Altra Experience Wild Review

Luke Merrett -

In May 2024 Altra released the Experience range, a set of road and trail shoes with 4mm drop, unheard of from a company that specialises in zero drop shoes and leans hard on the benefits that style provides.

At the time I was dismissive of the range: seeing them as gimmicky shoes whilst I was moving more towards the Merrell Agility Peaks, and away from the lower drop style.

However 3 things recently pushed me back towards these: firstly I've been looking for shoes that will be comfortable over 200 miles of mixed terrain during the Wild Horse 200, and Altras, with their natural feel and wide toe boxes, always do well in that department.

Secondly: Rhys from Pegasus told me just how much fun he was having in the Experience Flow road shoes, stating they were the closest he's found to the Hoka Cliftons (one hell of a lovely shoe) whilst still having Altra's toe comfort.

And finally: on RunRepeat the Experience Wild received one of the highest review scores of the Altra trail shoes released in 2024:

So, with the Nike Zegama 2 being a bit pinchy, and the Merrell Agility Peak 5s being a bit knee breaky, let's see how these perform.

Features

Starting with the stats we have a 34mm heel with a 30mm forefoot for a low 4mm drop. Definitely breaking Altra's zero drop convention, but still a low drop akin to Inov8, Topo, and some Hokas.

The toe box uses Altra's "Standard" style, so it's a little narrower than their "Original" style found on the Lone Peaks and Olympus models. For me there is still plenty of room at the big toe, however the upper rounds earlier towards the middle toes.

The upper is a light mesh material with these unusual overlays glued to the front and a more rigid toe bumper up front. It is nicely padded, feeling like a road shoe, but does mean they feel a little warm to run in.

At the heel is a well built heel cup, comfortable, holds well without biting.

The tongue is padded nicely to match the rest of the upper. The laces are damn good having a grippy texture that stays tied.

The midsole is a fairly basic compression moulded EVA foam, nice and soft underfoot but nothing to write home about in terms of responsiveness or durability.

The outsole uses Altra's own MaxTrac compound with 3.5mm lugs. This is a softer material that works well on roads and mixed trails, but suffers in the wet being a little slipper than other outsoles. It also tends to suffer durability wise, wearing earlier than harder compounds, however reviews have placed the durability higher in the more recent iterations so Altra must have spun some magic there.

No rock plate to speak of which helps with ground feel, and with that amount of cushion you'd likely not need it.

There are attachment points for gaiters if that's your sort of thing.

Finally the weight, the real winner here: whilst the Lone Peaks and Olympus models have been progressively getting heavier and tankier, this one comes in at 285g (compared to 309g and 357g respectively on the other models).

First Impressions

Fit & Feel

I went for my usual size UK 14, same size I take in the Altra Lone Peak 9+ and Altra Torin 8s, both size up nicely for me with plenty of space. These started off feeling shorter, and with that "Standard" shape toe box it rounded a bit too close to my middle toe.

However, it was a breaking in issue, after about 15-20k that soft foam and midsole had compressed down and the shoe was plenty spacious, just be aware of the breaking in period when trying them on. They now feel the same length wise as the Torins.

They did feel stuffy at first with all that padding, I was worried they would run warm, but once again after it had time to become more supple the shoes felt more cosy than stuffy.

Laces locked down well, it's good to see nice textured flat laces with plenty of length sitting atop a well padded tongue for comfort.

Underfoot that midsole, whilst basic, is nice and soft, whilst still feeling stable due to the low stack. A good balance between ground feel and comfort, it doesn't have the harshness of a Lone Peak, or the steamroller feel of the Olympus.

First Run

Every now and then you get a shoe where you step out the door and, within 1km, think "hell yea, these are the ones". That is how I felt about these, a complete slam dunk. They been sitting unloved due to training in road shoes for the CANUM, so when that race was over and I got a chance to hit some trails again, I did so in these and had a blast.

They are light, nimble and responsive, the cushion is plenty enough to be comfy on roads, the tread enough to grip well on the trails, they make a remarkably good road to trail / mixed terrain shoe and I was already thinking how well they'd suit most ultras.

That 4mm drop makes them feel more propulsive than other zero drop Altras, whilst still being a fairly natural low feel. You don't feel like you are on stilts in these, but also don't feel like you are working your calves harder.

The comfort in the shoes definitely preserve the Altra feel of a big roomy toe box, though I did have to wait a few runs before that padding became more accommodating. I get none of the pinching or toe rubbing I do in the Agility Peaks, and feel less need to fill the shoe with thick socks to prevent bashing.

The Review

Total mileage before reviewing: 133km

Types of usage: mixture of hiking and running, tested them in the wet and dry, lots of vert, lots of mixed terrain runs & technical trails

What I Liked

  • Insanely comfortable, the padding, the roomy toe box, the tongue, the soft midsole, all make for a road shoe style of comfort. The "Torins for Trails" I've been looking for.
  • Lightweight and nimble, one of Altra's lightest trail shoes and you can tell
  • 4mm drop and rocker helps with propulsion, they climb better due to this too
  • Feel stable due to "just right" cushioning and the low drop, felt confident during technical descents
  • Work well on road too due to the softer outsole, rocker & good cushioning
  • Well designed textured flat laces with some good length to them, combined with a padded tongue to prevent biting
  • Grip works well in most conditions, especially when treated as a mixed trail / road to trail shoe
  • Heel holds well without being uncomfortable
  • Solid toe bumper
  • They cruise really nicely, feel joyous to run in
  • The price! £130 in the UK, & you get a solid well performing trail shoe for that

What I Disliked

  • All that padding means they do run a little warm in the summer
  • It also means when they get wet, they stay wet. Take a while to dry post rainy run
  • The MaxTrac outsole doesn't do well in slippy wet conditions, I did have a slip on road during some rain showers
  • Durability is a concern across the board
    • MaxTrac historically wears quickly, though in fairness it scored well in recent iterations on RunRepeat so this may be a thing of the past
    • The midsole being a basic CMEVA rather than Ego/Ego Max means it's likely to feel flat earlier than other models
    • A couple of the ribbed overlays across the toe box are already delaminating
  • Midsole feels a little thin underfoot on long road stretches, again likely due to it being a basic CMEVA foam
  • Toe box tapers slightly earlier against your middle toe

Where Next?

I've been looking for my Wild Horse 200 shoe, something that prioritises comfort whilst still giving me good grip and performance when I need it.

I thought this was the Merrell Agility Peak 5: but the high drop and pinchy toe box gave me pause.

I thought this may be the Altra Lone Peak 9+; but the weight and performance in general of those shoes took the joy out of running in them for me.

I thought this, against all odds, may be the Nike Zegama 2; but I couldn't quite get on with the Nike style of upper.

After putting the Altra Experience Wild through it's paces, I don't have a but. These are the ones I'm going for when the race starts.