With an eye on brand expansion and product evolution, Altra, the running footwear brand known for its zero-drop, natural motion shoes, will launch its first low-drop style, the AltraFWD Experience road shoe, next week. In doing so, Altra aims to offer a new running experience and category for the brand.

The AltraFWD Experience ($140) launches on October 3, and Altra execs describe it as a continuation of the brand’s “natural motion” mission while expanding its line to create shoes “that work for more and more runners.” It has a 4mm low drop (difference in height between the heel and forefoot) — the neutral stack heights are 32-28mm men’s and 30-26mm women’s. The design focuses on offering a run with “effortless feel and natural propulsion.”  

Altra co-founder Brian Beckstead stated, “Since the start, we’ve been all about creating what people need and sought to build shoes that work with your body from road to trail. We’ll never stop catering towards the Altra loyalists that are all about zero-drop, but we are super excited to expand our line-up and create a low-drop shoe that helps make Altra accessible to more runners – especially those that haven’t wanted to take the full leap into zero-drop.”

Constructed as a performance-forward lightweight shoe, the AltraFWD Experience features a comfortable engineered upper, a spacious toe box positioned on Altra’s Standard Footshape Fit and a rocker shape geometry that encourages efficient toe-off.