Altra Rivera 2 Running Shoes - SS22

Product Information

With the Torin becoming more and more plush each year, and the Escalante staying where it’s always been, they need something between. In fact, Altra disbanded the Torin as we knew it with the Torin Plush 4.5.

Up front we have longitudinal pads of only slightly softer rubber than the rear protruding from above deep grooves into the midsole. In conjunction with the Inner Flex grooves into the top of the midsole we have an easy but not overly easy long flexing shoe with the broad forefoot platform and outsole contributing to good front stability. Kurt: This has the least "Altra" ride of any of their shoes I have run. You will still notice it is zero-drop, but there is none of the harshness that many of their shoes have had. I loved the Torin line, but it was rarely something I used beyond 13 miles as it just left my feet and legs feeling beat up. I would agree with Brian that it feels like the DNA of many popular trainers have come together in this shoe. It has an excellent "pop" to it that outshines many of the other standard trainers. It's not quite up to the level of the Saucony Endorphin Speed, but still tons of fun.The whole ethos of Altra shoes is to allow your feet the space to function. Then you run with better posture and your feet get stronger the more you run, which reduces the wear and tear on the body and chance of injury.

Now you have an idea about both shoes, their price, size, weight and materials used. It is the time to go through the main differences between these two shoes: 1) Comfort Sam: The midsole is Altra’s EGO foam. To pressing and on my A/B run one on each foot with the Rivera 2 it is a bit softer than before and with 2mm more of it the Rivera 2 clearly delivers a more forgiving ride than before with a touch more bounce and a touch less (overly firm in comparison) response. The Altra Ego material has a nice bounce, and I felt very happy with the performance when I took it for tempo runs. In fact, this is where I plan to keep this shoe for the moment. The next characteristic of all Altra shoes is that they are designed with Balanced Cushioning™. Most shoes have more cushioning in the heel than the forefoot, causing a slightly downward slope that you may have heard of as “heel-to-toe drop.” Every Altra shoe is built on a platform where the heel and forefoot are an equal height from the ground, which makes all Altra shoes Zero-Drop™. Altra designed this to help with optimal alignment, cultivate better form and encourage a low-impact landing. It also takes the pressure off the ball of your foot. Altra is known for the zero drop from heel to toe, and it uses 28mm of foam for all three of their regular neutral offerings. However, where they all differ is in the feel of the foam, and how much protection the outsole gives.The Rivera 2's upper has some give and wraps around the foot quite comfortably and securely. To top it off (literally and figuratively), the tongue is very generously padded at 7.9 mm! Finally, women’s Altra running shoes are all shaped using FIT4HER™ technology. Women’s feet tend to be shaped differently than men’s feet so Altra builds their women’s shoes to have a narrower heel, longer arch and unique metatarsal spacing so that they fit women’s feet better. The Rivera 2 (8.1 oz or 229g) is light both on paper an d on the road. For reference, the average speed trainer weighs in at 8.6 oz or 245g.

No one shoe is perfect for all running and I found that for fast intervals the Rivera was a bit too flexible. I was having to work a bit harder to generate speed compared to running in an Escalante Racer or Escalante that have firmer, stiffer midsoles. Altra Rivera 2 has a streamlined design with an engineered mesh upper that allows the feet to stay comfortable, dry, and cool while running on all types of terrain, even wet. The Speedform Fit knit upper construction also makes these shoes comfortable with a snug fit. As promised, platform weight and geometry is “balanced” with a true zero drop feel, and a not negative drop feel at beyond slow jog paces and off the heels The Altra Rivera is holding up very well in every aspect. Some of the rubber on the outer edge of the platform is beginning to smooth out, which is accounted for by my stride. The outsole is still providing more than adequate grip on both dry and wet pavement, as well as gravel.

Altra Rivera Intro

This shoe compares favorably to some of the shoes in which I’ve run lately: NB 1080v11, Hoka One One Mach 4, and Topo Athletic Cyclone. In the Rivera, Altra used their new foam compound, Altra EGO, as the entire midsole. This new foam is very responsive and gives a great amount of bounce. As a general rule, Altra shoes have a wider and higher-volume fit than shoes from many other brands. While this can cause problems for some people with narrower feet, many runners love the comfort that Altra’s platform provides, particularly when it comes to letting your toes splay out. And several of their models still feature a pretty snug fit through the heel and midfoot, so that some runners with low-volume feet can still get along quite well with them. The Rivera is an everyday training shoe. So, it has enough cushioning for you to do your slow easy recovery runs. Yet it is lively and responsive enough for tempo runs or intervals. The cushioning is also good enough for your long runs too. Although if you were training for a marathon and therefore on your feet for a long time then you might prefer the more cushioned plusher ride of the Torin for these runs. Kurt:: It feels like Altra has finally produced a shoe that can reliably compete with the likes of the Hoka Rincon, New Balance Beacon, and Saucony Kinvara. As Brian mentioned, this shoe really strikes a great balance between cushion/protection and responsiveness.