Thanks for your review. Seems that Altra is working hard to recapture former customers who have moved away with other options out there, better foam, more durability etc. Looking forward to your review of the trail 4mm drop Experience Wild when it comes out in May.
Thanks for watching! I agree, it really seems like Altra is trying harder than ever to innovate and try some new things, but also try to gain back some people that gravitated away from them in favor of competitor brands.
Torin, Escalante, timp, superior etc have always been on the "standard fit" performance last... none of them have changed, though there is always some varience in upper materials where you had the escalante 2.5 concidered an "original fit" just because it was so stretchy and sloppy. And even the slim fit is the old racing last from vanish/king mt/ the one/golden spike etc that they added a little more volume to. The shoes havent changed, they just wanted people to know that there are different fits across the line... which has seemingly just led to confusion.
Curious if the ride is similar to the Torin 4 Plush? Same foam and stack, I believe. The only difference is the drop and fit. I know people raved about the plush.
I've never worn the Torin Plush, but I will say that this FWD Experience isn't very plush. It's got a touch of firmness and responsiveness to it, but I sill thought the amount of cushion was plenty for what the shoe was designed for. Now for ultimate plushness, the new VIA Olympus 2 looks pretty sweet!
This midsole is nothing like the Plush (or even the Rivera 3). It's hard and dead and unenjoyable to run on. This was a very disappointing shoe for me, unfortunately because I had high expectations for it.
Honestly shocked Altra started having a drop, but I think it needed to happen to appeal to a wider audience. Would love to see a racing shoe with medium to max stack with a drop, like the Altra Vanish carbon or tempo. Also wondering how the FWD compares to the Topo Phantom? Getting up there in mileage and will need to get a new daily trainer soon...
I 100% would love to see a Vanish Carbon or tempo with a slight drop. That foam is nice! I haven't tried the most recent generation of the Topo Phantom, but I remember the Phantom being a bit softer and even wider around the forefoot. It was also a bit heavier. I bet you could go either way when choosing between the two. It would largely come down to the Topo lasting longer, but being a bit more boring, or the Altra feeling more fun and a bit peppier, but wear out a bit sooner. Thanks for watching!
Altra and most other shoe companies measure from the center of the heel and then the forefoot (right around the ball of the foot) for calculating the drop of a shoe. So you're right, virtually none of these shoes are zero drop the entire length of the shoe
You almost got me! But not quite. Admire Altra’s innovative approach but the quality just never equals the others. But if they do take the Mont Blanc platform and add a decent upper (because the MB is the worst-running trail shoe I’ve tried in years), I might reconsider ;-) Right now I’m loving the Salomon S/Lab Ultra d’Haene, racing a 100 mile in them this weekend. Perfect sweet spot between the Genesis and the Ultra 3 v.2.
For a road shoe, I think the quality of this one is totally adequate. We'll see if they can step their game in the trail scene. Good luck at your race this weekend!
For shoes specifically, it's just on UA-cam and not in any podcast players. I do co-host a few segments on the Singletrack Podcast with Finn though, which is all about the professional and business side of trail running. You should check it out
Honestly, does a 4 mm drop even matter? Like if you look at it on a ruler, it's pretty miniscule, and when you consider once you're standing in it it probably compresses down to 0 mm. That's honestly one issue with Altra, their soles are pretty soft so when you're standing in them they have a slight negative drop.
That's exactly why the 4mm drop matters to me, especially when running on flatter terrain. My calves and achilles really notice that difference that starting with a zero drop shoe makes, and I agree, it then makes it feel almost like a negative drop. So that's why I've always found that 4-6mm the sweet spot for me. Thanks for watching!
I get IT band issues with higher drop shoes. With normal Altras I have no issues. I bought the FWD experience to have at least one shoe with some drop, and I can immediately tell the issues from the IT band start playing up mildly. So yeah it can matter. So I know I have to work some more to solve the tight muscles that cause these issues.
