Altra Torin 7 Review: A Reliable Daily Workhorse

 Stack Height, Drop, Weight and Price

The Altra Torin 7 follows Altra’s balanced cushioning design with a sizable 30mm stack in the heel and the forefoot, creating that trademark zero drop platform. The heel stack is lower and the forefoot stack is higher than many daily rivals.

When it comes to weight, our test UK men’s size 8.5 tipped the scales at 9.7oz or 275g. It’s not the heaviest daily trainer, the ASICS Gel Nimbus 25 (10.4 oz / 295g) and the Saucony Kinvara Pro (10.3oz / 291g) are heftier. But it’s not the lightest either.

On price, the Torin 7 lands at a mid-range $150. That’s relatively competitive compared to many of the newer top end daily trainers that can now easily hit the $180 mark.

Design

The Altra Torin 7 midsole has been updated with two extra millimetres of Altra EGO MAX foam across the whole base. That raises the stack from 28mm to a more generous 30mm, while retaining Altra’s trademark zero drop.

The compression-moulded EVA EGO Max foam is tuned to be softer than Altra’s regular EGO foam. But it’s not quite as responsive as the EGO Pro TPU that you find in Altra’s faster premium shoes. If you need a stable platform, the forefoot is nice and wide, creating a bigger, more reliable and landing zone. There’s also a mild forefoot rocker.

Up top, new engineered mesh uppers aim to improve breathability. The mesh is quite dense and foot-wrapping while the tongues are plusher and more padded than the Torin 6. There’s also a moulded heel collar to add support and comfort.

Flip them over and you get a set of midsole flex grooves and Altra’s FootPod outsole design. These map the bones and tendons in the foot, helping the midsole flex with your foot’s movement for a more natural ride.

Fit

I ran in a UK size 8.5 and I found these fit well true to size. You get Altra’s standard foot-shaped toe box that’s more snug than their most spacious fit shoes but there’s still ample space lengthwise and across the top.

Compared to most shoes these are roomy. There’s good space in the midfoot around the toe knuckle area and I also got a good fit into the heel and decent lockdown across the midfoot. I’d recommend going true to size in the Altra Torin 7.

Performance

In testing, I’ve run more than 40 miles in the Altra Torin 7. The majority of those miles have been low-and-slow, easy, base-building runs. My longest run was 90 minutes. But I’ve also thrown in the odd mixed-pace run, pushing the tempo to half and marathon pace to see how they coped. I logged my miles mainly on road but some light off road too.

First up, if you’re a fan of more disappearing daily trainers, you’ll notice these feel like more shoe on the foot than more agile rivals like the On Cloudsurfer 7 or the Saucony Endorphin Speed 3. That might be down to the wider midsole base.

Step-in comfort is great. There’s a softness to the footbed and a saloon-car plushness to the uppers, tongue and heel padding. Somehow the Altra Torin 7 manages to offer the best of both worlds: a snug fit across the midfoot and the heel to limit movement but a roomy-enough toe box so you’re not cramped.

The ride is quite well balanced, too. The Torin’s soft footbed delivers cradled landings, reducing road impact, while the big, wide platform offers reliable stability and fairly good control for a higher-stack shoe.

As a relative newcomer to Altra, I expected to notice the zero drop more. The Torin 7 lands quite flat and your toes do a lot of the work but that forefoot rocker offers just enough roll through to take the edge off the low drop. If you’re looking for your first zero drop shoe, this might offer a good introduction.

I’ve seen many reviewers tipping the Torin 7 as a good, versatile all-rounder daily trainers but in my tests I found they were much happier cruising low-and-slow at easy or recovery pace than trying to knock out faster pace miles. They can cope with uptempo efforts but they wouldn’t be my first choice.

The road-eating comfort comes largely from the boosted midsole compression that delivers more return and resilience than the likes of the Altra Via Olympus. Though these avoid being squishy and wobbly like some more cushioned daily trainers. The Torin 7 runs quite notably firmer than the really soft, springy combination you get from shoes like the ASICS Gel Nimbus 25 or the New Balance 1080V13. So if you like your stack a bit stiffer, these might be for you.

My Verdict

The Altra Torin 7 is a well-balanced, happy cruiser that ticks a lot of the right boxes for a good daily trainer. If you’re looking for an easy-mile option that offers balanced cushioning, good reliable stability and good overall comfort, they’re definitely a good option. Or if you want a shoe that can help you transition to zero drop, the Torin 7 could be a good bridge.

Some fans of bigger-stacked shoes might find them ok for faster-paced efforts but for me, they fall just short of offering that top speed, agility and punch that many newer daily trainers offer. They wouldn’t be my choice for intervals or anything faster than marathon-pace training runs and overall I tend to look for a little more range in a do-it-all daily shoe.

Other shoes to consider: The newer 4mm-drop Altra FWD Experience feels faster and more versatile. And for a similar price, the Hoka Mach 5, the Saucony Triumph 21, the On Cloudsurfer 7 all offer a more comprehensive all-round package.