Altra Rivera 2 Running Shoes - SS22

Product Information

This ride is a great compliment in a rotation to higher drop stiff shoes as yes you will feel your feet working a bit more, you will think about your form and get forward a bit more than usual. The Rivera 3 ride is a great introduction to Altra if you have never tried the brand. As always if new to Altra or zero drop start gradually. The EGO midsole is as soft and springy as ever and performs very well throughout all workout speeds and distances. I’m confident that the shoe will sustain its performance for another 300 kilometers before starting to break down.

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.If you have been wearing shoes with a high heel to forefoot drop and a ‘pointier’ toe box, then your feet will have been prevented from functioning. If you decide to try Altra Zero Drop shoes, then it is advisable to gradually increase the time you spend in the shoes and alternate with your previous ones. This way your feet and lower legs can gradually get stronger without getting overloaded.

Topo Clyclone: These are 5mm heel to forefoot. They have a broad rounded toe box that is broader than the Rivera. The upper is similarly light. (shoes weight is 225 grams). The midsole is Zip Foam which is Topo’s bouncy midsole. It has a less flexible and more solid ride than the Rivera. Which feels better on long runs to me. This is due, in part, to the more suppressed toe box with the other factor being the rather plush upper. These features distinguish Altra running shoes from other brands and have helped carve out a nice corner of the market for them.The upper balances hold, comfort, and the famous Altra front room in a new way with a super soft and pliable mesh that made my toes super happy. Think slippers with run shoe hold. As such the Rivera with its classy styling also makes a really fine everyday, travel and recovery type shoe. I only wish for a touch more front length and height for those more casual purposes.

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. 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. Our caliper shows an average measurement of 98.6 mm in the widest part of the forefoot. However, the overall toebox volume provided our toes with enough wiggle room. For softness, we use an HA durometer. Rivera got 46.7% firmer after the freezer test (on average, shoes get 21.5% firmer).

Altra Paradigm 7 Running Shoes

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 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. Upper is surprisingly supportive and for sure comfortable for such as light extremely pliable and soft mesh Jacob: versatile, comfortable and secure fit, easy to run fast, smooth ride, simple design and feel