Hello hello, this article is about my experience, feedback, and review of the Nike Air Zoom Pegasus 37. Let’s not beat around the bush and let’s get to the important bits that most people are looking for.
My Situation
Alright, for the longest time I’ve had a Adidas Men’s Pureboost Running Shoe. I had probably the first gen or so and I’ve always loved it. It has broken down now and I’m looking for a replacement.
I wanted to try Nike this time instead of always going for Adidas.
As for the functionality, the Pureboost was just pure and raw comfort. It was just soft all over and it’s more a leisure or “go out with friends” shoe. It becomes loose and well…you can feel the softness when you try to go hiking, light/impromptu sports activities, etc. This time I’m looking for something more snug. I still want and look for the comfort. E.g.: if I’m walking for 6 hours minimum, I wouldn’t have any foot aches or inconveniences.
I’m looking for a pair for everyday activities and errands, for walks at the park or proper hikes, and for travel. I want something comfy when you’re airport hopping but at the same time something comfortable(yet sturdy) as you walk around and get lost touring a city.
Those said, I think that Nike Air Zoom Pegasus 37 checked all the boxes and I’m really enjoying my pair
Features
Asymmetric Tongue
I think you can see it more with the shoe of the right-side of the image. If you can, you’ll notice that the tongue of the shoe is asymmetric. The “middle” or the divide of the tongue is closer to the inner side of the shoe and omfg I love this feature. It’s a problem I’ve had for the longest time with shoes and I thought it was a me thing! Both my casual pair and my soccer cleats (especially this one), the tongue of the shoe always slips down to the outer side and I just hate it. It becomes loose, I had to re-tie while in a game and it creases and then it just always happens.
Actually here’s a better photo:
This, this is innovation. It’s actually solving a problem. The sliding has never happened with this pair and I don’t think it’ll ever will because that’s exactly the shape of how your foot/ankle enters the shoe.
Weather-resistant
So to be clear, this isn’t Nike’s words nor are they promoting that it’s water-resistant or something. This is my opinion and my finding.
My previous Adidas Men’s Pureboost Running Shoe had this cloth/cotton/very breezy material. The shoe is so cloth-y that it shapes to your foot. If you spill some water on it, guaranteed you will feel it. Even a cool, hard breeze, you feel both the pressure of the wind and the coolness of it. Don’t get me wrong. It’s not a bad thing. I bought it exactly for that comfort and reason. My needs changed though.
With Nike Air Zoom Pegasus 37, I’m back to having a pair that’s comfortable yet there’s still shape to it and it’s fairly rigid. That said I walked this pair after a rainfall and didn’t have any wet feeling. In my old fair, the shoe would flick up thus sending water on top of my toes. This one didn’t have it. At the same time no matter which direction the splash comes from, I didn’t feel and I don’t have the impression that I’ll feel wet after it.
Easy in-and-out
Another cool thing I liked about it is that it was easy in and out for my foot. It’s dead-simple to explain. Some previous pairs I had, I would have one of these inconvenient experience:
- tightness by the lace/tongue as you try to put it in
- your heel catching the back part of the shoe thus making it fold inwards
- if you just loosen up the laces just a little bit, it’s still hard to take out your foot you have to excessively loosen the laces on maybe 3-5 holes down just to get a comfortable exit for your foot.
This one. None of those. Nada. I thought I would have to settle with these problems again when I left the Pureboost camp, but lo and behold, I was impressed.
I think the back part of the shoe being low helps a lot. Not only does it give you more ankle freedom and movement, it definitely helps with the entry/exit.
As you can see here the back lip part of the shoe entrance is rather pointed right? At first I was concerned about it because I thought it would slide my heel on one side or the other as I put it in. Weirdly enough, it actually helps in making it easy to slide in and it definitely centers and locks your heel in. It acted as though it was a natural shoe horn!
Style
Showing the “wrinkles” 
Just another side shot 
Under a bright, strong sun
I didn’t bother showing the original store images of the shoe so I suggest looking at those first if you want. Also, they offer different colourways btw!
Overall I like the clean, simple, yet striking look of the shoe: properly placed swooshes (the swooshes are bigger on the outer sides), prints on the white parts, and good shape/material/accentuation all over the upper.
It’s an easy sell for me. I was mostly shopping for something simple since I figured instead of having one do-it-all pair, this time–and especially in my refined parts of my adult life–I’ll try to have dedicated pairs for specific functions so I’m not always wearing the “same old, worn down pair”.
I like shoes with white soles. But with this, I don’t mind the gradient, especially at that part(front). I think Nike probably ran research on this and they’ve read my mind: that’s the part that gets dirty first and that’s why I like this shoe, this colourway even more. I intentionally looked for this. I’m just a normal, non sneaker head who can’t be bothered to always clean shoes and so this is A BIG PLUS.
Wrinkles
The only ‘downside’ to this shoe/tech is the reported wrinkles. I was wary of this pre-purchase when I was still youtube-ing and watching reviews but turns out it’s not that bad.
I mean for me this isn’t even a ‘downside’ but rather just a natural thing for any apparel. For me,I guess it’s just more apparent for a foam material. Leather shoes have the same problem by the toe/near ball of foot area and you’ll inevitably have those bends.
