Customer Reviews Altra Solstice

Altra has the right idea here. The shoe is very lightweight, low to the ground, and the zero drop is key. I am transitioning to the zero drop smoothly and happily. There are a few things to do to make this shoe perfect: 1) the seam where the front part meets the back part of the upper has some extra fabric that just sort of flops around. It creates a hotspot. I glued it down and it's fine, but either switching to a one piece upper, or somehow getting rid of that extra seam material would be great. 2) The shoe is stiff. I think getting some grooves in the sole for more flexibility would make it even better. 3) The tongue is very thin, and so are the laces. This creates uncomfortable pressure on the top of the foot when you lace them snug. I would recommend a padded tongue or wider laces to eliminate this. I switched to wider laces and it helped. All in all, I am very happy with this shoe and look forward to a lot of miles in it.

To be fair, Altra does market this as an entry level shoe, so I guess it could have been expected to be less awesome. Usually Altras feel like "walking on a cloud" (someone else's words), which has been my experience, but my first impression of the Solstice was like walking on a rock. The shoe is flexible, but the midsole feels stiff underfoot, and the included insole is paper-thin garbage. I replaced the insoles with a set from a thrashed pair of Superior 2.0s which resulted in a huge improvement, but still not that great Altra feel I'm used to. I realize some people prefer a stiffer feel, in which case this might be the only good Altra option. Additionally, the fit around the heel is very rough feeling. Using some no-show socks my heel was quickly rubbed raw. The comfort quality is more like that of Under Armour, not elite Altra. The fit is true to a typical Altra - very wide toe box, medium-skinny everything else. I did not have the problem at all that another reviewer had with the midfoot being too tight. I wear 10.5 in almost everything and the 10.5 was great. It's a fine shoe for a good sale price, but I would have sent them back had I paid full price. It's worth paying a little more to get Escalantes or something.

Received my shoes yesterday and took them to the track to log some mile repeats, 8 miles total. They feel light and responsive however I am already seeing wear. I tend to wear my shoes on the outside forefoot/midfoot (between pinky and arch) and this location has no EVA reinforcement so midsole is in direct contact with the road/track. Depending on your gait is this can be a problem so be considerate that unless you are light on your feet and don't see much sole wear, you may be replacing these after only 150-200mi. For reference I started to see wear on my escalates at around 130 and have put 400 on them and they are pretty close to retirement.

I love this shoe it feels fast and responsive but it's not a shoe that you'd expect to go hundreds of miles in. The outsole wears down very very quickly. If they stuck the high wear rubber on the rest of the outsole it would've been a perfect shoe.

This shoe, like all their others, has a great fit and feels like a good, natural run. However, they only lasted a couple months before the bottoms were completely worn out. It's a great show, but I wish they were more durable.

I've had 2 pairs of these, and while they were good initially, I had to retire them each at only around 100 miles. The outsole isn't so much a problem for me (I midfoot strike and don't scrape my feet on the ground on landing), but the cushioning breaks down disturbingly quickly. There are noticeable foot-shaped indentations inside the shoes where the balls of my feet land, and this alters my stride to the point that I feel the distinct "time-to-replace-shoes" soreness after runs. Broken down cushioning is worse than no cushioning at all, and as I have relearned many times, it's not worth trying to squeeze more miles out of shoes that will just cause injuries. The other Altra offerings use higher quality cushioning foam that holds up (moderately) longer for me, so if you're a serious runner, those are a better choice. Unfortunately, this "affordable" option turned out to be a bad deal in dollars per mile.

I've had these for over a year now. Read the review "Needs better design.". Exactly how I feel too. Won't buy again.

I have three different models Altras, used them over the last two years, and unfortunately tossed them due to a poor design flaw shared by every model. Your feet may feel comfortable putting these on and standing in them, but there is nothing fholding your feet back from sliding forward and bunching the toes up.This is an issue with the Solstice, Torins, as well as the old one v3s. Here's a tip I hope the design team takes into consideration. Please incorporate a lacing system like salomons that hold your feet back and these shoes will be amazing. Also, bring back the one v3s, or at least the side walls of those since they are the only shoes that can be used for side to side movements. Altra you have to use a lacing system like salomons with your shoe design otherwise your customers will be trading bunions for hammer toes. a simple lacing system simply won't work with your shoe design getting wider and wider from heel to toe.

Although this shoe is flexible and comfortable, don't expect it to last long. The sole is the softest of the 10 Altra models I have tried.OK for running on grass, but I would stay off the road.

Bought the Soltice and loved them, however, within two weeks the inlets for the laces came apart. Called Altra and was told they would send a return label, but never received anything.

I have had many pairs Altras over the last 5 years and never had a complaint until now, and my complaint is substantial. As many other reviews note, the seams on the upper mid foot are abrasive, however I was able to kind of forget about them halfway through a workout. Not comfortable, but bearable. Worse than the seams is the tight design of the midfoot. The shoe is very restrictive and can't be sized with the laces very well. The midfoot is so tight that there is no point in having a wide toe box since the bones of my midfoot were bundled so tightly that any toe splay was an afterthought. This shoe goes against everything Altra seems to purport - my feet were not free to move naturally. I don't think fit was an issue. I don't have wide feet. The issue is a design that doesn't allow for enough freedom of movement or adjustability to allow the foot to move freely. End of story, both feet cramped up during both workouts I wore them, and I'm sure the shoes would mess up my running cadence and gait if I wore them any more. Huge fail Altra!!!

This shoe really sucks. At least for me. The sole is rock hard and does not soften up after putting a few miles on them. There is absolutely zero lateral stability on these shoes. Have been running in Altra for the last few years injury free, but developed plantar fasciaitis in less than 30 miles of running in these. Two positives: good heel stability, light weight. Oh, and the sole wears out super fast. In just those few miles there is barely any tread left.

These shoes took forever to ship, and after just over a month of wear are falling apart. First the laces shredded, then chunks of the sole started coming off. The shoes frayed quickly. I regret spending so much money on these garbage shoes.

I like these, but won;t use them for more than 1 mile on the treadmill. There is a swath of fabric inside that is meant to be the backing for the seam right at the side of the ball of my foot. The problem is that putting my foot into the shoe makes this fabric roll up or forward, creating a major friction point! If this were fully stitched or glued down, it would not be a problem. So putting on the shoes takes a lot of adjusting with fingers to get this fabric to lay flat.