What Can We Expect From the New Nike Pegasus 41?

Nike announced – last week – the release of the 41st version of the Nike Pegasus, expected for June this year.

The Pegasus is Nike’s bread and butter running shoe. It has now been in the lineup for 40 years.

We’ve been reviewing every model of the Nike Pegasus since the 28, including Trail and Turbo versions.

What is new, in the Nike Pegasus 41?

Innovating the Pegasus is a delicate matter. It is one of the most popular running shoes in the world, and millions of runners have been using it as their daily trainer.

Make too drastic of a change, and you risk disappointing hundred of thousands of your most loyal fans – but change too little and you risk getting left behind by the competition.

For this reason, changes in the Nike Pegasus are incremental every year, with very few revolutions. It’s a similar story for other extremely popular daily trainers, such as the Brooks Ghost or the Asics Cumulus.

Version 41 comes with at least one big update: a new sole unit made of a different material.

The Pegasus 41 moves from the React foam of version 40 to the newer ReactX.

There will still be 2 Air Zoom units (one in the heel and on in the forefoot) like in the current version.

To complete the changes, a new upper comes to make improvements to the widely appreciated Pegasus fit. According to Nike “Nike designers listened to the voice of everyday runners and focused on making the upper in the Pegasus 41 more comfortable. The upper is made of an engineered mesh that’s now lighter, more breathable and more comfortable than previous models“.

The lacing system will be tied to an internal midfoot band wrapping around the foot – to provide additional support.

What is ReactX, do we like it?

ReactX is an improvement over React, the foam currently in the Pegasus 40.

It promises an improvement of 13% in responsiveness (how much energy is returned) while at the same time decreasing the total carbon footprint of creating a pair of midsoles by 40%.

Here’s what we think.

The Pegasus is a shoe that sells in the millions of pairs every year. It comes in many versions – from the trail, winterized versions, turbo versions, easy-on…

Pegasus is NOT an exciting shoe. The cushioning is neither soft nor hard, not plush and not particularly responsive.

People choose the Pegasus exactly because of that. It is a shoe that doesn’t propel you forward or holds you back. Its being middle of the road is what allows it to be such a versatile shoe. Possibly an ideal daily trainer.

We reviewed another Nike running shoe last year that moved to ReactX: the Nike Infinity RN4.

We were not excited about the ReactX. Although indeed a little more responsive than the React, it still did not feel engaging and fast.

We believe, based on the information we have so far, that the Pegasus 41 will be similar. A definite improvement of the current version, but possibly not a revolution.

And we think this is good.

There’s a lot of pressure on Nike lately – especially concerning innovation. The Pegasus is not the shoe to experiment on – or even the right shoe for race-day foam materials such as ZoomX.

Nike can always add shoes to the Pegasus franchise – as they did with the first, well loved Nike Pegasus Turbo and they continue doing with shoes like the Nike Pegasus Trail.

Nike already announced a Pegasus Premium coming out in 2025. They can always create new, exciting and innovative versions of the Pegasus – but they should leave the Pegasus be what it is, the original (winged) workhorse.

Are you a Nike Pegasus runner? Do you want it to evolve or to stay the same? Have you moved from the Pegasus to another shoe? Let us know in the comments!