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{{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 original [[Hoka Mafate| Hoka Mafate Speed]], 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) on wet rock, 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 "Best of the Best" and is my top-rated trail shoe. The [[Altra Lone Peak]] is quite similar and very close, but I think the Timp is slightly better. {{H:WhatToLookForInShoes}}
<br/>'''Update''': I've tried the Timp 1.5 update, and the changes are more significant that you might expect from the ".5" number. The Timp 1.5 is much narrower in the midfoot and less roomy. It's also less stable under the forefoot, and a little less comfortable overall. I'm not going to test the Timp 1.5 as the Lone Peak 4.0 is a better (and more popular) shoe. I will check out the upcoming Timp 2.0.
<gallery widths=300px heights=300px class="center">
File:Altra TIMP-top.jpg|Altra TIMP top
* {{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 4mm 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.]]