Editor rating:
8/10 on
MICHAEL MASON-D'CROZ
User's rating:

PROS

  • Lots of cushion
  • Foot shaped design
  • Stable on most surfaces
  • Sleek look
  • Zero drop for the minimalist-style runner

CONS

  • Zero drop for the traditional shoe runner
  • Lacks in ventilation

OUR VERDICT

The Altra Torin 2.5 is a light-weight, high-mileage trainer for the minimal drop runner. At a decent price, this shoe offers a lot of pluses for fans of a zero-drop shoe.
SHOE INFO
Brand
Torin 2.5
Model
Type
9.10 oz. (258 gr.)
Weight
125 US$
MSRP
0 mm
Heel Drop
Jul / 2016
Release Date
WHO IS IT FOR
This shoes is made primarily for experienced runners or those wanting to transition to low/zero drop shoes. This shoe offers enough cushion to comfortably handle heavier runners.

The Altra Torin 2.5 is competitive neutral offering with an excellent price point. This shoe offers a high amount of cushion while still offering the things that have made Altra gain more notoriety over the past few years.

The belief in a zero-drop shoe is the main tenet of the Altra brand. However, unlike most of the other companies who focus on low-drop shoes, Altra looked to offer higher cushion shoes that still had this feature.

The other thing that sets Altra shoes apart from other brands is the foot-shaped design. The narrow heel that locks your foot into the shoe that widens out into a very wide toe box that lets your toes spread out as you wear the shoes.

These features make Altra shoes incredibly easy to spot on the feet of fellow runners.

Altra Torin 2.5 General Info

Altra Torin 2.5 - Medial Side

Altra Torin 2.5 – Medial Side

The Torin 2.5 is the flagship neutral road running shoe from the brand. As a cushioned — yet not maximal — trainer that is engineered for the long haul, this shoe has become increasingly popular for runners around all areas.

Available for $125, this shoe is in direct competition with the Brooks Ghost 9, Saucony Ride 9, Mizuno Wave Rider 20, Nike Pegasus and the ASICS Cumulus 18.

And when looking at that list, this offering compares quite favorably — provided you enjoy the zero-drop. With more cushion than the Wave Riders and Ghosts, but better distributed than the Cumulus, this shoe was a great one for longer distances.

When I received these shoes, I thought the look was great — knowing what an Altra shoe looks like. The enlarged toe box is something that can be weird to first-time buyers/runners.

However, if you know what to expect, the look of these shoes demonstrates one of the beset aspects of the shoe — the incredible comfort when wearing them.

The incredibly wide toe box — which is not very long — makes it feel as if you are almost not wearing shoes at all.

On my first run, these shoes were wonderful. The cushion was just right. Good amount while not being cloud-like. They responded well, and let me feel the ground — due to the lack of rubber on the sole.

They were fast, and super light weight for the amount of cushion. I enjoyed them enough to take my planned 3-mile run and stretch it out to a 5-miler (the day after a marathon race).

Altra Torin 2.5 Sole Unit

The cushioning on this shoe would be about a 4 on a 1-5 scale (1=minimal, 5=ultra cushion). Because of this, they easily handled the long runs that I threw at them.

The other great part of this cushioning is that it was able to withstand the pounding that a larger runner, like myself (6’3″ 225), can put on a shoe.

Altra Torin 2.5 - Sole

Altra Torin 2.5 – Sole

The sole unit uses midsole EVA with “A-Bound” top layer & InnerFlex technology. The “A-Bound” technology is a top layer of cushion directly under the foot that helps return energy and is designed to reduce ground contact time.

These materials are not necessarily 100% noticeable for most runners, but after running in many different shoes this year, I appreciated just how bouncy and light the materials are.

The shoes offer a high level of cushion while keeping the weight low, something that Brooks, ASICS, etc haven’t quite given to the runners at this price point.

The other thing, is the upturn of the toe box helps propel you in your stride and will help propel you forward.

Altra Torin 2.5 Upper Info

Altra Torin 2.5 - Toe

Altra Torin 2.5 – Toe

The upper is both very comfortable and a little lacking at the same time.

In this case the upper is made out of a quick drying material — which truly does work well — and uses the shape of the upper to lock your foot into the shoe.

The upper is made from seamless materials that make it incredibly comfortable to wear, even for extended periods of time.

The main feature of the upper is the toe box, where your toes are allowed to splay out and widen — is they would if you were barefoot.

This large toe box is a little weird at first, but after a couple of runs, they felt great and I wanted my other running shoes to have wider toe boxes much the same.

The biggest drawback to the upper is that there are only two panels of breathable mesh, and the rest of the shoe is not very breathable. Because of this, on hot runs the shoe does not do a great job of letting your feet breathe.

Altra Torin 2.5 Conclusions

Altra Torin 2.5 - Heel

Altra Torin 2.5 – Heel

I have been waiting to run in a pair of Altras for quite a while. In this instance, I was very happy to have made the decision to give these a try. The Altras were a joy in which to run.

The cushion was spot on for long runs — I took them up to 15 miles — and can withstand a pounding — I put 30 miles on them in one week, with four straight days in those shoes — without quitting.

On each of my tests, they just kept going and did well with all of the tests. They performed well on the long runs, but also were light weight enough and very responsive so that tempo and track runs were also high quality outings.

Overall, they impressed me as one of the most versatile shoes I’ve tried this year. When compared to the direct competition of the Ghosts, Wave Riders and Cumulus, these shoes compare favorably to all of them.

They have more/better cushion than the Riders or the Cumulus. They are more responsive than the Cumulus or Ghosts. They are lighter than all of them.

Because of this, they have quickly become a go to from my closet if I don’t have a particular test run for a review pair.

I have put about 110 miles on these shoes, and they still feel new, and seem to have many more miles to go on them. Overall, these are a pair that I would recommend to almost all experienced runners.

Michael purchased a pair of the Altra Torin 2.5 himself. No test pairs were sent to runningshoesguru. This did not influence the outcome of the review, written after running more than 50 miles in them.

Altra Torin 2.5 Price Comparison

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