The Outroad 2 is a trail shoe that’s designed to feel comfortable on the road but still able to tackle lighter trails. With a 27mm stack and a zero drop, it’s a shoe that’s built to feel natural when running off-road, with a noticeably wide toe box to allow your feet plenty of space to move around.
The engineered mesh upper has been updated to be more durable and incorporates Altra’s Slim Footshape fit to hold the shoe in place securely around key areas. There’s an Altra EGO midsole foam for a balanced ride across road and trail, coverered with a healthy layer of MaxTrac outsole rubber to provide grip as well as protection for the midsole.
Tom and Kieran have taken the shoe out on a first run to get some early thoughts on the ride.
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Jump right in:
00:00 – Intro
00:20 – Stats
00:25 – Design
01:10 – How’s the Fit?
02:00 – The First Run Test
11:38 – Early Verdict
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Hey Tommy from the Run testers in this Video myself and Kieran are going to be Doing a first run review of the ultra Outroad 2. let's take a look [Music] The ultra outro 2 costs 130 pounds or 140 weighs in at 200 and weighs in at 296 rounds or 10.4 ounces for men in a Size 8. the drop is zero millimeters and That's a 27 millimeter stack height The outro 2 is a trail shoe that's Designed to feel comfortable on the road But still able to tackle lighter trails With a 27 millimeter stack and a zero Drop it's a shoe that's built to feel Natural when running off-road with a Noticeably wide toe box to allow your Feet plenty of space to move around the Engineered mesh upper has been updated To be more durable and incorporate Ultra's slim foot shape fit to hold the Shoe in place securely around key areas There's an ultra ego midsole foam for a Balanced ride across Road and Trail and That's covered with a healthy layer of Max track outsole rubber to provide grip As well as protection for the midsole So on the first run in the ultra outro Two trying to say a quick word on fit I'm running in a UK eight and a half and This is how I would go through the size Plenty of room in the toe box as you get With Ultras plenty of heel padding and Cushioning uh they've tightly in the
Heel they're no slipping got good lace Down locked down and now we suggest Going true to size so far and what I've Done in this first run so the fit for me In the outro 2 uh I would say that it Does come up a bit small this is a size Eight I'm a size eight I don't normally Have problem with many shoes but I did Find these came up a bit small the I've Not done loads of miles in this shoe so It wasn't an issue for me but it's Definitely a little little bit less Space than I'd want at the front of the Toe box so I probably uh go up half a Size in the outright twos So I'm just back from a first run in the Ultra out road two I'm down here in North Devon so I've just run a bit of North Devon Coastline from beautiful Place called Westford hoe out running Towards kind of clovelly which is where I was born I've got a drip on my nose Here apologies for that still sweating As I sit in the car yeah what to say About these shoes I think instant step In comfort in these is great actually These are shoes are when you put them on Super comfortable really easy to step Out go and start running in them you Know they're plush padded there's loads And loads of room in the toe box which Is kind of textbook Ultra in fact I Think I'm starting to fall in love with Ultra's kind of roomy toe boxes those
Anatomically correct they follow the Kind of the curve of your toes the Natural sweep of the way that your toes And your foot shape is and actually There's just so much room that you You've got it's just really really Comfortable there's no jutting up Against the ends of the shoes when You're on the Steep Downs there's no Bashing on the top of the uh shoe on Those bits as well so um this is quite Technical here there's some very very Steep it's very Stony very gnarly when You're planting your feet you're getting None of the kind of slipping none of the Bashing and that's a a really happy Thing overall I'd categorize these shoes Really as kind of they're sort of easy Cruising Trail shoes I don't know the exact way off the top Of my head but they I think they're Quite heavy but they feel fairly light On the foot overall they don't feel too Heavy as a trail shoe goes the grip was Great on the dry stuff that I had here There's lots of loose Stones uh quite Technical kind of Stony bits but nothing Too slippy nothing too wet it's very dry Out here so but on those kind of steep Bits the grip was great performed Perfectly don't know how that would hold Up if you're talking about something Where it's a bit more wet and a bit more Slippy but yeah on most of the kind of
Coastal path terrain that you've got Here which can be quite technical they Were pretty good in terms of the upper Comfort tick I think that's great I Think they've got a good foothold now in Terms of the ride This is an ultra thing that I found so Far when you put them on initially they Feel firm you know a lot of trail shoes Do innovate to do the same to be honest You know I think so certain sort of the Older kind of hokers maybe did this but These are a firmer shoe but I think There's just enough softness in there I Think they're quite balanced actually Overall and once you get clipping along Onto the softer bits of trails They are really nice and easy to run in There's enough cushioning just about Are they not too soft and spongy so you Feel kind of connected to the ground you Feel the contact coming up through Enough to feel sort of in control you Know they do allow some of the lumps and Bumps to come up through and it depends I quite like that on a trail I feel like I quite need that I need to know when my Foot's hitting a rock so I quite enjoyed Sort of that sensation generally in Terms of control speaking of which I Think stability in that platform because It's a bit firmer it's nice and wide There's good stability on the issues They work very well for me in that sense
