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Created page with "{{DISPLAYTITLE:Altra Timp Review}} I've come to appreciate the Altra Timp over the last few hundred miles, and it's been a great companion on some wonderful adventures. I've u..."
{{DISPLAYTITLE:Altra Timp Review}}
I've come to appreciate the Altra Timp over the last few hundred miles, and it's been a great companion on some wonderful adventures. I've using them on a wide variety of surfaces, from the slick mud and deep bogs of the English fells, to the gnarly rocky trails of the appellation Mountains, and even some connecting roads. I've done a number of self-supported, day long runs of 30-50 miles, and they've proved themselves a wonderful multipurpose running shoe. They don't have the incredible sticky outsole of the [[Hoka Mafate]], but the latest version of the Mafate has moved away from the grippy [[RMAT]] to a Vibram outsole. There were a couple of times when I really missed the grip of the Mafate, the Timp letting me down (literally), but the Timp is a better all-around trail shoe. While the Timp lacks head room in the toe box, it doesn't press the toes down as much as many other shoes, and I managed to run hundreds of miles in them before I cut open the toe box. I rated the Timp as "Highly Recommended", and now the Mafate no longer has the RMAT outsole, the Timp may dethrone it as "best of the best". {{H:WhatToLookForInShoes}}
<gallery widths=300px heights=300px class="center">
File:Altra TIMP-top.jpg|Altra TIMP top
File:Altra TIMP-outside.jpg|Altra TIMP outside
File:Altra TIMP-bottom.jpg|Altra TIMP bottom
File:Altra TIMP-inside.jpg|Altra TIMP inside
</gallery>
=Characteristics=
* {{H:cushioning}}. Altra consider the Timp "high cushioning", which is below their maximalist category. I found it a nice level of cushioning on both road and trail surface. This amount of cushioning reduces the amount you feel the ground, but it also adds to the grip by conforming to the shape of the terrain. The cushioning is quite soft, but has a moderate amount of spring. The cushioning-to-weight ratio is pretty poor, as this is a fairly heavy shoe. However, the weight penalty is not so unreasonable in a good trail shoe that provides comfort and protection.
* {{H:drop}}. The Timp has a little bit of drop, either loaded or unloaded, but it's small enough that I doubt many runners will be able to detect it.
* {{H:structure}}. The Timp uses just one density of foam and doesn't attempt to manipulate or interfere with your natural biomechanics.
* {{H:flexibility}}. The thickness of the Timp makes it rather inflexible, though I found it loosened up with the miles.
* {{H:outsole}}. There's harder rubber over the vast majority of the soft midsole, with just small patches that of midsole foam exposed. I've found the outsole to be hard wearing, and the lugs are a reasonable compromise for traction on different surfaces. On slick mud I'd have liked something more aggressive, but most of the time that the Timp was inadequate, I don't think any shoe would have provided grip.
* {{H:shape}}. Altra shoes are some of the few that attempt to actually fit the human foot. The Timp does a great job of fitting the outline of the human foot, and there's more headroom for your toes than many Altra shoes. I ran for 250+ miles in them before I started to experiment with cutting the toe box open. For the Timp, this is mostly to allow my toes to bend upwards to tighten the plantar facia, something called the windlass mechanism. This raising of the toes strengthens the foot for landing, something most shoes prevent. {{H:TryCuttingShoes}}
* {{H:upper}}. For trail running I really like the upper on the Timp. It's strong, with a good toe bumper, and I had no abrasion problems even running on rugged trails. The best part of the upper is the ankle opening, which is softly padded and cut low. Running gnarly trails means your angle is going to be twisting and bending far more than on roads or groomed trails. The Timp never caused me problems, even when my ankle was at the limit of its range of motion. <br/>[[File:Altra Timp Upper (2).jpg|center|thumb|300px|The upper backlight.]]
* {{H:tongue}}. The Timp has a traditional tongue with a gaiter down most of both sides, and is nicely padded. It stayed in place and remained comfortable at all times.
* {{H:lacing}}. The flat laces stayed tied without problems or needing double knotting.
* {{H:heelcounter}}. The Timp has a hard heel counter, but it's low enough that it does nothing.
{{FastBlr|altra/Timp-2-1078|1078|Altra Timp}}
=After 280 miles=
I've used the Timp on many trails in the 30-50 mile range, as well as shorter, faster runs. I've used it on groomed trails, gnarly rocky trails, thick mud, ankle deep bogs, as well as road sections. The Timp proved excellent on pretty much any surface except for thick, slick mud. In some situations, I think a more aggressive sole would have helped, but that would have compromised its ability on other surfaces. After this distance there's no noticeable wear on the outsole, but the midsole has compressed quite a bit. This is less of an issue for trail use than it would be on road, but the compression does create a tilt that's similar to running on a camber.
