Nike Pegasus Premium: The Super Trainer We’ve Been Waiting For?

Introduction to the Nike Pegasus Premium

Over the past year or so, the super trainer category has been heating up at a rapid pace. Runners can’t get enough of the bouncy midsoles, carbon plates, high stacks, and wild designs. We’re quickly approaching a roiling boil as most brands have some version of a super trainer.

However, Nike has been noticeably silent on the super trainer front. Their only true max cushion shoe is the Invincible, and even that is pretty basic– a large bed of ZoomX underfoot, great for comfort but not super exciting otherwise. Which is odd; after all, Nike is the absolute pinnacle of road running, with unmatched performance and technology in their race day models. No one has truly been able to replicate the feel of the Alphafly, and only a few have come close to the Vaporfly. We’ve been begging for a bit of that magic to trickle down to the trainers, but it hasn’t happened– yet.

The Nike Pegasus Premium may be that shoe. Let’s find out what makes it so special and why it may be worth the wait.

What’s in the Nike Pegasus Premium?

True Peg fans will know that no version of the Pegasus compares to the Pegasus Turbo, a shoe that will live on in the deepest part of our running shoe hearts. Nike is borderline sociopathic for unaliving that shoe and the Epic React in the same year, while continuing to force feed us the Zoom Fly, a shoe that nobody really asked for or wanted. 

We heard the Turbo may be getting a re-up, and while we haven’t heard anything beyond rumors, the Pegasus Premium may be it. 

First, let’s start with the good stuff. ZoomX is here. Not the literal garbage recycled ZoomX found in the Pegasus Nature (seriously, why) or the core of the Zoom Fly 5 (again, why) or the Alphafly Nature (make it stop). But real-life ZoomX, extending as a top layer from heel to toe. That’s enough to get us excited, but the best is yet to come.

Moving down through the strata of the midsole, we hit the middle layer– a full Air Zoom unit running from the rear of the shoe to the toe. Not just any Air Zoom unit– this is an extension of the pods found in the Alphafly 3, drawn out and expanded to a full underfoot feel. If you’re unfamiliar, the Air Zoom units in the Alphafly feature independent bunches of tensile strands that bend upon impact and release upon push-off, working with the carbon plate to give it that uniquely Alphafly feel. Those same strand pillars are found throughout the entire Air Zoom unit in the Pegasus Premium, from front to back, side to side. 

Yes, that’s exciting. In its press release, Nike continually hammers the point home that its Air technology is proprietary and part of its innovation supercycle. They’re right– they have an airtight lock on the Air Zoom unit and tangential designs, which is why nobody can come close to replicating that feel.

Moving onto the third and final layer of the midsole, we get a heel segment of ReactX foam that runs from the heel to the midfoot, the same foam that debuted in the Nike InfinityRN 4 and is found in the Pegasus 41. Though a bit heavier, the ReactX will likely provide the perfect amount of comfort and cushion for heel strikers before transitioning to the more energetic forefoot section.

According to Nike, their engineers and scientists used “a computerized method for predicting how a product will react to physical forces, [which] helped Nike teams test the sculpted Air unit to predict how it would react to the repeated pounding of running.”

Nike notes that their innovators have, for decades, designed shoes around flat Air Zoom units to deliver full energy return. But this is the future, which means they focused on harnessing “emerging tools like computational design, AI engines and rapid prototyping” in order to “contort Air units into new curvatures that more closely resemble the shape of the foot, leading to new levels of efficiency.”

Lastly, the upper is engineered with a circular knit and will feature the same midfoot fit system used in the Pegasus line, reinforced in specific areas in the lateral and medial forefoot for additional support.

Our Thoughts

We have to say that– outside of race day models– this is the first truly exciting Nike trainer in the past five years.

The combination of the ZoomX top layer and the full-length Air Zoom unit means you’re getting a full dosage of that performance thrill found in the race day shoes. Does it have a carbon fiber plate? No, but it’s also not necessary. With a ReactX section only in the rear to midfoot, runners will get that necessary shock absorption that will transition quickly to the toe-off phase where ZoomX and the pod push effect will take over. At least, that’s what we hope will happen.

We’ve seen all the best ingredients in the past come together and fall flat. There’s always the chance that it falls into the comfort shoe range and that’s where it stays. However, it appears to be more performance-oriented based on the upper alone, which looks to combine an almost Atomknit-style weave with the same ripstop found in the Ultrafly. We love both those things.

If it can manage to keep the weight low (which we’re a little worried about with that full Air Zoom unit), this could be a true super trainer legend in the making. It’s about time Nike went all-in on what the people want. The bad news? We have to wait a year. And we don’t know the price, which we can assure you will be somewhere in the $200-$250 range.

The Nike Pegasus Premium comes out in Spring 2025 for $225, on nike.com, on the Nike App, and at select running specialty stores.