Customer Reviews Altra Olympus 5

When I stepped into these shoes, I was instantly impressed with the level of cushion, fit, finish, and overall comfort. Unfortunately, I noticed the vibram sole delaminating from the foam less than a month after purchase. C'mon, Altra.

I've had every generation of Olympus.this generation is not holding up. The tread is separating after less than 100 trail milesand I already had to use glue to fix a separation between the upper and the soles. In all the years I've worn Altra shoesI've never bitchedjust made my own repairs.but quality of the materials in this generation are sub par. For the prices Altra is commanding.I just won't play that game. Get your act together.

Altra certainly know how to design a comfortable long distance hiking shoe but they have failed with durability. I've tried and tested nearly every model of Altra trail shoes and enjoyed them for their comfort but the soles on these Olympus started peeling off on the third day. By day five and less than 100 miles in whole sections were coming off. Not good when hiking a long distance trail. Also, the material on one of the inner heals wore though in 5 days and there were holes at the ankles. Altra please use better quality materials for your most expensive shoes and for heavens sake find a better glue.

I've had many pairs of this shoe and each one tears in the same spots on the upper near the ball of the foot. I've heard others have had this problem. Attempted to get a replacement pair because the shoe had less than 160 miles on it and within the warranty mileage and the said it was "normal wear and tear" and not a defect. It is clearly a defect if a shoe's upper tears on different generations of the shoe repeatedly with normal running over less than 160 mile period. This is the first time I've tried to get a replacement because it has become so frustrating and expensive and I am extremely displeased with customer service. I will be on the lookout for a high cushioned, wide forefoot, zero drop shoe from other companies than Altra from hear on out because I'm so displeased with them at this point. Its disappointing because I used to like their shoes quite a bit. I am starting to suspect that they don't feel a need to take care of their customers because there isn't enough competition in the zero drop shoe industry. Hopefully this will change soon. More competition with Altra should force them to take care of their customers if customers had other options than Altra's poorly designed shoes.

Two pair in a row the lugs delaminate from the sole. Huge design flaw to put to market. Passing the trash on to the customer. Soles come apart before I had 20 miles on them. Both pair. Shameful.

Had 5 other pairs of altras prior to getting the latest Olympus 5. They were all great shoes till the last one. Wore the brand spanking new Olympus 5 for the timberline loop the day after I got them and the outsole started giving way on the third day. Part of the sole came undone for both shoes! Looks like the glue just gave up and started squeaking. Sooo annoying and extremely disappointed of the quality of the shoe.

Heavy use 7 months on chunky clay, jagged serpentine, boulders, up/down steep terrain, work in them. Got the orange. Dang good shoe.

Love them

I have Altra for a couple weeks now, they are the best running shoe i have ever worn i brag on these shoes to my wife, friends and coworkers they are my new go to for running and walking, i will buy another pair.

This is a great update to the Olympus, though it is a slightly different fit/shoe than the last edition (Olympus 4 -- of which I've owned [and loved] 2 pairs). As some reviews noted, it feels a little bit smaller in the toebox than the last couple editions of the Olympus, along the lines of what might happen if Timp 2 and Olympus 4 had a baby. Overall I am really enjoying the updates, including the higher heel cup/liner, the upper fabric, available colorways (I purchased Navy), what feels like a deeper/grippier tread, and the stable but responsive feel of the shoes. Also worth mentioning perhaps, I purchased these online and hadn't tried them on previously; yet I was able to wear them on a 24 mile run, right out of the box, without issue--there are few brands/edition updates I'd trust at that level. I haven't run into any of the quality issues others have noted, but I've only logged ~75 miles on mine so far, so perhaps too soon to say. Overall, recommended!

These are more comfortable than your On Clouds and Hokas and Brooks. These Altras are phenomenal.

The Altra Olympus 5 is a premium, top of the line trail running shoe. The outsole has the Vibram megagrip so you can feel confident in both dry and wet conditions and flat and rocky surfaces. The shoe feels very sturdy and my feet felt secure while running and I wasn't worried about rolling an ankle or losing balance. The shoe is very cushioned and comfortable. It's wider than most shoes so your feet have room to breathe. My only negative when it comes to the shoe is that because of how wide it is, aesthetically, it's not the most attractive looking shoe. However, this is most likely not a shoe that people would wear casually but purposefully for trail running and hiking.