The Shiny Effect
It has the shine to it too as you can see if you shine a bright light on it. It’s hard to judge this in their original product photos in their website. It’s actually not noticeable until you really just come close and observe or if you shine a light on it. Also, it’s not totally reflective. There’s just an optical illusion happening where it’s more apparent when one takes a photo of it vs when you see it in real life.
It also shows you that it’s not just “all cloth” for the upper and that it has synthetics in their which will give the form, rigidity, and ruggedness of it.
The Pointed Back
Last but not the least, this shoe features this cool-looking “pointed” back. If you can’t notice it here:
It was new to me and I didn’t know what to make of it at first. I’ve had much plus points already in the shoe that I didn’t mind any more. When I tried it though, it does look different/funky which I appreciate and at the same time, I didn’t have the problems I thought I’d have.
I thought there would be some weight distribution problems, or like: “won’t this cause your foot to never stand upright if you extend and rest your leg?!”. None of them occurred. And yes, your foot will still behave normally as it should if you sit down, extend your legs, and just rest on your heels.
It’s an illusion. You think the pointy edge will screw it up but what really happens is that your heels will still rest on the curved/raised heels of the shoe (which is still flat), and so the experience in the same.
I think the only way the pointed-ness will affect you is if you lie down completely flat, on your back. But then again, if you lie down without a shoe, your feet naturally points outwards anyways, so this edgy (ha) design isn’t really making it difficult for you in any way.
Comfort / Fit / Snug
Welp, there’s nothing else to say here: it’s completely comfortable. Again, in reference to what I was initially looking for, it’s comfortable yet rigid enough that if I end up in an impromptu tennis match or playing keep-ups with a football, this shoe will actually hold and not fall apart (yep, true story scenarios).
My previous experience with Pureboost (and this is probably me using the wrong tool in the wrong circumstances) is that it’s so soft and fabric-y that your foot/socks slide around inside when you’re sliding in tennis or trying to drive in basketball (yup, used it for those). It’s all comfort, no (intense) functionality.
There was a breaking-in period here but I guess I just got spoiled with Pureboost where first wear was just: 👌 . Took me maybe three days/wears? After that it’s a perfect balance of fit + comfort + snug.
Sizing
I actually know exactly my size in centimeters(cm) and I bought my pair 1 cm larger (it increments by .5). Remember that I’m trying to get proper/snug-fitting shoes and I was thinking “oh man, this is gonna be big again. What have I done. I wasted money”. Turns out no. It was perfect fit.
No I wasn’t stuffing it with puffy socks. It was just coincidentally snug. Note that I just wear ankle socks (thin) and I just wore it and it felt cramped at first (the mentioned breaking-in period). But after that period, it was just perfect. It’s so snug that I know it’ll be a problem later in winter with the snowboard socks lol.
There’s also the natural occurrence of, you want things to be snug/fit because it’ll inevitably become more loose inside (padding gets depressed, things thin out). No amount of tech can circumvent this, no matter what Nike/Adidas tells you. This eventually was what happened to my Pureboost. Then again I ran that thing to the ground lol.
Price
Price is $155 CAD at the time of writing. I bought it off season and I got a big discount off of it. Initially I really just wanted a simple shoe. As mentioned, I just wanted multiple types of shoes. But then as I (online) shopped around, all the reviews of all the entry levels of ANY top brands are just: “meh”, “it’s fine for it’s price”, “it ain’t premium for sure”, “you get what you pay for”. I have no problems with it at first but then after discounts and sale, it was very practical.
Entry decent shoes are going around $80-85 CAD right? This, after the discounts was around $115 CAD? So for just $30 more I get a premium pair, and almost twice the quality of an entry level shoe for way less than twice the price. So it was an easy decision for me.
This pair specifically, I think it’s fair-priced. Athletic footwear companies in general, I think they have a good P/L staff going on so it’s easy to fall to their trap of: “for just a couple of bucks more, you get X, Y, Z”. X, Y, Z being valuable features that’s valued more than the “couple of bucks” you paid for.
There are some companies that leverage this as a marketing ploy but I think for athletic footwear companies their value proposition are actually tiered well and close to each other.
Any Cons?
Mmm, just the wrinkles. I guess. I personally am not bothered by it but other people and reviews mention that so I don’t know if that’s a concern for you.
The other one is not even specific to this shoe but rather to the type of shoe. And I know for a fact, this is even a flaw, it’s just two different types of shoes and expectations.
Nike Air Zoom Pegasus 37 is classified as a running shoe. Therefore, the sole is comfy and soft and meant to make it comfortable for you for supposed long runs. This is a pro for the most part, but if you’re looking for ankle stability (e.g.: gym workouts, tennis, other ankle-heavy activities), this overall category is not for you since the cushiness can be an instability.
You’re looking for the category, “training shoes”: meaning flat + little cushion.
For my demands, 90 – 95% of my expectations will require a running shoe type and for those rare moments where I need precision stability, welp, I’ll just have to figure it out or suck it up.
Wrap Up
I have it. I’m using it. Also, I’m enjoying it so that says a lot already. By transitioning from Adidas Men’s Pureboost Running Shoe to Nike Air Zoom Pegasus 37, I didn’t feel like I lost the comfort of it all but rather I maintained that and also met my changing expectations.
It’s a reasonable priced shoe and it’s definitely versatile for the varying activities you’d want to subject it to.
