Our assessment of the up to date Altra FWD through 2 with a 4mm drop, loads of cushion and all the time the extensive toebox.
What does a 19% enchancment in softness and 15% improve in responsiveness really feel like in a shoe?
Effectively, now I do know (and you may too) when you attempt the brand new Altra FWD VIA 2. After I first slipped the footwear on, they felt identical to the recent 4mm drop Altras I’ve maxed out mileage on up to now. Nonetheless, after a number of runs within the footwear, I believe I’m beginning to grasp why Altra is so enthusiastic about these stats.
For a few years, Altra caught strictly to zero-drop trainers. In 2023, they launched the primary deviation: a ground-breaking, 4mm drop shoe. The primary Altra FWD Expertise paved the way in which for just a few totally different iterations, some now discontinued, and led us to the place we are actually.
The FWD VIA 2 is thrilling as a result of it options the Altra EGO™ P35 foam. Designed to carry up for epic coaching days and lengthy runs, this know-how is a welcome improve to the unique era’s EGO™FLO that many reviewers felt was a bit too agency. However are 19% and 15% actually that a lot of an enchancment? It took me a short time to resolve, and I’ll share my journey with you.
- Extensive Toes: Sure! That is the place Altra excels, and the Altra FWD VIA 2 continues that legacy.
- Heavier Runners: Altra’s EGO™ P35 foam is designed to carry up nicely, which makes it a great shoe for everybody.
- Lengthy Runs: Whenever you study that Altra’s founders are ultramarathoners, it’s no shock that the footwear can go for lengthy distances.
- Entrance of the Pack: The FWD VIA 2 is nice for front-of-the-pack racers who need lots of the basic perks of Altra in a 4mm drop, max cushion design.
The Altra FWD VIA 2 is a reasonable cushioned shoe with no max stack top. It’s a day by day coach highway choice for these in search of cushion and a large toe field with no zero drop.
Altra FWD Through 2 Overview
The FWD VIA 2 has shortly develop into one in every of my high picks in my shoe lineup. Altra’s FWD VIA 2 options the beloved roomy toe field, broad base for secure touchdown and propulsion, and basic Altra outsole.
The 4 mm drop is sweet, too. For many who are usually not zero-to-low drop shoe connoisseurs (and welcome to the membership), a 4 mm drop is the distinction within the top of the shoe from the forefoot to heel, equal to the peak of two nickels. It boasts a cloud-like foam, Altra EGO™ P35, and a thick cushiony base.
The FWD VIA 2 additionally features a super-soft and comfortable higher cloth, not like something I’ve ever skilled earlier than, and it’s provided in a number of good colorways. After I slipped on the footwear for the primary time, I anticipated them to really feel like I used to be carrying mini mattresses on my toes that spring again with each step. Nope, flawed!
My first impression of the footwear is that they had been disappointingly stiff and inflexible, and that Altra missed the mark once more. Nonetheless, as a studious tester, I stored logging miles, and the shoe did break in, plus I began to consider it totally different.
Not as a max cushion, however cushion that strikes.
First, I don’t suppose I truly need to run on foot-shaped mattresses. I would like my shoe to permit my foot to maneuver totally via all of the articulation factors essential to maintain each stride completely satisfied and springy, however with out the shoe doing an excessive amount of of the work for me.
I additionally don’t need to begin a run in a bouncy pair of footwear and finish the run carrying bricks.
Altra’s new EGO™ P35 foam made its debut within the Expertise Movement 2. Some beloved the comfy feeling of the froth; others described it as “mushy” and too tender for pace exercises.
Within the FWD VIA 2, I definitely don’t really feel like I’m sinking into marshmallows that sluggish my stride with their candy stickiness. I additionally don’t discover a dramatic quantity of power return, however that’s positive by me. These footwear are gratifying to put on as a day by day coach, they put a bit of little bit of pep in my step, and so they present my toes a welcome little bit of reduction throughout these intense coaching weeks.
Altra FWD Through 2 Specs
- Weight: 10.6 oz Males’s, 8.7 oz Ladies’s
- Stack Top: 37mm heel, 33mm forefoot
- Heel Drop: 4 mm
- Out there in 5 colours
- Not out there in extensive
- Out there on Altrarunning.com for $165
Fast Take
- Good extensive toebox
- Improved laces
- Springy and versatile cushion
- Tongue can get scrunched
- Stiff and agency at first
I’m testing the Mild Grey ladies’s footwear, pictured all through this weblog. However does anybody suppose this description matches? Actually not me!
