Comparison Review: Nike Pegasus Plus vs. adidas Adizero SL 2: Rare! High Drop and Un plated.
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Aug 4, 2024
In the video, I compare the August releasing Pegasus Plus to the Adizero SL2. Both are 10mm drop, about the same stack height 35/25 , and are un plated, flexible light (8.45 oz /240g US8.5) tempo to daily trainers. A rarity these days but still most useful to mix it up in a rotation and work the feet differently. They
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Hi everybody, Sam from Road Trail Run
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We're going to talk about two shoes that are sort of rarities these days
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Unplated 10 millimeter drop, up-tempo trainers. I can only think of two and I think I have them both here, but if you think of any others
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please comment. So the Nike Pegasus Plus, $180 coming out in August and the Adizero SL2 already out
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not to be confused with its much firmer earlier version. Both of these shoes weigh almost exactly the same in my USA .5 or about 8.42 ounces, 239 grams
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Both of them have about the same stack height. The Pegasus Plus, and the Plus comes from more stack height than the prior Pegasus Turbo
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Turbo Nature, is at 35 heel, 25 forefoot, and we have one millimeter more here in the Adidas
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So both are 10 millimeter drop shoes, again a rarity these days
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That kind of drop really is appreciated on the run, I think, because it really plunges
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you forward when you want to move. Our Adizero is $130 and our Pegasus Plus is $180, a $50 difference
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And when it comes right down to it, the difference mainly is in the upper here, the comparative uppers
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The Nike upper is more secure, more performance oriented. It has a padded leatherette tongue, you can see here
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It has underlays, you may be able to see the blue in there, for midfoot support
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It has a rigid heel counter, you can see with a bit of the elf
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This is a lockdown performance upper. The Adidas has no gusset tongue, just the simple tongue
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It's a single layer mesh, there are no overlays beyond the three stripes
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I think it's a pretty snazzy looking shoe. The heel counter is semi-flexible
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It is a more, if you will, relaxed, simpler upper. Might work a bit better for a broader foot, but it isn't quite the upper that the Nike has
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Now, the Nike upper is not quite as roomy. Those that remember the original Peg Turbo, this one looks exactly the same with the infamous
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webbing strap. When I first tried them on, I could feel it sort of pressing on my dodgy big toenail
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That softened up some, but I just wonder why they might not just do that more kind of visual
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than an actual webbing strap. Whereas the Adidas has a somewhat broader toe area because it's really unstructured
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Now, but of course, we always like to talk about the ride
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Well, the rides are quite similar. We have the same drop, we have about the same weight, we have about the same stack height
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but there are some differences. The Adidas has LightStrike 2.0, but this is a much softer LightStrike than what you might
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remember from the SL1. And in the center, it has a core of Adidas Top End LightStrike Pro, also soft
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So this shoe is a softer riding, somewhat softer riding than our Nike
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Of course, our Nike Plus is all Zoom X, our famous Zoom X
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It's a springier kind of feel than the more, I would say, bouncy feel here
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Now, in terms of flex, let's take a look. We have a nicely flexible, fairly front flexing here in the Adidas
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And in our Nike, a similar flex, even more flexible. You can see, look how flexible that is
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So these, both of these shoes, I think are great to work your feet outside of the kind
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of plated things we see now in most training shoes. And both of them make a good complement
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The Adidas ride is, I would call, what I would call a fun, shorter run kind of shoe
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It's super fun to run. Not quite as stable, not quite as upper secure, but at $50 less, it's a real bargain
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It has a really nice outsole. You can see the LightStrike Pro peeking through the windows
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Plenty of rubber. It's not, I don't think it's, it's not Continental rubber, but it's still their very good AdiWear rubber
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Our Nike has a, I would say, trail worthy outsole. Really good grip here
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You can easily run some trails. Its platform is a little bit, its platform is a little bit wider
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So it's five millimeters wider at 115 in the front than the Adidas
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The midfoot is actually a little narrower at 65 versus 70. And then the forefoot is, the heel, the Nike is 85 and we have 80 over here
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So quite similar. So I've run them both, of course, a bit more of the Adizero than the Nike
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And what you really get is a sensation of kind of plunging forward with that 10 millimeter
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drop and particularly in the Nike, a sensation of a really flexible, quick toe off
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No plates though. The Zoom X gives you a lot of kind of a spring and a lot of kind of a action, if you will
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Plenty of heel cushion here. You could easily, I could easily daily train in this because we're at 35, 25
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The Adidas is a bit more, a bit softer, a bit more forgiving
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Not quite as stable, mainly because of the upper. Again, I could daily train in it, but maybe I'd be a little bit less, given my age and
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so on, a little bit less inclined to do so than the Nike
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However, that $50 difference really plays into it. In terms of the overall utility, as I said, there is definitely a place for either of
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these shoes in a runner's rotation to mix it up with the plated shoes for some of your
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faster workouts. Both, even though they're rarities in this day and age of plated, both have outstanding
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foams, mostly supercritical here in the Adidas, although I'd call the Lightstrike 2 definitely
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supercritical in feel, though they don't say it's supercritical. Whereas over here, we have the famous Zoom X, which for me still kind of sets the standard
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for springiness. They're not the lightest shoes, but still decently lightweight at 8.45 ounces, about
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240 grams, both of them. Now, if you remember back, and I don't have exact, exact numbers from way back, it may
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be midsole only, 35-25 for the Pegasus Plus, and I see in our review 28-18 for the original
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Peg Turbo, but that might have been midsole only, so at about 5 millimeters
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The form, I don't have the statistics here for the SL right at hand, but if you had the
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SL before, it had much firmer Lightstrike 1.0 foam and a lower stack height, so Adidas
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moved this into the kind of light and flexible daily trainer category without a plate to
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sort of complement the Boston, whereas the Peg Turbo, the Pegasus Plus was something
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really since the last Pegasus Turbo 2 that Nike really didn't have anything in their
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lineup that was something other than kind of heavier or plated, you know, your Tempo
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Next or your Vaporfly. So this is a really good add to their line
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What would I do differently? Well, I think I might consider a teeny plate in here, you know, more like what the Streakfly
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had to give it a teeny bit more snap, but it stays true to its non-plated kind of more
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natural running. I would also remove the strap, do something different, might actually reduce weight, maybe
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just paint it, whereas in the Adidas at 130, it's still a hell of a bargain because of
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the ride is so good. The upper is not the most supportive or deluxe, but I guess if they made it 140 and put a
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bit more structure to the upper, I'd be even happier. Both are outstanding choices
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Thank you very much for watching. We have a video review of the Adizero SL2 on the channel
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We will have a full multi-tester written review of the Pegasus Plus real soon
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It's coming out in August. A great new option from Nike, a bit more than the Turbo, still the great Zoom X, a
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very supportive upper. Well done. Thank you very much for watching. Have a great run
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