Altra Torin 9 Review – Faster, But Where Does It Fit?

In short, the Torin 9 is a decent, lightweight speed shoe, and I’m not sure where it sits in the Altra lineup anymore.

I’ve had it on my feet for quite a while now. If you need zero drop, the Torin is the high-cushion option for you. But I’m not sure it really warrants just being zero drop.

That’s the question this review keeps coming back to. The geometry and the stability make it look a lot like Altra’s 4mm drop range. So what is zero drop actually buying you here?

Fit is the most important thing, so I’ll start there. Does it fit your foot? If it doesn’t, well, throw it out.

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At a Glance: Altra Torin 9

• Best For: Runners who want a zero-drop shoe to go fast in: speed work or a marathon
• Skip If: You want a training shoe that lets your foot work the way it does barefoot
• Stack Height: 28mm | Weight: 269g (9.8 oz) | Drop: Zero
• Overall: 7/10 — A decent, lightweight shoe that feels good picking up the speed, with a nicer heel than the 8. The rocker and toe spring make it hard to choose over Altra’s 4mm drop shoes.
• Price: $160 | Prices on Amazon

Fit

Does the Altra Torin 9 fit true to size?

I’d go half a size up from your Escalante size. I wear a normal US 9 in the Escalantes all the time, and I think I would have done a bit better in a 9.5.

It runs a smidge small. I wanted that little bit of extra room towards the end of the shoe, specifically because of the geometry, which I’ll get to in the feel section. I think you will too.

How wide is the toe box?

It’s an Altra, so it’s wider in the toe box. It’s okay on the big toe side, maybe a little bit more tapered than the Escalante 5. It’s still quite generous on the little toe side.

Good to see.

Is the shoe made for a high or low-volume foot?

This is a low-volume shoe. There are quite a lot of low-volume Altras, but this Torin specifically is pretty tight over the top of the foot.

If you find that, there is a wide option. A lot of you will need to go to the wide just to add a bit more volume, or do what I do and switch out the insoles.

It also runs narrow through the midfoot. That’s true of many Altras, but it’s exacerbated in the Torin because of the guardrails, where the midsole wraps up around the foot. You can see it on the inside too.

It puts a little bit of pressure on the outsides of the foot if you’re spilling over a little too much, like me. Again, the wide option will give you more room there.

Does the shoe have a good heel lock?

The heel is a nicer upgrade compared to the Torin 8. The 8 caused a few problems for people. This one has a little bit of flexibility. There’s some stiffness in there, but it’s not super stiff, and I think it’s narrowed slightly too.

It all came together into a really good heel lock for me. I didn’t even need a lace lock, which I normally use in most shoes.

It’s not the deepest heel, and maybe that’s why it works for me. If you need a more voluminous heel, look at the wide again.

What’s the tongue like?

It’s another iteration of the Altra tongue, and it does okay. It’s slightly padded and I didn’t feel any pressure through it.

It’s not gusseted at all, and it doesn’t really matter. It doesn’t slide around, especially in a lower-volume shoe like this. It does the job and doesn’t get in the way.

Feel

Is the 28mm stack height good or bad?

The Torin 9 is 28mm, the same in the heel and the forefoot. That’s the midsole, outsole and everything else before it reaches your foot. It doesn’t change too much from the Torin 8, which was 30mm. 2mm either way isn’t making much difference.

The difference is the foam. It’s maybe a little more squishy, a bit more forgiving and a bit more bouncy. I’m not so sold on that.

What is good is that it’s lightweight. Mine came in at 255g for a US 9, and I assume the weight saving comes from the foam. For a cushioned shoe, that’s okay, and underfoot it feels pretty good because of it.

What does the rocker do?

This is where the Torin 9 starts to differ: the geometry. Look towards the front and it ramps up, and it’s got a bit of toe spring in there.

It rolls you onto the front of the foot quite easily. You’ll feel like you’re rolling through your stride. But it also means your foot doesn’t function the way it would if you were walking around barefoot.

That’s not always a bad thing. If I wanted a road shoe to go really fast in and set PRs in, fair enough. I’d pick something that does this, because it lets me go faster for longer.

But for training, I’m not so sure. It’s a feel I don’t really love.

Does zero drop still matter here?

