The Altra Mont Blanc Carbon is a carbon-plated trail shoe that’s built for speed on technical trails. It joins a growing list of carbon trail shoes along with the Adidas Terrex Agravic Speed Ulra and the North Face Vectiv Pro 2. But how does the zero-drop option perform on runnable trails? Run Tester Kieran takes them for a first spin to find out. Hit play for the Altra Mont Blanc Carbon First Run review.
JUMP STRAIGHT IN:
0:00 – Intro
0:20 – Stack, drop, weight & price
0:44 – The Run Test
4:22 – Early verdict
6:04 – Fit
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Hey people welcome to the run test it's Kieran here and Welcome to our first run Look at the Altra Mont Blanc carbon now This is another carbon plated Trail shoe It's designed for going fast Speedy over Technical terrain I've just taken it out For a first spin here in the New Forest And this is what I Found so first up some quick details and When it comes to stack height the outra Has a 29 mil stack across the shoe with Altra's trademark zero drop on the scale The alra Mont Blanc carbon coming at 257 G or 9 oz in my men's UK and a half test Shoe size on price you'll pay 220 in the UK or $260 in the US so this is a very Pricey Trail Shoe so I've just done my first run in The Altra Mont Blanc carbon I've done Six miles on mixed terrain some on a bit Of road like this behind me a lot of it I went off into the forest behind here And went off track into muggy kind of Marshy bits also some kind of off-road Trails that have been cut by horses as Well as some groom Stony paths some of It's hard some of it's been really soft Because we're just coming out of the wet Weather here into the summer and in the Forest here that means that the terrain It will literally snap from being kind Of hard and firm to being sort of ankle Deep mud very quickly so it's been a Really good test for these shoes I
Wasn't really sure what to expect and I Have to say fresh out of the box I'm Super impressed with these trail shoes Obviously got that foot long carbon Plate they have got two kind of Densities of foam going on here and the Thing to say is they are nice and soft But not over cushioned there's good Ground contact but there's good Protection I think there's a real nice Balance to them there's a little bit of Energy coming back from the mid soole But it's not too aggressive it's not too Much you do feel controlled I feel Stable in the shoes but well cradled Yeah I I those first kind of five or six Miles on really really mixed terrain They've been great even in some really Kind of wet slippy mud the grips held up Nicely but then when you get back onto a Road stretch like this I haven't found Them too sticky and that that's when That kind of softer midsole the comp Plate kicks in because when you hit the Road sections these shoes actually run Really nicely on the road they're quite Smooth for the road sections I've done That obviously translates really nicely When you're on something that's a bit More groomed if I could show you maybe Even something behind me like this where You get something that's a bit grassy And it's a bit firmer for stretches That's where it's worked really well as
Well this is a shoe I think you can Attack runs in and feel very comfortable But I also feel like it's a shoe that is Not going to be too aggressive it's not Too direct and it's going to be a shoe That you can use for longer miles on Feet there's a really nice happy sort of Energy to them a happy clip along to Them the other thing to say I found them Really nice and light on the foot There's so much room in the toebox they Are roomy roomy roomy I know that's an Altra thing but this is really Pleasant If you like that kind of thing I you Know there's nothing at the end of the Shoes here I think there's really sort Of nice clearance across the top plenty Of room for your toes to playay that's a Really Pleasant feeling again I'm Thinking about kind of if I was to use This for an ultra run off-road on Trails I think that would cater for that really Nicely it makes the shoe feel you just I Think just really really comfortable but The real hero here is that kind of dual Density foam midsole that you've got Here or the two you know the two types Of foam that's going on here with that You know it's like a cradle basically System and it it works really really Nicely I I think they're very very well Balanced there's a nice softness and a Nice kind of return to the shoes that Doesn't make you feel like you're being
