Altra Experience Wild Review
Altra have created a brand new three-member product family known as the Experience range and today we’ve finished up our Altra Experience Wild review.
New Family of Rocker + 4mm Drop
Altra are renowned for making shoes that have the space to allow your feet to function and have a flat or zero millimetre drop midsole to allow for a more natural midfoot landing, so your body is able to function naturally. They still make shoes of this type, but a growing trend is running shoes that ‘do some of the work for you’, making running easier and helping you go quicker. Running shoes of this type require the midsole to be curved, or ‘rocker’ shaped. This curve to the midsole helps the runner maintain a quicker cadence and does some of the work for your feet, calves, hamstrings and glutes. In order to make the rocker smoother and more effective, Altra have added 4mm midsole height at the heel.
All of the new Altra Experience range has a 4mm heel to forefoot drop and a rocker shaped midsole.
The Altra Experience Wild is the trail shoe in Altra’s Experience range. It is designed as an everyday, road-to-trail and trail shoe. The most similar shoe in Altra’s zero drop range is the Altra Timp 5 (https://www.northernrunner.com/blog/altra-timp-5-review/).
Cushioning
The Altra Experience Wild is 32mm in the heel and 28mm in the forefoot, compared with the Timp 5’s stack height of 29mm/29mm. The Experience Wild midsole is made from a lightweight compression moulded EVA foam. This is softer and less responsive than the Timp 5’s Ego Max midsole as it is designed for shorter, regular, easy runs. A nice soft midsole can help you recover from harder, faster training sessions. The Timp 5 midsole is designed to keep re-bounding after hours of running and is therefore more suitable for longer trail runs and ultramarathon events.
What’s Standard FootShape?
Altra makes their shoes on three different lasts. The Original FootShape last is the roomiest, with the most volume in the toe box, then Standard FootShape is somewhat roomy compared to many brands and Slim FootShape with the least room. The Altra Experience range are made on Altra’s Standard FootShape. They still have more space and volume than a lot of other running shoe brands, to allow space for your feet to spread on impact and function as nature intended inside the shoes, but happily for those runners who aren’t sold on the idea of all that space, they won’t feel ‘too spacious’ that they would be put off.
We found that the men’s Experience shoes like the Altra Experience Wild had a nice roomy toe box, similar to the Altra Timp 5, which made on the standard last and similar to Topo Athletic running shoes in width and volume. Altra makes the men’s and women’s shoes on different lasts and we found the women’s to be a little narrower.
Sizing Small
In terms of length, we have found the Altra Experience Wild fits half a size smaller than the usual Altra size, so buy a little bigger if you are currently running in Altra and want to try the Altra Experience range in order to get a similar length. For reference this makes the length of the Altra Experience Wild similar to Hoka, New Balance, La Sportiva, Inov-8 and half a size smaller than Brooks, Saucony, Topo, NNormal, HyLo or other styles of Altra.
Heel, Tongue & Lacing
The heel cup is soft like most Altra shoes, so it can mould to the shape of your heel to give a better fit. The heel cup and collar are soft and nicely padded to give a comfortable fit and feel. The tongue is also well padded and the upper material is also nice and soft. It is still a durable mesh and has rubber overlays on the toe area to form a protective toe bumper and give the upper some structure.
The eyelets are closer together than on the Timp 5 and there isn’t the same structure to the upper, so you get what I’d describe as a relaxed and comfortable fit, rather than a particularly locked in feel. This is perfect for mixed terrain easy running, but on rougher trails you might notice your foot turning a little inside the shoes. After all, the Experience Wild is really designed for the aforementioned easier runs, over firmer trail, including straight from your door with parts on the tarmac. There is an additional eyelet at the back so you can pull the heel cup in further shoe you need to, or butterfly lace the shoes.