I think that's also why there are so many different options for drop in the shoe industry. Everyone's body is different and some are going to work better with one versus the other.
the foam bullshit is also quickly decomposed at this point. due as u say and as obvious. nobody cares about the tiering. it's all bs. gimmicks. but again just fyi race shoes keep will gett egopro, floaty bs get egomax, "feel" shit will proly get ego, not sure how they will keep using cmeva. but the namesake of this line goes to "forward" or as in "flow", which is not "float/maxcushion" yet the race shoes are indeed MAX cushion, unless they made the via 2 "a tad more", didn't bother checking any of the reviews nor getting a copy a few months back (shitty colorway)
9:30 yall fall flat on the vibe dude. they gave up catting them cus it was all over the place. but just for the record esc was supposedly always og, torin varied but mostly "st" with slight frontside bloat on the 6 for exmp also the new feel float fwd also don't matter. not sure when it will start market tract but not sure how much the leftover og duder even control the narration anymore. it don't matter because every shoe should let u feel, float and go forward. they just don't want to maximize their tryhard onto ONE singular endgame gear.
@@GTE_Channel Let me translate to English: "You are wrong. They gave up classifying their shoes in fits because the system was inconsistent, but just for the record the Escalante was supposedly always their original fit, Torin varied but was mostly standard with slight bloat in the front on version 6 for example." which kind of makes sense, except the fact that they still uses the fits, that Escalante 3 is standard fit and that Torin 6 is narrower in the front than the 7. And yeah the last sentence is basically about the Altra founder leaving and venture capital adapting to markets and is not really worth translating.
Thanks for your review. Seems that Altra is working hard to recapture former customers who have moved away with other options out there, better foam, more durability etc. Looking forward to your review of the trail 4mm drop Experience Wild when it comes out in May.
Thanks for watching! I agree, it really seems like Altra is trying harder than ever to innovate and try some new things, but also try to gain back some people that gravitated away from them in favor of competitor brands.
I don't know what's more shocking: a 4mm drop ALTRA or that CP is reviewing a road shoe! I kid I kid... nice review, guys.
We still run roads from time to time! 😅
If you guys do a favorite shoes rundown i would love to see an category of your “mountain running approved” shoes
That is a great category idea. Thanks for that!
I’m on a shoe diet right now and your channel is not helping me…
Well this shoe is pretty light, so that helps with the diet 🤣🤣
Bought hoka mafate 4s after your review from 12 months ago ,find these reviews entertaining even if have no interest in the shoe
We really appreciate it! Hope you've enjoyed those Mafates!
Torin, Escalante, timp, superior etc have always been on the "standard fit" performance last... none of them have changed, though there is always some varience in upper materials where you had the escalante 2.5 concidered an "original fit" just because it was so stretchy and sloppy. And even the slim fit is the old racing last from vanish/king mt/ the one/golden spike etc that they added a little more volume to. The shoes havent changed, they just wanted people to know that there are different fits across the line... which has seemingly just led to confusion.
Yeah I hope they just keep with their current verbage and not change anything, because I'm finally starting to understand the width system 😅
Curious if the ride is similar to the Torin 4 Plush? Same foam and stack, I believe. The only difference is the drop and fit. I know people raved about the plush.
I've never worn the Torin Plush, but I will say that this FWD Experience isn't very plush. It's got a touch of firmness and responsiveness to it, but I sill thought the amount of cushion was plenty for what the shoe was designed for. Now for ultimate plushness, the new VIA Olympus 2 looks pretty sweet!
This midsole is nothing like the Plush (or even the Rivera 3). It's hard and dead and unenjoyable to run on. This was a very disappointing shoe for me, unfortunately because I had high expectations for it.
@@trevernapier7206thank! I’ll stay away 😂from
Honestly shocked Altra started having a drop, but I think it needed to happen to appeal to a wider audience.
Would love to see a racing shoe with medium to max stack with a drop, like the Altra Vanish carbon or tempo.
Also wondering how the FWD compares to the Topo Phantom? Getting up there in mileage and will need to get a new daily trainer soon...
