Altra Experience Flow 2 Review

This latest version of the Altra Experience Flow 2 has been updated with Altra's new EGO P35 midsole foam (the first Altra shoe to feature this tech), resulting in a softer and smoother step compared to the original Experience Flow. Additionally, more heel rubber has been added to improve heel wear and stability, and the uppers have been redesigned to enhance breathability.

Comfort

The first “feeling” you'll likely notice when slipping on a pair of Altra Experience Flow 2 shoes is the cavernous toe box. This is a signature attribute of Altra shoes — it's huge, and may seem much too wide and open for the uninitiated. But it is a design choice with purpose. This feature allows your toes to splay out comfortably for a natural step, as you would if you were walking around barefoot. And the extra toe room also helps you avoid sidewall blisters.

After getting a feel for that initial adjustment, you're in for a smooth ride. The new EGO P35 midsole is a dream to walk on. It strikes the ideal balance between soft comfort and responsiveness, feeling both plush and energetic. That foam, paired with the gentle heel-to-toe drop and rocker, is a recipe for buttery smooth steps with a bit of toe bounce to encourage you forward.

Shoe Exterior Shoe Interior

The engineered mesh uppers are wonderfully padded where it matters most — around the heel, ankle, and tongue — and well-ventilated across the mid and forefoot. Heel lock is easily achievable using the top two reinforced lacing eyelets. The heel of the shoe is topped off with a large heel tab that serves as a chute for your foot to slide into the shoe effortlessly and as a grab point for when you need to give it an extra tug.

We walked in these shoes for miles with zero fatigue, and we'd walk in miles more right now if we weren't writing this review. But it's worth noting that the Experience Flow 2 shoes have a small 4mm heel drop. More commonly, walking shoes tend to have a 10mm or larger drop — the benefit of a small heel drop is attaining a more “natural” step. But if you've been wearing shoes with high heel drops for many years, you may feel a tightness in your Achilles tendons or calves while you adjust to this shoe.

Support

Altra's new EGO P35 midsole foam is the true workhorse of the Experience Flow 2. Not only does it provide lasting comfort, but it also guides your foot fully through each and every step. The heel-to-toe roll is seamless — its gently rockered midsole helps to center and smooth your stride. But all of this assistance is so subtle that you won't notice it if you're not looking for it.

The heel fit has been tweaked slightly for the updated Experience Flow 2, and for us, it feels immaculate. The increased heel rubber adds stiffness and security, complementing the soft foam. Some users with heavy heel strikes report feeling that the heel is a little too soft, though we (as forefoot strikers) didn't directly experience this during testing.

With a 4.9-inch outsole width, there's plenty of foundation to stand upon. We found the heel and midfoot to be stable and solid during torsion tests. The forefoot and toe box are quite the opposite — extremely flexible — but that's part of what makes an Altra an Altra. Since the toe box is wide enough to allow your toes to spread out fully, your foot can act as its own stabilizing device. The flexibility of the forefoot lets your toes move freely as needed to support and stabilize your step — au naturale.

One downside of this flexibility, however, is that you know when you step on a rock or stick. You can feel it in the sole of your foot. In a way, this enhances stability and traction since that flex “wraps” the shoe's sole around wayward objects, but it may throw you off balance in some situations where you don't have a rigid sole to help disperse the impact.

Traction

We walked on pavement, asphalt, concrete, gravel, dirt, and indoor tile while testing the Altra Experience Flow 2 and found the rubber outsoles to be reliably grippy on all common surfaces. The outsole features rubber across the forefoot and heel, with EGO P35 foam exposed at the midfoot.

Compared to the original Experience Flow, the Experience Flow 2 features more heel rubber and a redesigned forefoot rubber placement pattern. These changes improve heel grip and stability, especially for heel strikers, and increase texture depth at the forefoot, providing channels for water and mud to funnel into, enhancing the rubber's traction. We noticed that even when we stepped through puddles of water, the shoes maintained excellent grip.

We didn't suffer any slips indoors or on flat, even terrain when outdoors (even when the paths were wet with rain). The Altras kept their footing. But while the rubber and foam combination provides a reasonable amount of texture depth, these shoes lack the deep grooves or lugs necessary for superb gravel and dirt trail traction. The flexibility of the forefoot and the tread channels certainly help with uneven terrain, especially for forefoot strikers, but they're no deeply-lugged trail runners.

Weight

Weighing in at 8.79 ounces per shoe, or just under 18 ounces for the pair, the Altra Experience Flow 2 shoes are pleasantly lightweight. They're not quite knocking on the door of the ultralight realm, but they feel like they hardly weigh anything, at least compared to other typical walking shoes.

That new EGO P35 foam was designed for “lightweight efficiency”, according to Altra. And it seems as if they hit the mark. Not only is the midsole actually light in weight, but the energetic bounce it provides is like a little springboard that briefly removes gravity from the equation.

The excellent breathability of the engineered mesh uppers in these Altras also adds to the feeling of lightness. After walking a five-mile path in these shoes, we didn't notice a lick of fatigue.

Durability

The added heel rubber in Experience Flow 2 improves durability compared to the original model. We think the outsole design is well-balanced and should wear evenly and as expected. After all of our testing was said and done, we didn't detect any glaring weaknesses or areas where the shoe had worn faster than anticipated.

Regarding long-term durability, the outsole rubber is hard enough that we expect the tread to last a long time. The EGO P35 midsole's longevity remains to be seen, as this is new tech from Altra, but we don't foresee any significant difference in lifespan compared to other EVA foam products.

Some Altras do have issues with the uppers wearing out well before the rest of the shoe begins to fail, but the weave on these mesh uppers feels resilient to the touch and shows no signs of wear or weakness after our testing. What's more, an additional elastic mesh layer is attached to the tongue at the midfoot, where the shoe is at its tightest, protecting the outside layer of the uppers from premature friction wear.

Should You Buy the Altra Experience Flow 2?

As a lightweight walking shoe, there's a lot to love about the Altra Experience Flow 2. It's breezy, balanced, and a little bouncy — we found it fun to walk in these shoes. That said, it is a little pricey, and the Altra design philosophy isn't every foot's cup of tea. Ideally, you should give these shoes a test run and try out the wide toe box, but if you're not feeling the fit, there are other great shoes out there to choose from.

What Other Men's Walking Shoes Should You Consider?

We really like the Altra Experience Flow 2, but understand that it's not the right fit for every foot. The On Cloud 6 offers many of the same benefits as the Flow 2, such as being lightweight and airy, but it features a more traditional toe box design and a 10mm heel drop. Or if you're looking for a shoe that has more of a trail and gravel-ready tread, consider the Hoka Transport.