The outsole has a similar outsole pattern to the Timp 5 and also has 4mm long lugs. These are designed to ride smoothly on tarmac or hard packed trails but provide some traction on slightly softer terrain. The rubber used for the lugs is Altra’s MaxTrac rubber that grips in the wet and dry and importantly are durable enough for some road use. This is the same rubber that Altra use on the Lone Peak. The Timp 5 uses Vibram Mega grip, which does have a stickier feel but isn’t quite as durable when used on tarmac.
The Altra Experience Wild weighs 283g in a men’s UK 9.5 and 246g in a women’s UK6.5.
Summary
We found the Altra Experience Wild to be a very comfortable shoe. The rocker isn’t too aggressive, so it doesn’t ‘push you’ to pick up the pace, ideal for easily plodding along comfortably. The cushioning is nice and soft, which feels forgiving on the tarmac and hard packed trails. The midsole is designed to be soft enough to absorb some of the rocks or roots that you stand on, a bit like a mountain bike tyre, rather than something firm and flexible where you get a feel for the ground and can remain nimble. For the majority of trail running that the runners who visit our Newcastle store do, this bit of softness and reducing in ground feel is the best compromise. Are your mixed routes hard tracks, bridleways, disused railways lines and so on, rather than root covered single tracks and muddy farmers fields? The Altra Experience Wild is a great option.
The Altra Experience Wild is a versatile everyday trail shoe that opens up Altra to runners who aren’t as keen on zero heel to forefoot drop running shoes and want a rocker found in big names like HOKA.
It’s not designed for very difficult broken ground, like the Altra Lone Peak 8 famously copes great with.
Other Considerations
Hoka Challenger 7: A very similar shoe in its purpose. Designed for everyday road to trail type of mixed running. Softly cushioned with a 5mm heel to forefoot drop and a rocker. The difference is that Altra’s have a more rounded toe box and so allow more space for the feet to function. The Hoka Challenger is available in two width men’s and two width women’s. However, the toe box is still pointed in both widths. https://www.northernrunner.com/blog/hoka-challenger-7-review/
Karhu Ikoni Trail: The Karhu Fulcrum provides the propulsion. The lugs are a bit deeper and so offer better traction on softer terrain. The cushioning is as soft. The toe box line is straight. https://www.northernrunner.com/blog/karhu-ikoni-trail-review/
Scarpa Golden Gate ATR 2: A firmer feel to the midsole makes these feel quicker shoe and the midsole is durable enough to be used for long days out or Ultra’s. The lugs offer better traction on soft ground. The upper is stiffer and doesn’t have the same step in comfort but is perhaps more abrasion resistant. https://www.northernrunner.com/blog/scarpa-golden-gate-atr-2-review/
Scott Kinabalu 3: A firmer ride and a midsole that doesn’t get too much softer when your out of a long time makes these more suited to longer runs or Ultra’s. The upper is durable and stiff so they don’t have the same step in comfort. https://www.northernrunner.com/blog/scott-kinabalu-3-review/
New Balance Hierro v8: A similar soft ride but you’re a lot more aware of the height of the heel as there is no rocker. Similar grip level. Available in three width men’s and two width women’s. https://www.northernrunner.com/blog/new-balance-hierro-v8-review-fresh-foam-x/
VJ MAXx 2: There is some bounce to the midsole but the feeling of the shoes is more nimble than softly cushioned. They have a different ride. The grip is better on softer ground. Not as smooth on the tarmac. https://www.northernrunner.com/blog/vj-sport-maxx2-review/
Brooks Caldera 7: A nitrogen infused midsole offer a bouncier feel to the cushioning that is durable enough for Ultra’s. They are padded enough and have a nice enough step in feel to be used daily. The outsole offers better traction on soft ground but rides OK on the tarmac. https://www.northernrunner.com/blog/brooks-caldera-7-review/
Topo Athletic Ultraventure 3: A broad rounded toe box and 5mm heel to forefoot drop. There is more room in the toe box area of these shoes. The traction is similar and they ride nicely on the tarmac. https://www.northernrunner.com/blog/topo-athletic-ultraventure-3-review/
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