Altra Duo

Name: Altra Duo
Brand: Altra

Daily trainer · Neutral · Road · 8.4 oz

Discontinued — we no longer see this shoe in stock. The Altra Duo 1.5 replaced it

How it ranks

The Altra Duo trails most daily trainers in our data. Cushioning and comfort are its strongest sub-ratings. The rating rests on 4 runner reviews and 1 other rated shoe in the Duo product line. Another 8 reviews would set the confidence on this shoe's own reviews.

Below average

60/100

Overall

Below average 60

Cushioning

Good 85

Comfort

Decent 75

Value

Decent 74

Durability

Below average 63

Appearance

Below average 60

Confidence

How settled the rating is against every other rated shoe. A shoe can rate high on confidence with relatively few reviews of its own when its product line has a long record and external ratings from retailer sites agree. Confidence will score low when we have few ratings or when runners disagree.

See the product line's history

Confidence

44/100

Low 44

What runners say

“I had to size a full size down in the Altra compared to other shoes.”

4/5 Full review 65 mpw came from the Pearl Izumi EM Road N 2 v3

“The right shoe sole actually caved in at 350 miles.”

5/5 Full review 36 mpw

“The stitching on the tongue has given me hot spots on the top of my feet.”

3/5 Full review 40 mpw training for a marathon came from the Altra Paradigm 3.0

“The sole started to click and pop at 250 miles.”

5/5 Full review 36 mpw

“There is excess material in the vamp which tends to bunch up and causes additional hot spots.”

3/5 Full review 40 mpw training for a marathon came from the Altra Paradigm 3.0

“This shoe has max cushioning but is very light weight.”

5/5 Full review 50 mpw training for a half marathon came from the HOKA Arahi v1

“My toes feel great in the wide toe box.”

5/5 Full review 50 mpw training for a half marathon came from the HOKA Arahi v1

“The shoe is surprisingly light for such a big shoe.”

4/5 Full review 65 mpw came from the Pearl Izumi EM Road N 2 v3

“It is very stiff but still comfortable.”

4/5 Full review 65 mpw came from the Pearl Izumi EM Road N 2 v3

Prefer this shoe over another

17% 1/6

Where to buy

No offers available

Affiliate links included. They never affect our ratings.

Prices updated daily. Last checked Sep 14.

Pros

Two reviewers call it surprisingly light for such a big shoe, and it averages 7.8 oz across the men's and women's builds, lighter than the 8.9 oz median for daily trainers on sale.
Cushioning averages 4.5 out of 5 across four reviews, and one reviewer suggests it for long, slow road runs.
One reviewer with bad knees values the wide toe box and the zero drop.

Cons

One reviewer has the sole click and pop at 250 miles and cave in at 350.
Another gets hot spots from the tongue stitching and excess material in the vamp.
One reviewer sizes a full size down compared with their other shoes.

Duo rates 60. This shoe has low certainty. See how we rate shoes.

Better Shoes Rating of prior versions of the Altra Duo

Each dot is one version of the Duo, placed by its rating and release year. The gold dot is this shoe.

Rating

40 60 80 100

60 2018 68 2019

Release year

We use the reviews of past versions to inform this shoe’s rating. See why.

Duo 1.5

2019 · 1 review

68 Below average

3 Confidence
Duo This shoe

2018 · 4 reviews

60 Below average

44 Confidence

Reader Ratings

4 ratings

5/5 2

4/5 1

3/5 1

2/5 0

1/5 0

See written reviews Write a review

Specs & fit

Sizing and ride details at a glance.

Weight: 8.4 oz
Release: 2018 Q1
MSRP: $130

Runner reviews

Write a review

Good maximalisy shoe

4/5

Overall

The shoe is surprisingly light for such a big shoe. It is very stiff but still comfortable. I dont have 100 miles on it yet so i cannot attest to its durability. In general I prefer a more minimalist shoe but i still find it nice to rotate between various brands and different kind of shoes. It is possible to run half or full marathon in this (even though i would prefer something with a lower stack height) but i would consider it for a long slow runs or a runable ultra on the roads. For the faster runs i prefer a lower stack heights and a better feel of the ground. I had to size a full size down in the Altra compared to other shoes i have

Anonymous runner · Jan 19, 2020

65 mpw came from the Pearl Izumi EM Road N 2 v3

Comfort: 5/5
Cushioning: 5/5
Durability: 4/5
Appearance: 4/5
Value: 4/5

Reader review

5/5

Overall

My toes feel great in the wide toe box. Zero drop is ideal for my bad knees. This shoe has max cushioning but is very light weight.

Anonymous runner · Jul 12, 2019

50 mpw training for a half marathon came from the HOKA Arahi v1

Comfort: 5/5
Cushioning: 5/5
Durability: 4/5
Appearance: 5/5
Value: 5/5

Altra Duo strange sole

5/5

Overall

Great shoe except for the sole started to click and pop at 250 miles. Then the right shoe sole actually caved in at 350 miles.

Anonymous runner · May 27, 2018

36 mpw

Comfort: 4/5
Cushioning: 5/5
Durability: 4/5
Appearance: 5/5
Value: 4/5

The first Altra shoe that wasn't a good fit for me

3/5

Overall

I want to preface by saying this pair was part of the early release at Fleet Feet so I am not sure if subsequent pairs have been better. I run only in Altra shoes and I was really excited for this release. The shoes are light and look great but the stitching on the tongue has given me hot spots on the top of my feet. It also seems like there is excess material in the vamp which tends to bunch up and causes additional hot spots. Overall the shoe just doesn't work for me and I have returned to running in the Torin and Paradigm instead.

Anonymous runner · May 3, 2018

40 mpw training for a marathon came from the Altra Paradigm 3.0