SAM: Look, love it or hate it, Altra has produced plenty of great-looking shoes over the past couple of years. The Altra Experience Flow 2 follows in that line, as Brady and Austin’s comments above suggest. The white upper and two-tone midsole colorway we were sent are clean and crisp. Just from looking at it, you want to throw it on and get out there.
This is an inherently simple shoe. While that can sometimes buck up and bite a runner, here the comfortable engineered mesh upper does precisely what it’s supposed to: hold the midsole onto your foot, breathe, and essentially disappear. While the weave and, therefore, the design of the mesh are slightly different from the previous two versions, they are the same in all the ways that count. The only differences are small and should be welcomed by Altra fans.
First, while the Experience Flow 2 fits true to size, it sports Altra’s Standard FootShape, and is wider through the toebox and midfoot than the FWD Experience, which fell pretty in line with Altra’s original geometry. Second, the heel counter flares up and back in a way that echoes the Hoka Clifton. Third, the lacing chain sits slightly offset, with the lateral side sitting slightly lower than the medial side. All of these changes help to make the Experience Flow 2 a more accommodating fit for a wider variety of feet.
Even for Altra skeptics, the brand’s EGO foam — in all of its iterations — garners the respect it’s due. So, the Experience line getting a new version of this foam pulls the Experience Flow 2 out of the substandard rut its predecessors had languished in. EGO P35 is soft, slightly responsive, and feels quick underfoot. Its market analogue is probably Topo Athletic’s Zipfoam, but a bit softer and less responsive. Really, this new midsole ties the whole package of the Experience Flow 2 together, and if you pick up one of the two-tone colorways, it’s the focal point of the shoe as well.
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