Altra - Timp 5

I haven’t tried the Columbia but the Timp and Speedgoat are both good choices with Altra’s fitting a bit wider in general. I would try both on if you can, the choice might be obvious after that

I like Altra Timp 5’s

Hello everyone! I am a broke PhD student who trains for and runs ultramarathons, so I don't own multiple pairs of shoes at this point. I run roughly a 60/40 split of road to trails in my training, but all of my races are on trails. I've run these Altra Timp 5 trail shoes for 1,100 miles now, in training and races, on road and trails. I live near the East Coast and I run on gravel roads, paved roads, soft sand trails, hard pack beach sand, technical trails in Appalachian mountains, and rooty dirt trails. I ran a 50 miler in these that was raining the entire time. Also recently did a 6 day vacation where I did ~70 miles of super steep and technical trails in Shenandoah National Park in these shoes. I don't have a ton of performance comparison points, since I have only run in Altras (I have wide, flat feet and the 0 drop works for my strengths and natural running patterns). But, I can say that I am thoroughly impressed with how these shoes have held up. Despite running them on paved roads pretty regularly, the lugs held up enough to get me through this past 6 day trip with 0 falls. Though they don't drain super well in the water, I haven't had any durability complaints from the waterloggedness. Primary damage is that the tread is pretty much gone, around the ankle there is a lot of wear, and the sides are losing integrity where my feet fit. Obviously the foam is completely compressed at this point. I honestly prefer these to my old Olympus 5's, even for 8-10 hour runs. Feel free to ask me anything!

Have you tried the Timp? To me they have a little more squish than Lone Peak, but not quite as much as my moon shoes (Olympus, lol) I’ve also become interested in trying the MtC shoes but just haven’t branched out yet.

I run a lot of rail trail and I like the Altra Timp 5. I’m on my third pair and have really enjoyed them. The back is curved and it has a gaiter trap (you’ll want gaiters for rail trail). They’re not so squishy that I feel like I’m going to roll an ankle like the Olympus, but they’ve got enough give. My only complaint is that I wish they drained better, but that’s usually only an issue for me on traditional trails with lots of water crossings or on rainy days.

Once upon a time I was around 200lbs (as a 5’2”ish girlie) and never had any complaints about my Altra Timps. This year I lost 75lbs and found that I like the Altra Olympus for a cushier ride on long runs. 10/10 for both shoes, but Altras do seem to wear faster than my Nike Wildhorse used to (I loved the 5 and every model since has been a flop for me). I get 300-350ish miles on them before the tread starts coming apart. If they change the Timp radically when they update it they will rue the day (and I’ll prob finally try out Mount to Coast).

+1 for the Altra Timp 5. I would say I have somewhat wide, very boxy feet. Although the Timps don’t have as wide of a toe box and as square of a frame as the Lone Peaks, I didn’t have any issues and the added cushion was a little better for me as a heavier backpacker. I did have one hot spot at the outside of my big toe (like where people get bunyons), but I think it was more of the socks and when I switched to Darn Toughs that issue went away. I also got the Xero Shoes Z Trail sandals and really like them, so I’m interested to check out their shoes. But yeah in the end you gotta just do the research on all the main contenders, understand your foot shape, figure out what level of cushion/drop/grip you want, and try a few things. And then once you find the least annoying pair, just try and keep buying those or the closest things you can get (don’t get lost in the sauce).

My Timps got holes after 4 weeks of wearing lol

Forgot exactly where but it was the toe box. Never seen running shoes with such a shitty build quality before.

I tried the Timp 5s (Vibram) but returned them - the tongue was too clunky and I could clearly feel the edge of it down my foot, no matter how I laced the shoes.

Altra Timp 5. It's everything I've loved about the previous versions but they finally added a vibram mega grip sole.

Regularly do that in my Timp's

Echo it's personal preference. Like you, boots are my go-to, but I've explored getting out of my comfort zone with non-WP trail runners. Here's my personal take. If there aren't a crazy amount of wet crossings, I prefer boots and to just swap into camp sandals for the crossings. If there are ton's of wet crossings, or I'll be wet-wading while fishing, I wear trail runners. I have tried Astral Timps and Brooks Cascadia, and much prefer the tread on the Cascadia's. If I know it's going to rain or be very likely to rain for many days in row, I now wear my runners. If I don't know what to expect with the weather, I'm wearing my boots because I still prefer them and am ok with damp feet, but there is absolutely merit to non-WP trail runners. I suggest experiment with your new choice on day hikes, both sunny and sloppy wet, then short backpacking trips and slowly expand your level of trust and comfort and decide from there. Not all trips have to be the same. For reference, most of my trips are 2-5 nights. Traveling internationally I usually do 5-14 night trips at a time and will use my WP boots because I find them more comfortable, more durable, more supportive and I don't always know ahead of time what I'll be getting into. But everyone is different.

Hello, here my feedback based on my experiences with trying on these shoes in store: Altamesa: I found it had good cushion except for where my toes were and it felt like they wouldn't soften no matter how many km's I put into them. Speedgoat 6: toe box felt weirdly roomy for a narrowish shoe and they didn't quite fit right. Hierro: I was able to try on the v7, v8 and v9 models all at one store. The v9 we're the best out of the 3 but I still didn't like the v9. It just felt oddly bulky which was a shame as I love NB shoes. The 1080's are my favourite. Stinson 7: I just bought a pair from MEC yesterday and they felt so good on my feet as soon as I put them on. I'm a little used to heavier shoes so that doesn't bother me. I really want a max cushion trail runners that doesn't need to be super technical trail focused. Salomon Ultra Glide/Ultra Flow: i really wanted to like these but they were a little narrow and just didn't have the comfy impact I was expecting. Altra Timp 5: I think these shoes are awesome except for the way the upper material bends at the toe box. It just feels weird and I can tell it will create problems for me a few km's into a run. I also have the Topo Ultraventure 4 which are great but I don't know how well I would enjoy them past 30km. I have Columbia Ecolite (the ones that look like they infused golf balls into the form) which have been great but just aren't on the same level as other trail shoes. I had the Brooks Caldera 6 which were okay and had great traction but they hurt my feet and caused blood blisters on the outside of my big toes so I was able to return them when I got the Stinson. I've tried on many other runners and I have the believe that you should go with the shoe that fells the best on your foot. E: forgot to add that I also tried on the hoka mafate speed 4 and I almost bought them as they were don't in the toe box compared to the speed goats 5 & 6 but I wanted slightly more cushioning. I think the mafate is a great comparison to the topo Ultraventure 4