I 100% would love to see a Vanish Carbon or tempo with a slight drop. That foam is nice! I haven't tried the most recent generation of the Topo Phantom, but I remember the Phantom being a bit softer and even wider around the forefoot. It was also a bit heavier. I bet you could go either way when choosing between the two. It would largely come down to the Topo lasting longer, but being a bit more boring, or the Altra feeling more fun and a bit peppier, but wear out a bit sooner. Thanks for watching!
Altra and most other shoe companies measure from the center of the heel and then the forefoot (right around the ball of the foot) for calculating the drop of a shoe. So you're right, virtually none of these shoes are zero drop the entire length of the shoe
You almost got me! But not quite. Admire Altra’s innovative approach but the quality just never equals the others. But if they do take the Mont Blanc platform and add a decent upper (because the MB is the worst-running trail shoe I’ve tried in years), I might reconsider ;-) Right now I’m loving the Salomon S/Lab
Ultra d’Haene, racing a 100 mile in them this weekend. Perfect sweet spot between the Genesis and the Ultra 3 v.2.
For a road shoe, I think the quality of this one is totally adequate. We'll see if they can step their game in the trail scene. Good luck at your race this weekend!
Great review! Unrelated question - do you guys do a podcast as well?
For shoes specifically, it's just on UA-cam and not in any podcast players. I do co-host a few segments on the Singletrack Podcast with Finn though, which is all about the professional and business side of trail running. You should check it out
They made a Clifton and I have no problem with that
Haha I also have no problems with that! It's a little firmer than the current Clifton, but still has plenty of cushioning
Honestly, does a 4 mm drop even matter? Like if you look at it on a ruler, it's pretty miniscule, and when you consider once you're standing in it it probably compresses down to 0 mm. That's honestly one issue with Altra, their soles are pretty soft so when you're standing in them they have a slight negative drop.
That's exactly why the 4mm drop matters to me, especially when running on flatter terrain. My calves and achilles really notice that difference that starting with a zero drop shoe makes, and I agree, it then makes it feel almost like a negative drop. So that's why I've always found that 4-6mm the sweet spot for me. Thanks for watching!
I get IT band issues with higher drop shoes. With normal Altras I have no issues. I bought the FWD experience to have at least one shoe with some drop, and I can immediately tell the issues from the IT band start playing up mildly. So yeah it can matter.
So I know I have to work some more to solve the tight muscles that cause these issues.
I think that's also why there are so many different options for drop in the shoe industry. Everyone's body is different and some are going to work better with one versus the other.
the foam bullshit is also quickly decomposed at this point. due as u say and as obvious. nobody cares about the tiering. it's all bs. gimmicks. but again just fyi race shoes keep will gett egopro, floaty bs get egomax, "feel" shit will proly get ego, not sure how they will keep using cmeva. but the namesake of this line goes to "forward" or as in "flow", which is not "float/maxcushion" yet the race shoes are indeed MAX cushion, unless they made the via 2 "a tad more", didn't bother checking any of the reviews nor getting a copy a few months back (shitty colorway)
9:30 yall fall flat on the vibe dude. they gave up catting them cus it was all over the place. but just for the record esc was supposedly always og, torin varied but mostly "st" with slight frontside bloat on the 6 for exmp
also the new feel float fwd also don't matter. not sure when it will start market tract but not sure how much the leftover og duder even control the narration anymore. it don't matter because every shoe should let u feel, float and go forward. they just don't want to maximize their tryhard onto ONE singular endgame gear.
I see English words but fail to compile them to sentences
@@GTE_Channel which part do you not comprehend?
@@lyrilljackson all of it 🤣 but don't mind me. English is not my native language
@@GTE_Channel Let me translate to English:
"You are wrong. They gave up classifying their shoes in fits because the system was inconsistent, but just for the record the Escalante was supposedly always their original fit, Torin varied but was mostly standard with slight bloat in the front on version 6 for example."
which kind of makes sense, except the fact that they still uses the fits, that Escalante 3 is standard fit and that Torin 6 is narrower in the front than the 7.
And yeah the last sentence is basically about the Altra founder leaving and venture capital adapting to markets and is not really worth translating.