This is the part I keep getting stuck on. We see this same geometry in Altra’s 4mm drop range, the Formula or forward series or whatever you want to call it. I’ve written about whether Altra lost their way with the FWD Experience before.

So why wouldn’t you reach for one of those? Because you want zero drop. But if we’re compromising the foot-health side of the shoe anyway, does a 4mm drop make that much difference?

Add the stability. Those guardrails stop you slopping side to side, which is important in a higher-cushion shoe, but it makes the Torin quite stable. It looks a little more like those 4mm shoes again.

I’m not really convinced zero drop is doing much work here. If you want the full argument, I’ve covered low drop vs zero drop on its own.

In my rotation I’d have a shoe to go fast in, maybe a race shoe, and a shoe for foot-health reasons. For me that’s probably an Escalante, though right now it’s actually a Vanish Pulse. Is the third one a Torin? Probably, maybe. Is it one of the 4mm options? Maybe, and I don’t really care.

That makes it really hard to choose this shoe over the others. The last differentiators are the sizing and the wide option. If you’re choosing between Altra’s 4mm drop shoes and this one, and both fit, it just doesn’t matter anymore.

And remember this is coming from someone who usually runs in low-stack, very minimal barefoot shoes.

Is it fast?

Yes, and that’s the positive side. I could run fairly fast in it. Being lightweight, with that geometry, it felt pretty good picking up the speed, a lot better than the Torin 8, which I’d thought of as my potential marathon shoe.

If I really wanted to get the speed, I think this is a pretty good marathon shoe for me.

Is the shoe flexible?

There’s a little bit of flex, but people have oversold it. I have to put quite a bit of pressure through it to get any flex at all, and torsionally there’s a little bit again.

This is not a flexible shoe. We shouldn’t kid ourselves into thinking it is.

Durability

How long before the outsole wears out?

Most people lead with the Vibram outsole. Personally, I just don’t care that much. It’s a full rubber outsole. It may perform a little better and it may be more durable, but I’m not looking for super-high durability or super-duper grip from a road shoe.

If you’re running on really smooth, marble-like surfaces in the wet, maybe it makes more sense.

Altra shoes always break down somewhere else before the outsole. The foam is one example, the upper is another. You’ll break out of this before that outsole gives way. So does it matter? Not really.

Will the upper develop holes?

The upper is quite thin. If you flex through the forefoot a bit more, I can see it wearing through there quite quickly. The same goes if you have a slightly wider forefoot.

The heel and ankle cuffs sit a little lower than on some other Altras. Awesome, that’s great. I didn’t have as much of an ankle bone issue. But if you do rub against them, they’ll wear down exactly the same as your other Altras. That hasn’t changed.

Will the midsole foam pack out?

I don’t know yet. Altra are touting it as one of their newer foams, and I can’t tell you right now whether it will go dead or dull like the old Altras did. I’m really hoping it doesn’t.

A lot of the cushion actually comes from the insole. It’s quite thick and it does flatten out. That’s not such a bad thing: for some of us it gives a bit more volume after about 50km. But you do lose some of that plush feel, so keep it in mind while you’re breaking them in.

The Bottom Line

The Torin 9 is a decent shoe. It’s still a Torin-ish. It’s fairly lightweight, it feels good picking up the speed, and the heel is a nicer upgrade over the Torin 8.

The sizing options are a genuinely good thing. Having a wide option means it works for more kinds of feet.

But the geometry is what holds me back. The rocker, the toe spring and the guardrails take it close to Altra’s 4mm drop shoes, and at that point I’m not sure zero drop is the deciding factor anymore. Are there other options, even in the Altra lineup? Yes.

If you find it on sale, go for it. Why not? Is it the best shoe in the world? Probably not. Tough one for me.

Choose the Altra Torin 9 if:

• You want a zero-drop shoe to go fast in, for speed work or a marathon
• You want a lightweight cushioned shoe with a really good heel lock
• You need a wide option for your foot shape

Skip the Altra Torin 9 if:

• You want a training shoe that lets your foot work the way it does barefoot. Look at the Escalante 5 instead
• You have a high-volume foot or spill over the midfoot, unless you go for the wide
• You’re happy in Altra’s 4mm drop range already. With this geometry, zero drop isn’t making much difference

For where the Torin sits against the rest of the range this year, see Altra’s 2026 lineup.