I have tried multiple different brands of trail running shoes that I have used for running, hiking, and through hiking/camping and these are my new favorites. These immediately felt comfortable out of the box. They have such a soft foot-bed feel that when you walk you just feel happy! But here is the best part, somehow Altra has pulled off some sort of magic trick where the shoes feel super cushioned and firm and supportive at the same time! I was a little worried at first taking these trail running with the stack height of the soles. I thought that I would feel to "removed" from the trail and would not feel the trail and the terrain nuances. But to my surprise that was not the case. I felt very stable and confident on all trail surfaces that I encountered. The sole is grippy in all the right ways. At first I thought that it might not be with some of the foam sole sharing the space with the grippy Vibram sole, but it has so far been great. Some other reviews that I read had me a little nervous on the laces length possibly being too short. I did not find this to be the case. So either my lacing style is different or Altra has fixed this issue. So, would I recommend this shoe? Absolutely! My only hesitation in recommending this shoe to everyone would be the price. Is this shoe a premium shoe? Yes. Is it worth the price? Maybe.

These shoes are great for trail running. They have some of the best grip on the market. The shoes really mold to your foot and have a great foot bed. They are extremely comfortable but a little on the heavy side. The sizing seems to be about a half size smaller than others and don't allow much room for expansion during runs. Personally, I don't care for the look and solid black color (I prefer a some color). I really enjoy the vibram footbed as they remind me of the toes shoes they came out with years ago but with much more cushioning. Overall the shoes are fantastic for trail running and provide optimal grip and comfort. I would highly recommend these shoes to anyone going off the beaten path for a run. Holds up well for longer runs as well.

I really love this shoe. The toe box feels really good. The traction is great - even on wet tile. The cushioning is great. It feels fun to go up and down loose inclines in these. I was looking for a trail runner for cold weather, so I really wanted to love the GTX (Gore Tex) version of the Olympus 5. But not only did I have to go up a half size (which I do for all Altras, it seems), but the Gore-Tex made everything just too tight. I wish Altra made more shoes in wide, but thick socks seem to work OK in these non-Gore-Tex shoes. I'm eager to see how these perform in colder, slipperier conditions. I predict the traction will be great, but cold wind and slush could pose some challenges. For me, the Olympus 5 is much more comfortable than the Lone Peak 6, which even in "wide" was narrower than the medium Olympus. I also bought the Paradigm 6 for year-round power walking on pavement. Those also needed to be a half size bigger than my usual.

I have now done a few hundred kms in my new Olympus 5s. As with previous Olympus shoes ( this is my 4th or 5th pair), I find the shape of the shoe is perfect for me. There are no pressure points and yet the shoe is always secure ( like they are comfortably loose and yet nice and secure)and after running 40km plus on or off road, the joints still feel good. I loved my series 4 pairs and the 5 just feel like a step up again. In years past I use to think it was important to feel the trail more with less cushioning. I would never go back now.

until now i always thought running shoes were good enough for running trails vs full trail boots. i felt an immediate difference in grip yet these weren't bulky or stiff. it had a great balance of cushion and stability which surprised me. i have used these on all sorts of terrain as well. even though these are trail running shoes i still felt more protection vs a running shoe without compromising flexibility to tackle all terrain. altras are known to give feet the natural space they need vs being crammed in like most brands. it fits true to size. the material is also breathable as well which was nice to see carry over from typical running shoes. if you run trails you need to give your feet the proper attention they deserve with these shoes

I won the fit lottery with the Oly-5. The new heel cup is like a perfect little blanket and my feet are snug and happy inside. The overall internal volume of the new 5 is somewhat smaller than the 4 and I appreciate that a great deal. My 4s are great shoes, but they never quite fit, and going down half a size never worked either. I put about 60-70 miles on these in mixed terrain so far along with daily walking and they wear extremely well. No durability issues, no premature sole wear either. Foot wear is a tough thing to get right, but the Olympus 5 is my favorite shoe - period.

I wanted to step up a little stability and support for hikes. I wear Lone Peaks near daily and they are the go to versatility shoe for broad spectrum adventure land, sea, and no so much air anymore. Olympus has hit the nail on the head for stability and support without adding clunky and disconnected from the earth footwear. The new tongue design does not present any problems. The high heel and flexibility of the shoe make for a perfect lock in without having to over tighten. Rigid in the exact places it's needed to maintain life of the shoe and way ultra light material that maintains a comforting level of protection. I love Altra shoes! IMHO. Folks who's Altra don't fit proper are very much on them. Your feet will shape to what you put them in (and Altra knows this) so if you put them in other footwear or even different figment Altra shoes then your feet will not be shaped for Altras. It's all (mostly at least) or nothing with your feet. You either care or you don't (to do the research and survey shoes until you find your brand and fit). My feet fit perfectly to Altra shoes and I am grateful for it. Them Torin 5 tongues were so bad though.

Great shoes so far. I will probably buy another pair soon now that I know how well they do on the trails. I bought orange pair. My only complaint is that I wish they had different colors.