Altra Instinct 2.0

Name: Altra Instinct 2.0
Brand: Altra
Rating: 4.4 (13 reviews)

Daily trainer · Neutral · Road · 10.2 oz · 19/19mm stack

Discontinued — we no longer see this shoe in stock. The Altra Instinct 3.0 replaced it

How it ranks

The Altra Instinct 2.0 sits about average for daily trainers in our data. Comfort and cushioning are its strongest sub-ratings. Looks scores well below its other sub-ratings. The rating rests on 13 runner reviews and 4 other rated shoes in the Instinct product line.

Decent

77/100

Overall

Decent 77

Comfort

Good 87

Cushioning

Decent 78

Value

Decent 71

Durability

Bottom-tier 58

Appearance

Bottom-tier 49

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

78/100

Moderate 78

What runners say

“It doesn't curve at the top. This allows your feet to splay out naturally and your toes have room to be a bit mobile.”

4/5 Full review 40 mpw training for a half marathon came from the Nike Air Zoom Pegasus 31

“Zero drop allows me to find a good running form quickly and the huge toe-box is exactly what my foot-shape needs.”

5/5 Full review 50 mpw

“Incredibly soft shoe, perfect for mileage runs and long runs.”

4/5 Full review 82 mpw training for a half marathon

“The shoes can be a bit slippery in the rain (on concrete) and slick in mud as well.”

4/5 Full review 40 mpw training for a half marathon came from the Nike Air Zoom Pegasus 31

“A little too squishy for speedwork or racing.”

4/5 Full review 20 mpw came from the Inov-8 Road-X 233

“The mesh on top of the shoe has torn, though only the outer layer—the real mesh is still intact after about 150 miles.”

4/5 Full review 40 mpw training for a half marathon came from the Nike Air Zoom Pegasus 31

“The mesh on the upper has ripped on the sides due to a lack of flexibility/forgivability.”

4/5 Full review 80 mpw training for a half marathon

“The toebox is built to D width, so contrary to first glances the shoe itself is not a wide shoe.”

4/5 Full review 40 mpw training for a half marathon came from the Nike Air Zoom Pegasus 31

“My toes can splay and forefoot is not cramped.”

4/5 Full review 20 mpw came from the Inov-8 Road-X 233

“This shoe is lacking in the response area.”

4/5 Full review 82 mpw training for a half marathon

Prefer this shoe over another

33% 3/9

Where to buy

No offers available

Affiliate links included. They never affect our ratings.

Prices updated daily. Last checked Sep 14.

Pros

Reviewers value the wide toe box that lets the toes splay naturally.
Reviewers use the zero-drop ride for base and long runs, and the one who rated cushioning gives it 5 out of 5.

Cons

Appearance draws 2.4 out of 5 across thirteen reviewers, the lowest mark of any dimension, with one calling it a clown shoe.
Several reviewers report the mesh upper tearing fairly early.
Reviewers find it too soft and unresponsive for faster paces.

Instinct 2.0 rates 77. This shoe has moderate certainty. See how we rate shoes.

Better Shoes Rating of prior versions of the Altra Instinct

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

Rating

40 60 80 100

77 2014 87 2015 94 2017 61 2012 88 2018

Release year

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

Instinct 4.5

2018 · 3 reviews

88 Good

54 Confidence
Instinct 1.5

2012 · 12 reviews

61 Below average

82 Confidence
Instinct 4.0

2017 · 3 reviews

94 Excellent

76 Confidence
Instinct 3.0

2015 · 7 reviews

87 Good

80 Confidence
Instinct 2.0 This shoe

2014 · 13 reviews

77 Decent

78 Confidence

Reader Ratings

13 ratings

5/5 6

4/5 6

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: 10.2 oz
Release: 2014
MSRP: $105
Stack Height: 19mm heel - 19mm toe

Runner reviews

Write a review

Reader review

4/5

Overall

Loveeeee the zero drop but the contour arch is annoying for my flat feet so I cut it out with a bagel knife. The mesh on the upper has ripped on the sides due to a lack of flexibility/ forgive-ability. The toe box seems to be made for western deformed toes/ feet and while "foot shaped" it still pushes my big toe over some. Despite these things I'm running healthy and the shoes has remained functional past 600 miles. At a price of 100$ I've been relatively pleased.

Anonymous runner · Feb 26, 2015

80 mpw training for a half marathon

Comfort: 4/5
Durability: 2/5
Appearance: 3/5
Value: 4/5

Reader review

5/5

Overall

Anonymous runner · Sep 20, 2014

75 mpw training for a half marathon

Comfort: 5/5
Durability: 5/5
Appearance: 1/5
Value: 5/5

Reader review

5/5

Overall

Anonymous runner · Sep 18, 2014

32 mpw training for a marathon

Comfort: 5/5
Durability: 3/5
Appearance: 3/5
Value: 5/5

Reader review

5/5

Overall

Great feel. Makes me want to go out for more.

coach comments nicely · Sep 15, 2014

30 mpw training for a half marathon

Comfort: 5/5
Durability: 5/5
Appearance: 3/5
Value: 4/5

Reader review

4/5

Overall

Incredibly soft shoe, I love using it for mileage runs and long runs, but whenever the pace is dropped its easy to see this shoe is lacking in the response area. If you have a go fast shoe for tempo runs and intervals, then this shoe has a perfect niche in your running shoe repitoire.

eljefepat · Sep 15, 2014

82 mpw training for a half marathon