The Altra Timp 6 is a extremely cushioned zero-drop path working shoe with a large toe field, fashionable with hikers and backpackers. They’ve thick soles made with Vibram Megagrip rubber that present glorious traction on dry and moist surfaces with multi-directional lugs that help in turning and braking. The uppers are made with a porous nylon mesh with a nice weave for drainage, with printed overlays that assist scale back abrasion. They’ve Altra’s authentic footshape, which lets your toes splay for enhanced consolation, and a powerful quantity of toebox safety to assist hold your toenails intact on rocky trails. Like all Atra path runners, the Timp 6 incorporates a gaiter lure on the heel to safe a gaiter and assist forestall path particles from coming into the shoe. The one notable distinction over the Timp 5 is a 1mm enhance in stack top.
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Specs at a Look
- Finest Use: Path Working and Mountain climbing
- Path Runner Shoe Kind: Rugged Trails
- Gender: Males’s (Girls’s obtainable)
- Cushioning: Most
- Waterproof/Breathable: No
- Heel to Toe Drop (mm): 0
- Heel Stack Peak (mm): 30
- Forefoot Stack top (mm): 30
- Higher: Nylon Mesh
- Rock Plate: No
- Midsole: Altra EGO MAX foam (ie. foam)
- Outsole: Vibram Megagrip
- Vegan: Sure
- Vast Sizes Obtainable?: No
- Weight: 1 lb 5.4 oz / pair (males’s dimension 10.5 US)
- Sizing: I discovered them true to dimension, though a contact slim within the heel
The Altra Timp 6 is a closely cushioned path runner that gives noticeably extra consolation and shock absorption than the zero-drop Altra Lone Peak Path Runner, which can also be fashionable with hikers and backpackers.
Path Really feel
The Timp’s signature function is an outsized toe field, which lets your toes splay out as if you happen to have been strolling barefoot. That is very totally different from many path runners, which nonetheless have slim toe containers that limit toe motion, though many manufacturers have expanded their toe containers in recent times to compete with Altra and reply to person preferences.
The Timp is a zero-drop path runner, that means the heel and toes are at equal distance from the bottom. This enables for a extra steady foot strike and a extra pure, environment friendly stride, with impacts unfold throughout all the foot.
One in every of my favourite options of Altra Trainers is the gaiter lure, situated on the again of the heel. It’s a chunk of Velcro that makes it quite simple to put on a Soiled Woman Gaiter, which attaches to Velcro in the back of the heel. A gaiter lure like it is a necessity in case your shoe’s outsoles are flat and lack a heel arch, as with the Timp. I discover it mind-boggling that different manufacturers don’t supply the identical performance of their path runners, given how prevalent gaiter use is.
Stability
The Timp 5 is a steady path runner, partly, as a result of it’s a zero-drop shoe the place your forefoot and heel are on the similar top. With its 30 mm stack top and flat outsole, it’s much less susceptible to ankle rolling since you’re fairly near the bottom. That and the improved proprioception you get from strolling with spayed toes make it a lot simpler to sense and adapt to altering path circumstances and terrain.
Safety
As a path runner, it is very important have a shoe that protects the bottoms of your ft. You additionally desire a breathable higher that lets your ft breathe whereas protecting out mud, sand, and grit that may wreak havoc in your socks.
The Timp 6 does each. The thick cushioning within the Timp sole supplies nice shock absorption with out being sloppy, significantly for climbing, despite the fact that the sneakers shouldn’t have a rock plate. This added shock absorption is especially necessary if you happen to use the Timps for street strolling or working, in addition to for climbing off pavement or path working. There’s additionally substantial toe safety up entrance, supplied by the cushion, overlays that shield the toe field from abrasion, and a entrance toe kick.
The finely pored breathable mesh of the higher does an excellent job of stopping coarse sand and grit from coming into the shoe. It is a huge deal since many path runners with large-pored mesh uppers fail miserably on this dimension, particularly in sandy desert terrain or when fording streams. The mesh additionally drains nicely and dries rapidly, significantly on the entrance of the shoe the place there’s much less padding within the uppers. The heels, in distinction, take for much longer to dry as a result of the padding is a lot thicker within the heel cup.
Vibram Megagrip Sole and Lugs
The Vibram Megagrip Outsole supplies nice traction on dry and moist surfaces and options grooved channels to channel water away. The lugs aren’t very giant, however the rubber is gentle like a climbing shoe and offers good buy on laborious, irregular surfaces like rock. I’ve been carrying the Timps for the previous 2 weeks, so it’s too early to inform how lengthy the soles will final, however I believe they’ll put on out across the 300-400 mile mark, very like the Hoka Speedgoat, which makes use of the identical Vibram outsole materials. However the midsole cushioning on path runners normally wears out first, not the lugs.
Advice
Altra’s Timp 6 Path Runners are an amazing selection if you would like a zero-drop path runner with most cushion for climbing and backpacking. They’ve a big toe field that lets your toes splay out and loosen up with aggressive lugs underfoot which might be positioned and oriented to supply enhanced traction and braking. The gaiter lure is a superb comfort if you happen to use gaiters with a velcro patch within the again. The sneakers drain nicely however forestall sand and grit from coming into, the place they’ll chew up your socks, particularly if you happen to do a variety of stream crossings with out taking off you rshoes.
How does the Timp 6 evaluate to the Altra Lone Peak? The Timp 6 is much more shoe: extra cushion, extra traction, extra safety, making them significantly better for climbing and backpacking (strolling) than the Lone Peak, significantly if you want to stroll on roads or pavement, in addition to on trails. I’ve additionally discovered that the Timp 6 is a bit narrower within the center and on the heel, and subsequently matches much less sloppily than the Lone Peak. Strive each and determine for your self.
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