As well I actually think these would be a shoe That I could run long slow Ultras in I've only done five miles but they just Had that sensation about them when I Broke into the road sections as well and Onto firmer ground they were also fine I Felt like a clip through I did I think About a mile and a half of that was Actually on a road as I came off the Coast path which I wanted to test Because I feel like this is a shoe that People might be considering taking on Sort of road to Trail or you know those Kind of ultra runs and it cope very well With those as well overall I have to say On that first round I really enjoyed the Shoe I didn't think necessarily I was Going to but I think it's a happy easy Cruising sort of low and slow head up You know mental health run out there Which is what I've just done I'm just Coming back from a cold so I wasn't Going particularly fast these shoes Worked really nicely I'd put them in the Same sort of bracket as a slightly Firmer innovate shoe maybe the trail fly Ultra g270 maybe something like that Where you know you are going to get firm This they're not going to be soft and Squishy they're probably firmer I think Something like a speed goat probably a Bit heavier than a speed goat but I yeah I think a really interesting shoe I'm
Looking forward to doing some more miles In them actually because I I have really Enjoyed them so far I guess the other Thing that's really important to mention Here obviously these are a zero drop Shoe so they do run quite flat you don't Get quite as much Rock ring as I think You might find on some Hoka shoes I Didn't personally mind that I did feel It initially a little bit I mean I'm if You're not used to running in zero drop Shoes maybe you'll be aware of that I Did feel a little bit of tightness the Base of my calves are eased off after a While enough well I didn't really notice I was running Zero Drop And that was kind of fine there's not Quite as much rockering so you don't get Quite as much roll through as you might In some other sort of Hoka shoes which I I'd kind of put these up against in Terms of the overall kind of sort of Stack and the geometry to a certain Extent I've actually done two runs in These now I did a very light 5K run in Them and then I did a 10K in them as Well um and the shoe is designed Primarily as a road to Trail shoe so um The trails and the road that I was doing It on were around Park paths uh and some Roads Um and what I found is this is a zero Drop shoe I very very rarely use a zero Drop shoe and the stack height is
Um relatively small 27 millimeters for Something that I would use I don't Normally use many shoes that have a Stack height that low Um and what I found with it is that it Doesn't really feel like a zero drop Shoe to me it felt I didn't notice it Was a zero drop shoe until I actually Read about it afterwards it does feel Um like like it wasn't that alien me Running in this shoe what I found out on The road is that that midsole foam is Pretty firm it's a pretty firm midsole Foam and when it's out on the road it Does feel quite hard to run in Um it just it just felt like I was Hitting the ground a little bit hard it Doesn't feel like there was any give in The shoe and there's definitely no Softness to it as well I'm a runner that Really likes soft shoes and this is Definitely not a soft shoe so as a road To Trail shoe I would say that it Definitely doesn't really work that well On the road Um that's after about 15K of running for Me so maybe that midsole foam will get a Little bit softer over time but Initially my first thoughts on it is That it is not a particularly Comfortable Road shoe to wear just Because it just doesn't feel like it's Got any give in it at all there's Definitely no bounce back in it there's
Definitely no softness in it Um and it it doesn't really feel that Responsive to me on the road either the Other thing I would say as well on on The road is that the outsole is it's Pretty Um plasticky it isn't fairly sticky Um but when you're actually running on The road I was going across some wet Sections on the road and it didn't feel Like it gripped onto those Um those bits of wet pavement very well Um so on the road I wasn't a big fan of It over those first couple of runs and Um definitely wouldn't want to take it Out for a a run that was mainly on the Road um but when I got onto the actual Trail sections uh of the run it it was a Lot better that midsole foam that Firmness in it it just felt like it Suddenly started to work for me Um I wasn't doing particularly technical Terrain I was doing slightly muddy paths Grass public footpaths that sort of Thing Gravelly areas and on all of that It felt very good Um I definitely didn't feel like the Zero drop was a problem for me Um it felt like it could handle this off The ground quite well the firmer midsole Even here Works quite well with the Softer grounds so you feel like you're Actually getting something from it and The outsole grip it's fairly
