Nike Vomero Plus and Vomero Premium (And the End of the Invincible)

Air Max

The reveal is almost complete. Over the course of the past year, Nike has unveiled its revamped everyday running line with a big focus on cushion– a total of nine shoes, split evenly between the trio of silos within the Pegasus, Vomero, and Structure ranges. Within each of those silos is the standard version of the each model, as well as a Premium and Plus version. It’s a little confusing, so how about you just look at this chart instead of treading water in my soup of Swoosh:

With today’s announcement of the Vomero Premium and the Vomero Plus, only one shoe remains: the Structure Premium (we’ve seen it, and honestly, it may be the most exciting one. Aesthetically speaking, anyway).

A bunch of these models are brand new babies. But with life comes death; such is the state of nature (not Nike Nature, a failed experiment we shall not speak of). On the dying side of things, we can bid a farewell and adieu to the much-loved Invincible line, now replaced by the Vomero Plus. A rose by any other name is still a rose, though we’re not sure that applies to shoes. Other models have been zombified, like the iconic Pegasus Turbo turned into the vanilla white walker known as the Pegasus Plus. 

But we’re here today to talk about the Vomero Premium and Vomero Plus, two very cushioned shoes scooped onto an already high smorgasbord of comfort offerings within the Nike running range. Let’s see what they’re all about it and why they’re here.

Before we start, let me say that we have yet to receive these shoes for review, so anything regarding performance is pure speculation at this point. However, we have run in every other shoe, including the Vomero 18, Pegasus Plus, Pegasus 41, and Pegasus Premium.

Nike Vomero Premium

If there’s any shoe that’s pushing the boundaries of what can be placed under a foot and still be called a running shoe, then this is the one. A true oinker, the Vomero Premium comes in at a chunky 55 mm (yes, a whole 2.2 inches) stack height in the heel. That’s enough to get Simone Biles on every roller coaster at Cedar Point. 

While the standard Vomero has a layer of ZoomX on top of a layer of ReactX, this one goes full ZoomX throughout, surrounding two big-ass bubbles of Zoom Air.

Now, we’ve seen the excess Air Zoom units before, those things that started out in the Alphafly before being fertilized and expanding into the full-length layer seen in the Pegasus Premium, a shoe with a 45 mm stack height. Some of us here enjoyed that shoe (I’ll stay mum on it) for its bounciness and comfort on the run. But it was undeniably heavy as hell, coming in at a whopping 12.2 ounces for a US M10.5. By adding 25% more stack height, Nike is truly testing the limits of the Peg Premium experience in this shoe. Nike hasn’t given weights yet, but … it has to be more, right?

Faith Kipyegon, the Nike pro who will attempt to break the 4-minute mile for women later this week, has sung the praises of the shoe. According to her, the shoe is “soft, cushioned and comfortable, and it helped [her] train harder with less impact to allow [her] to recover faster and stay focused on [her] goal.” Which is wild, considering she grew up running barefoot and never raced in shoes until the age of 14. Meaning, she’s been wearing shoes almost as long as she hasn’t, from barefoot to spikes to Vomero Premium to the lightning fast slipper of the Victory 2 FK. She truly has experienced the entire spectrum. 

Will other runners feel the same about such a big bag underfoot? I guess we’ll see. 

The Vomero Premium will be available at select retail partners for $220 on October 2 and globally October 16.

Nike Vomero Plus

A little less wild, and maybe a bit more confusing, is the Vomero Plus. The Vomero 18 was already a max cushion shoe (and a really good one too, in spite of its weight). The Vomero Premium is an ultramax cushion shoe. So the Vomero Plus is max plus, or something like that. Really though, it’s a stand-in for the Invincible 4, aka the torchbearer for the now deceased Invincible line that always embraced a full midsole of ZoomX. 

That tradition carries on in the Vomero Plus, which does indeed have a full midsole of ZoomX. No Air Zoom units, no plates, just a big chunk of foam with a 45 mm stack height in the heel (4 mm more than the Invincible 3). The stack height is roughly the same as the Vomero 18, so the big difference here is the midsole– full ZoomX in the Vomero Plus, ZoomX/ReactX in the Vomero 18.

The question remains: Is it different enough from its bookends to make it necessary? It remains to be seen, though it almost feels like Nike is trying to fill a slot, just to have three silos with three shoes in each. Certainly, longtime fans of the Invincible line will welcome its existence. 

The Nike Vomero Plus will be available on August 7 for $180 at nike.com and select retail partners.