Now that I’ve done my first trail race, it’s time for my initial impressions of the Altra Lone Peak 3.0. Back in June I got a pair of LP 2.5 in Sports Basement in San Francisco. They were supposed to be my first pair of trail runners but I found them so comfy they immediately became my daily shoes. When I went to get another pair in Europe I learned that they were about to be replaced with the 3.0. If you can find any pairs of 2.5, grab them, they are a complete bargain now and very different to the 3.0.
The best place I found to get the 3.0 on this side of the pond was Accelerate UK. They sent me one of the first pairs they got last week. They look completely different to the 2.5 and TBH are a bit generic.
The main changes, apart from looks are a smaller “last” and a grippier sole. Whilst the 2.5 are a bit loose on me, the 3.0 is snug and a perfect fit with the usual Altra benefits of wide toe-box, high stack and zero drop. I was concerned when I did a short first run on them on the treadmill that my left arch hurt a lot. The insole at the arch seems to be very high on these. Much higher than any other Altras.
But the real test came yesterday during Run Forest Run and they were fantastic. The fit on my foot remained great, the arch pain was gone and the grip was incredible on all of the surfaces. Just a warning that whilst they are trail shoes, they are not waterproof as I quickly discovered. Irish puddles, yay.
I know lots of other people have the same criticism of Altra that I do. I love their products but this sizing nonsense has to stop. It’s bad enough that two of your products fit completely differently for the same nominal size, but when you are doing it between versions of the same product, it’s just ridiculous! From what I can see, every review of the 3.0 on the Altra site is complaining about the sizing.
So in summary - I’m a big fan of the LP 3.0. But go 1 Euro size up from your usual running shoes. Unfortunately no one in Ireland seems to sell them so, if they don’t fit, you may be in the usual world of product returns cost hell that we suffer from over here.
comments powered by Disqus