Pinged outout all over the place but it Does give you some extra energy and I Don't think they've lost that connection To the ground you know if sometimes You're running over tree roots and You're standing on stones and you're Standing on lumpy bits you want to feel What's going on Under Foot so you can Adjust accordingly you know and you're In control of it and sometimes when you Get the the carbon plate shoes and and With the bigger sort of foam stacks and You know when you start to get into Super foam some of that can be lost but Yeah so far in this shoe it's a big Thumbs up for me I've really enjoyed Those miles that I've done in them the On the foot Comfort is great nice Disappearing feel on the foot good Energy from the midsole but also nice And controlled can't I can't wait to get Out and do a few more miles in them Actually and see how they cope when You're really twisting and turning and Doing all those things that on slightly More technical terrain I think they're Going to cope really nicely but we will See First Impressions kind of verdict Then obviously we saved the full verdict For when we've done a review but my Thoughts on after running this the first Impressions are that I think altra's Made a very good shoe here this ticks a Lot of the right boxes for me personally
The way I run it's light on the foot Nice and roomy disappears on the foot Instantly fresh out the box and then you Get into that midsole ride which I think Is has a nice amount of life there's a Lot of energy to it but it's not Overdone it's not aggressive it's not Controlling you you're still in control Of this shoe and when you're kind of Hitting lumps and bumps and bits where You need to have control and a bit more Ground contact there's not too much of The foam kind of squishing there and Those bits of the trail where you still Want to have that ground contact and the Connection and feeling control you've Still got that going on here but in Terms of that longer run Comfort this is Taking out a lot of you're running on of Firmer compacted Trails it's just taking The edge off those really really nicely With a lot of energy to push you forward I think this is kind of a good shoe to Be attacking a fast runnable course Haven't tested it on Big Technical Terrain skilled Runners May well enjoy It for that as well I don't feel like It's going to fire you all over the shop On the mountain I feel like it's it's Got the balance there that you're going To be able to Corner nicely on more Technical terrain but that remains to be Seen but overall for this I think there Is a lot to like about this shoe so far
And I'm really looking forward to taking It for some more miles yes it's very Expensive it's up there with the other Expensive kind of carbon plated trail Shoes is it going to be worth it I think We'll have to leave that verdict until We've done our full review but so far The run today I really enjoyed it it has Done exactly what I need it to do out Here on quite mixed Terrain so when it comes to fit let's Start with a toe box there's a lot of Room at the end of this toe box easily a Thumbs width if not a little bit more up There you've got alra kind of anatomical Shape toe boox here it's nice and wide There's maybe yeah I mean it's not Hugging there on the on the little toe I Can feel it here on my little toe but It's nice and flexible here there's no No kind of squishing and tightness there Even onto the toe knuckle this is really Soft this upper so it sort holds the toe Knuckle but it doesn't restrict it Doesn't feel like it's anchoring it in Too much or at least sometimes if you Get something that's firmer here in Terms of the uppers it can kind of pinch A little bit and push on that but it's Not there's a lot of flex still got good Hold across the top of the midfoot here From the lacing section the laces have Held down nice moving up into the top of The shoe you've got these flat wrapping
Tongues they come up high enough there's Enough there to prevent any lace pinch And up here you've got quite minimal Heel colors they are very very flexible So there's no stiffness here you can see I can even kind of fold that down there Is a bit of padding it stays put which Is nice but again it doesn't restrict it Doesn't feel like it's going to dig in It sort of works with the foot as the Foot moves which is really quite nice so If you if you like something that really Holds there and holds that ankle in Place maybe they don't do so much of That but I personally quite like that Because it gives a bit sort of freedom Of movement I think there's you know They hold nice in the heels there was Been no slipping on that first run All good there and overall I ran in this In my regular Ultra size and I would Recommend going true to Siz in these Shoes so there you have it that's been Our first run look at the alra Mont blon Carbon I hope you found it useful don't Forget to hit like if you did share it With some other Runners who are looking For Speedy trail shoes if you think It'll be useful for them don't forget to Subscribe if you're not already to the Channel that stuff really helps us keep Making videos I'm going to pop two Videos up on the channel right now that I think you'll find useful if you're
Looking for good trail shoes otherwise Thanks for stopping by and we hope to See you again soon on the Run testers Happy running people