<gallery widths=300px heights=300px class="center">
File:Altra Timp 280 (2).jpg
File:Altra Timp 280 (1).jpg
</gallery>
=A Comparison with other Recommended Shoes=
{{:Shoes-include}}
I've come to appreciate the Altra Timp over the last few hundred miles, and it's been a great companion on some wonderful adventures. I've using them on a wide variety of surfaces, from the slick mud and deep bogs of the English fells, to the gnarly rocky trails of the appellation Mountains, and even some connecting roads. I've done a number of self-supported, day long runs of 30-50 miles, and they've proved themselves a wonderful multipurpose running shoe. They don't have the incredible sticky outsole of the [[Hoka Mafate]], but the latest version of the Mafate has moved away from the grippy [[RMAT]] to a Vibram outsole. There were a couple of times when I really missed the grip of the Mafate, the Timp letting me down (literally), but the Timp is a better all-around trail shoe. While the Timp lacks head room in the toe box, it doesn't press the toes down as much as many other shoes, and I managed to run hundreds of miles in them before I cut open the toe box. I rated the Timp as "Highly Recommended", and now the Mafate no longer has the RMAT outsole, the Timp may dethrone it as "best of the best". {{H:WhatToLookForInShoes}}
<gallery widths=300px heights=300px class="center">
File:Altra TIMP-top.jpg|Altra TIMP top
File:Altra TIMP-outside.jpg|Altra TIMP outside
File:Altra TIMP-bottom.jpg|Altra TIMP bottom
File:Altra TIMP-inside.jpg|Altra TIMP inside
</gallery>
=Characteristics=
* {{H:cushioning}}. Altra consider the Timp "high cushioning", which is below their maximalist category. I found it a nice level of cushioning on both road and trail surface. This amount of cushioning reduces the amount you feel the ground, but it also adds to the grip by conforming to the shape of the terrain. The cushioning is quite soft, but has a moderate amount of spring. The cushioning-to-weight ratio is pretty poor, as this is a fairly heavy shoe. However, the weight penalty is not so unreasonable in a good trail shoe that provides comfort and protection.
* {{H:drop}}. The Timp has a little bit of drop, either loaded or unloaded, but it's small enough that I doubt many runners will be able to detect it.
* {{H:structure}}. The Timp uses just one density of foam and doesn't attempt to manipulate or interfere with your natural biomechanics.
* {{H:flexibility}}. The thickness of the Timp makes it rather inflexible, though I found it loosened up with the miles.
* {{H:outsole}}. There's harder rubber over the vast majority of the soft midsole, with just small patches that of midsole foam exposed. I've found the outsole to be hard wearing, and the lugs are a reasonable compromise for traction on different surfaces. On slick mud I'd have liked something more aggressive, but most of the time that the Timp was inadequate, I don't think any shoe would have provided grip.
* {{H:shape}}. Altra shoes are some of the few that attempt to actually fit the human foot. The Timp does a great job of fitting the outline of the human foot, and there's more headroom for your toes than many Altra shoes. I ran for 250+ miles in them before I started to experiment with cutting the toe box open. For the Timp, this is mostly to allow my toes to bend upwards to tighten the plantar facia, something called the windlass mechanism. This raising of the toes strengthens the foot for landing, something most shoes prevent. {{H:TryCuttingShoes}}
* {{H:upper}}. For trail running I really like the upper on the Timp. It's strong, with a good toe bumper, and I had no abrasion problems even running on rugged trails. The best part of the upper is the ankle opening, which is softly padded and cut low. Running gnarly trails means your angle is going to be twisting and bending far more than on roads or groomed trails. The Timp never caused me problems, even when my ankle was at the limit of its range of motion. <br/>[[File:Altra Timp Upper (2).jpg|center|thumb|300px|The upper backlight.]]
* {{H:tongue}}. The Timp has a traditional tongue with a gaiter down most of both sides, and is nicely padded. It stayed in place and remained comfortable at all times.
* {{H:lacing}}. The flat laces stayed tied without problems or needing double knotting.
* {{H:heelcounter}}. The Timp has a hard heel counter, but it's low enough that it does nothing.
{{FastBlr|altra/Timp-2-1078|1078|Altra Timp}}
=After 280 miles=
I've used the Timp on many trails in the 30-50 mile range, as well as shorter, faster runs. I've used it on groomed trails, gnarly rocky trails, thick mud, ankle deep bogs, as well as road sections. The Timp proved excellent on pretty much any surface except for thick, slick mud. In some situations, I think a more aggressive sole would have helped, but that would have compromised its ability on other surfaces. After this distance there's no noticeable wear on the outsole, but the midsole has compressed quite a bit. This is less of an issue for trail use than it would be on road, but the compression does create a tilt that's similar to running on a camber.
<gallery widths=300px heights=300px class="center">
File:Altra Timp 280 (2).jpg
File:Altra Timp 280 (1).jpg
</gallery>
=A Comparison with other Recommended Shoes=
{{:Shoes-include}}