The Nike Pegasus 41 costs ₹12,995. The Adidas Supernova Rise costs ₹11,999. Both are 10mm-drop neutral daily trainers from the two biggest sport brands on the planet, and both are stocked in nearly every running shop in India. That is good news for availability. It is also why the choice gets confused. The shoes look interchangeable in a brochure. They are not. This article runs through what the specs actually do on Indian road, then names a winner for each kind of runner.
The verified specs, side by side
The numbers first, because the rest of the article rides on them. The Pegasus and the Supernova Rise share a drop, share a category, and share roughly the same weight. They differ on stack and on what kind of foam sits in the midsole. Those two differences carry most of the decision.
| Spec | Nike Pegasus 41 | Adidas Supernova Rise |
|---|---|---|
| Drop | 10mm | 10mm |
| Heel stack | 33mm | 38mm |
| Forefoot stack | 23mm | 28mm |
| Weight (US 9) | 285g | 280g |
| Foam | ReactX + Air Zoom | Dreamstrike+ + Bounce |
| Plate | None | None |
| Best for | Daily training (neutral) | Daily training |
| India price | ₹12,995 | ₹11,999 |
The Supernova Rise is 5mm taller in the heel and 5mm taller in the forefoot. That is a meaningful stack difference. The Pegasus is 5 grams heavier but carries an Air Zoom unit in the forefoot, which is a 40-year-old Nike technology that still does specific things very well. The price gap is ₹996, or about 8 percent. The foam compounds are the deciding factor, and they tell two different stories about what a daily trainer is supposed to feel like.
Easy mileage feel: the morning loop test
I run my easy mileage in the lower Himalayan foothills, on a mix of tarmac, broken concrete, and the odd kilometre of mud. The pace is honest. 6:30 to 7:00 per km. What I want from a daily trainer at that pace is consistency under foot and no surprises when the surface changes.
The Supernova Rise lives up to its taller stack. The Dreamstrike+ foam is a TPEE blend, which is a softer and more energetic compound than the standard EVA that occupies this price tier. Stepping off the kerb into the shoe feels cushioned in a way that the Pegasus does not match. The dual-foam construction layers Dreamstrike+ over a denser Bounce base, which is the same idea that New Balance and Brooks both use in their flagship trainers. Soft on top, supportive underneath. The shoe forgives a tired stride.
The Pegasus 41 is a firmer ride. ReactX is Nike's updated EVA-blend foam, denser than Dreamstrike+ and tuned more for response than for cushion. The Air Zoom unit in the forefoot adds a small pop on toe-off that you can feel at any pace, including easy. Some runners love that feel. It rewards a forward-leaning stride. Others find it too firm for two-hour easy days, especially on the rough Indian tarmac that defines most training routes outside the metros.
So at easy pace, the Supernova Rise is softer and the Pegasus 41 is firmer. Pick by what your legs actually want at 7:00 per kilometre on a hard surface.
Long-run comfort: where the 5mm of stack starts to matter
The long run is when stack height pays you back. At kilometre 20, your form starts to drift. Your stride shortens. Your heel strike gets sloppier. The shoe that catches you when that happens is the shoe you will trust on race day.
The Supernova Rise's 38mm heel stack is real cushioning. It is only 2mm shy of marathon racers like the Adios Pro 4, and the foam under your heel does not flatten as fast as a thinner trainer would. For long-run sessions of 25 to 32 kilometres, that taller stack is the most useful single thing on the spec sheet. The 280-gram weight is competitive for that much foam, which means you are not paying a major mass penalty for the comfort.
The Pegasus 41 takes a different approach. The 33mm heel and 23mm forefoot are conservative numbers for a 2026 daily trainer. The shoe relies on the Air Zoom unit and the firmer ReactX foam to deliver a snappier ride rather than a softer one. On a long run, that means you feel the road more. Runners who train in the Pegasus tend to be runners who already have strong form and a tolerant frame. For a newer runner or anyone over 75 kilograms, the Pegasus 41 at kilometre 25 starts to feel thin.
If long runs are the centrepiece of your week, the Supernova Rise is the more honest tool. If you log most of your mileage in shorter zone 2 efforts and you like to feel the ground, the Pegasus 41 holds up. The Running Lab has more on long-run shoe selection if you want to go deeper.
Durability per rupee: the price-and-mileage maths
A shoe is not worth what it costs at the till. It is worth what it costs per kilometre. The Pegasus 41 at ₹12,995 has a long track record, and most pairs hold their geometry for 700 to 900 kilometres at easy paces on Indian road. That puts the Pegasus at roughly ₹14 to ₹19 per kilometre.
The Supernova Rise at ₹11,999 is newer, but the Dreamstrike+ foam is from the same family that Adidas uses in the Adios Pro and the Boston, and those compounds have proved durable in independent testing. A reasonable expectation is 700 to 850 kilometres before the geometry flattens. That puts the Supernova Rise at roughly ₹14 to ₹17 per kilometre, slightly cheaper than the Pegasus over its full life.
The cost per kilometre is close enough that price alone does not pick the winner. What does matter is buying authentic stock. Both brands have flagship presence in India through Nike.com and Adidas.in, and both have authorised multi-brand retailers in every metro. Grey-market listings priced 25 to 30 percent below retail are a counterfeit warning, not a deal. Pull up the Pegasus 41 breakdown or the Supernova Rise breakdown for the deeper purchase logic.
Who each shoe is for
This is the part where the spec sheet stops mattering and your training takes over.
The Nike Pegasus 41 is for the runner with strong form, a lighter frame under 70 kilograms, and a preference for a firm, responsive ride. The Air Zoom unit makes it a more interesting shoe for tempo days than the Supernova Rise. Pegasus 41 owners tend to be experienced runners, often club runners in Bengaluru, Pune, and Delhi, who have decided what they want a daily trainer to feel like and do not want a maximal cushioned ride.
The Adidas Supernova Rise is for the runner who wants a maximal cushioned ride at a daily-trainer price. The 38mm heel and the Dreamstrike+ foam together deliver a more forgiving long-run experience. Heavier runners, returning-from-injury runners, and runners new to high mileage all benefit more from the Supernova Rise than from the Pegasus. The ₹996 lower price is a small bonus.
If you want to look at adjacent options before committing, the Nike comparison page and the Adidas comparison page show where each shoe sits inside its brand's wider lineup.
The verdict
If you are a 75kg-plus marathoner training for a half or full, buy the Adidas Supernova Rise. The taller stack, the softer foam, and the lower price all line up for you.
If you are a sub-70kg club runner with strong form who mixes easy and tempo paces in the same week, buy the Nike Pegasus 41. The Air Zoom unit makes it the more versatile trainer for varied paces, and the firmer ride trains your stride rather than cosseting it.
Either shoe is fairly priced and well stocked in India. The right call is determined by your body and your week, not by the swoosh or the three stripes. Once the shoe is decided, feed your race date and weekly volume into the STRIDD plan generator and let it build the weeks around the trainer you actually own. Or browse the broader shoe comparison hub if a third or fourth option is still in the running.