole.
Nike also tuned that airbag to fit both men and women differently. For men, it’s set at 20 PSI and for women, it’s at 15 PSI. So, it’s a little bit softer of an Air unit for the ladies’ version of the shoe than it is for the men’s.
I find I’m a big fan of React foam and I have been since the first time that I’ve run in the shoes. React is very soft, responsive, and fairly lightweight.
I will say this Air unit feels best when I’m mid to forefoot especially when I’m forefoot striking. You do feel like you get a bit of a pop off the toe from that Air unit.
I will note, however, I’ve run a lot of miles in the Peg 37 and this midsole and the outsole are essentially the exact same as what you’ll find in that shoe.
Over time, I found that the longer that my run experience is in them, the more that I feel that Air bag. So, I’d love this shoe for up to about 10 miles, after that, it kind of starts to lose its appeal for me. I might get blasted by some people for saying that, but that’s my experience in these.
Let’s flip these over and we’ll take a look at the outsole and see how they’re protecting all that soft React foam that they have in the midsole…
Outsole
Right away, you’re going to notice that the Pegasus 38 has basically three different styles of blown rubber on the outsole material.
I’m going to start with the blue which begins in the heel, runs along the medial or the arch side of your shoe right up through to the forefoot and your toe-off.
It features a waffle pattern which not only protects that soft React foam that they have in the midsole, but it gives you a little bit of traction, too.
I’ve had these out on some wet pavement, out in some hardpacked dirt trails, and it’s done a really good job of making me feel secure when I’ve been out running.
The Peg also has rubber in the high-abrasion areas around in the heel as well as in the toe-off area. So, those are typically areas where you do see wear first in a running shoe.
Then, the shoe has a softer blown rubber on the lateral side of the shoe, which they often call a crash zone because when you’re coming down through your gait cycle, typically you’re landing on that lateral side first. So, it helps to soften the impact of your footstrike as you move through your gait cycle.
Pros
- Great option for daily miles & long runs
- Cushiony yet peppy toe-off
- Gender-specific React cushioning feels soft on touchdown yet bouncy at toe-off
- Comfy & stable ride
- Fits wider than the previous Pegasus 37
- Upper is padded & hugs your foot
- Heel cup is deeper and prevents heel slippage
- Toebox is wider and allows your toes to splay naturally
- Outsole provides reliable grip for high-mileage efforts
- Versatile
Cons
- Grippy but not ideal for off-road running
| Where to buy (not affiliate) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Nike | Rei | |
I hope you enjoyed this Nike Pegasus 38 review. Thanks for making it to the end of it and see you on the next one.