The field mentioned “Grey” and I truly assumed it was only a packing error as a result of these footwear are a stunning, mauve-y, pastel pink ombre and white with two of the tiniest grey accents. They’re fairly and make me really feel a bit of additional fancy once I put on them. The aesthetic particulars in these footwear are enjoyable. The pink pull tabs have playful speckled white dots, and there’s an oh-so-subtle distinction between the white tones of the higher and tongue cloth.
I can inform somebody had a whole lot of enjoyable designing this colorway, and the artist in me says kudos! The identical speckled paint impact and nuanced shade choices present up within the different colorways so far as I can inform from photos on-line.
Altra FWD Through 2 Match
For me, the FWD VIA 2 are true to measurement and in line with what I desire in the remainder of the Altra and Topo lineup. I benefit from the house to unfold out my toes, permitting my massive toe to straighten out and ship me off sturdy in each stride. Even with the spaciousness, my toes really feel safe.
The midfoot, arch, and heel are additionally fairly comfy. The match is safe with out feeling constrictive. Each essential level is padded and safe with out feeling too tight. Fortunately, Altra appears to have improved the laces, so I don’t should do any particular methods to maintain them from coming untied.
The tongue is plush and really tender. I discover that I’ve to deliberately pull it up in order that it doesn’t scrunch up weirdly on the base of the laces. As soon as I get the positioning proper with a 2-second adjustment, it feels nice.
General, the match is a bit softer, however not the type of softness that turns right into a flat, squished pancake after a number of miles. The shoe feels secure and nonetheless fairly agency, however with a bit of extra springiness and adaptability than I’ve skilled in prior generations of Altra 4 mm footwear so far.
Altra FWD Through 2 Really feel
Earlier than stepping into the texture of the Altra FWD VIA 2, I’ve to clarify why I used to be so excited to see the lovable little cloud-shaped label showcasing the brand new foam once I opened the field.
After logging many miles in Altra Escalantes, Expertise Movement, and Expertise Agency, I used to be nonetheless craving the texture of the Escalantes in a low, however not zero-drop mannequin.
The Movement and Agency in the end felt too stiff for me. The froth wasn’t significantly responsive, and it didn’t really feel just like the footwear had been versatile sufficient for my toes to maneuver the way in which they needed. (I additionally realized that stability footwear aren’t for me, at the very least not proper now, however that’s one other story.) I wasn’t impressed to get one other pair of Altras simply but, so I gave Topos a attempt.
I like each low drop, impartial Topo shoe I’ve tried, till a latest expertise. I wore my Topo Phantom 4 footwear for 2 back-to-back lengthy, hard-effort runs.
In direction of the tip of the run on the second day, the footwear out of the blue felt flat and off. It seems, I’ve logged a bit of over 300 miles within the footwear, and so they could also be in the direction of the tip of their lifespan, at the very least by way of lengthy runs. Whereas I’ll nonetheless get pleasure from all of my Topos, I’m completely satisfied to have a pair of Altra highway footwear again in my rotation.
The FWD VIA 2 is filling that spot of a highway shoe with sufficient cushion to maintain the legs feeling good, however not so tender that I’m shedding power and never a lot stack that I’m shedding the texture of my run.
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Comparable Sneakers to the Altra FWD Through 2
- Topo Cyclone – Comparable roomy toe field and impartial assist, lighter in weight, 5 mm drop
- Altra Expertise Movement 2 – Similar FootShape™ match, 4 mm drop, and EGO™ P35 foam, lighter and sooner
- Hoka Mach 6 – Not fairly as extensive toe field, comparable cushion, 5mm drop
86%
Finally, Altra’s FWD VIA 2 strikes a pleasing stability between pep and basic Altra neutrality, and I’ve religion they gained’t let me down. What I initially interpreted as “stiffness” truly feels extra like sturdiness and a thick cushion. The rocker isn’t too exaggerated, the froth thickness is notable however not pretentious, and my toes can transfer as they want.
I’m excited to see what number of miles these footwear can take, and I’m wanting ahead to the place Altra goes from right here.
What to learn subsequent?