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Hello, this is Mike P from Road Trail Run. Today I'll be giving you my first take on the
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Ultra Experience Wild. Now, for me personally, this is my first experience with a non-zero drop Ultra shoe
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I know they've come out with a 4 mil drop model last year, but I didn't get a chance to run in it
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And they're coming out with three new Experience models. The stack of this Wild version comes in at 32 millimeters under the heel and 28 millimeters under the forefoot
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So again, 4 millimeter drop. It has Ultra's wide toe box here
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Very spacious. As you can see, I've got a Timp 5 on one foot and I've got the other Experience Wild on my other foot here
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I'm going to talk through the fit and differences a little bit later. So I just took these out for an hour. Flat gravel path, easy run
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And I have to say, this could be the shoe I've been looking for for a long time
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If you've read any of my reviews or watched any of my recent reviews on YouTube, you know that I'm a midfoot forefoot striker
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I like to have a little bit of cushion. I don't like overly back-weighted shoes, chunks of foam under the heel
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A lot of times when I'm looking for a highly cushioned shoe, most of the options on the market really cater or at least are kind of oriented towards heel strikers and the general running population
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So even if you can kind of find a shoe that you like in terms of the amount of cushioning and volume underfoot of foam, a lot of times that's centered under the heel
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There's big flare outs. The heel is wide. Maybe even in the back you have a tail of foam sticking out, which is all well and good for some runners
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But if you're like me and you really land on that midfoot, center of the foot, sometimes even a little bit too much on the forefoot, a lot of that foam and volume of weight in the heel can make the shoe feel unbalanced
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It's almost like I'm carrying unnecessary weight around. So I've done some timed races in the past. Recently I've also dabbled in backyard ultras
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Specifically in those types of events, I want a lot of cushion, but I also don't want a lot of weight
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So it's kind of a struggle to find a highly cushioned shoe that feels comfortable for me in terms of the cushion that I want and also having the toe box that I want
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I want to be comfortable for events that could last 24 hours or sometimes even more
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Topos have worked well for me in the past. Ultras typically have not
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I mean, the zero drop is not my thing specifically. I know a lot of runners love it, but for me, I kind of wish they'd had a little bit of a drop
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So here you've got four millimeters. You have that really spacious toe box
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This is a very soft, very cushioned feel underfoot. You have a Max Trax outsole right here
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So you get a little bit of trail grip here. It's a trail outsole
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It's not Vibram Mega Grip, but I think the lug pattern is better than, for example, the Timp 4, which had flat, shallow lugs
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So in terms of a non-Vibram outsole and also this is probably one of their better patterns here
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Now getting back to what I love about this shoe the most is the amount of cushion underfoot
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The balanced feel, 32 under the heel, 28 under the forefoot, but not a lot of heft centered under the heel
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And of course, the forefoot is wider. So with four millimeters extra under the heel, yet you have a wider forefoot
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This shoe feels perfectly balanced to me. I don't feel like I'm kind of pulling along extra weight in the heel unnecessarily when I want to really have that cushion absorb my landings on the midfoot
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Now in terms of weight, this shoe is 9.8 ounces, exact same weight as my Timp 5 that I have on right here
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It feels light, 28 millimeters under the forefoot. That's a great amount of cushion for me as a somewhat lightweight runner
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Now, as it compares to the Timp 5, here you have the Ego Max Foam
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I would say it's not as responsive as the Timp 5. I don't know the details on the foam that they're using in the Experience Wild, but just going for a quick A-B jaunt on these
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The Timp 5, the foam feels a little bit firmer, a little bit more responsive, just as dense
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This is probably, actually probably a little bit lighter than this. It feels a little bit softer, a little bit more give to it
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And that probably matches the overall feel of the shoe. In terms of the two uppers, I would say width across the forefoot is pretty much the same, but you have a bit more height in the Experience Wild
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The Timp 5 has a more rigid upper. It straps down more
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If you take a look at the shoes as I have them on my feet here, the lace throat of the Wild comes up pretty narrowly above the top of my foot
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So you have a little bit of kind of area here that's not necessarily strapped down, whereas in the Timp 5, you see this is wider
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These are both US 9.5s. So here, this gives you a more secure fit
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Here, this throat is coming together narrowly. It's a little bit looser over here
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There's a little bit more foot movement here. Timp 5 definitely has the edge in technical terrain
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I haven't tested this one yet, but I could kind of feel inside the shoe that the Timp is more locked down
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If you want to run in technical terrain, you have two options here
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You have zero drop, same exact weight, 9.8 ounces here, 9.8 ounces here
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If you want to cruise on more mellower trails, and like me, if you're looking for an option that's cushioned, but doesn't feel like it's designed for heel strikers specifically, this is an amazing shoe
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Something great from Altra. I'm really glad that they're expanding into 4mm drops now
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So I'll be coming at you with a full review of the Experience Wild
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Altra is really bringing something new to the table. And if a shoe like this, as I've described, you want some cushion, but you don't want to feel back-weighted, you're not a heel striker, you want that roomy toe box, if those are things that you're looking for, as I have been for a long time, this could be a game changer for you
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I don't want to go overboard, but this could be a game changer. I'm going to go ahead and get my shoes on
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I'm going to go ahead and get my shoes on. I'm going to go ahead and get my shoes on
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I'm going to go ahead and get my shoes on. I'm going to go ahead and get my shoes on
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I'm going to go ahead and get my shoes on. I'm going to go ahead and get my shoes on
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I'm going to go ahead and get my shoes on. I'm going to go ahead and get my shoes on
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I'm going to go ahead and get my shoes on. I'm going to go ahead and get my shoes on
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I'm going to go ahead and get my shoes on. I'm going to go ahead and get my shoes on
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I'm going to go ahead and get my shoes on