Um for a shoe that's really pegged as a Rototrell shoe that outsole grip's Pretty good on them on softer ground I Felt like uh it had quite a lot of Control on the grass and the muddy paths That I was running on Um so definitely comes into its own when You when you're hitting the trails or The lighter Trails it's not really a Shoe design for technical Trails Um but on those lighter Trails it did Feel like it was significantly better at Those than running on the road sections Um it's not particularly light shoe it Does feel quite clunky it doesn't look Like a particularly big shoe but it is Relatively heavy and so I didn't feel Like it was a particularly fast shooter Running I I wasn't able to really pick Up the pace comfortably in it over those First couple of runs at slower Paces it Felt absolutely fine um I definitely Want to run faster than this it's not a Lightweight fast Trail shoe it's really Just a Workhorse shoe that Is designed to be used for lighter Trails and stuff like that and road but I definitely wouldn't use it on road Um other than that I'd say it was a Relatively successful first run I didn't Notice anything massively outstanding About it one thing I would say about the Shoe is that it does have quite a lot of Padding it feels like a relatively plush
Shoe um when you when you wear it it's Quite comfortable Um to wear I'm not a massive fan of this Wide toe box I know Ultra have white toe Boxes I know it's designed in the same Way as Um sort of barefoot running shoes where Your your feet are designed to splay out Quite a bit it just felt a little bit Too loose for me around the front Section of the foot uh not massive Problem Um but I just wasn't used to it so I'm Presuming that if you're a fan of ultra Shoes or or shoes that have a lot of Space Um to let your feet uh move around Freely you probably know a lot about Ultra and you're probably a big fan of That sort of design it's not I don't Really like it that much I would like it To be a little bit more restricted to Relevant section of the phone just so That my foot feels a little bit secure But having said that I didn't have any Issues at all with the overall fit of The shoe on the run it felt like it was Locked down quite nicely Um and and had no problems at all with It So my early verdict on the ultra out Road 2 is that it's a competent Workhorse I think the fact that it's Classed as a road to Trail shoe is
Probably not very accurate I definitely Would put this as as a trail shoe for Lighter Trails I wouldn't say it's a Particularly good Roadshow unless you Really like firm Road shoes I don't Think that midsole does a great deal Maybe if you're a runner that is used to Zero drop shoes you probably don't run With a lot of Stack that midsole may Actually be plenty for you but for a Runner that's used to running on the Trails and the road uh in shoes that Have a bit more stack and a little bit The softer midsole in them I did notice That on the road that it just didn't Really give me much back so Um I think if you're looking at these And you've never used Ultra before Um you might be surprised at how firm That is on the road because it for me it It just doesn't work very well as a Versatile Rotator Trail shoe and but on The trail sections it's absolutely fine I think it is a solid comfortable shoe To to wear on the trails for comfortable Daily miles it feels very sturdy feels Quite durable and definitely Um I had no issues with it so relatively Successful first run on the trails not So much on the road for me so my first Run verdict on the ultra outro to then Is broadly a positive one I've just Enjoyed those five and a half miles in These shoes I felt that they coped
Really well with exactly the run that I Just did it's very you know at the very Slow very low heart rate very easy just Clipping along you know quite a lot of Technical ups and downs there they coped On the UPS they coped on the downs I Think over lumps and bumps you know that Midsole though it's firmer does it lets You know what's there but does soak up Just about enough I didn't feel too much kind of impact Coming up from the trails overall so the Feet felt comfortable they felt nicely Cradled actually in the footbed I think The cushioning and the padding makes These feel like quite a plush sort of Long run shoe as well yeah I think They're a bit heavier maybe as trail Shoes go but I don't mind that too much And they ran okay there I didn't feel Like they were particularly cumbersome On there you've got a nice wide stable Base to write off so overall from the First round though I think I'm sort of Mildly impressed with the ultra outro Too and I think one of the things I'm Really sort of falling in love with is That Ultra out toe box that nice kind of Big width particularly on the trails I Think that really Serves a good purpose you don't have any Pressure points no bashing of those toes Which is you know if you suffer black Toenails that's probably what's that
Causing it so yeah overall first run Verdict of the ouch out row two it's a Thumbs up for me so far looking forward To testing more that's it from us thanks A lot for watching this first run don't Forget to like subscribe click the Little bell and check the channel out For all the other videos we've got also If you go into the caption below you can Find a link to our podcast which comes At the end of each month lasts about 45 Minutes to an hour so it's a good length Of time if you want something to do when You're out on a run Um so yeah click on that in the caption Below and you can listen to all the ones We've done over the past year or so Thanks a lot for watching catch you next Time [Music]
