Customer Reviews Altra Vali

Another shoe for someone with wider feet. The PFS2-M last is becoming a decent alternative for men with wider feet. The purpose of this review is help people who are a fan of Zero Drop type shoes and have wider feet find a fit. Been a wearer of Altra since Instinct 1 and am a total fan of zero drop shoes in everything I wear. However only a few Altra models have been able to fit my wider feet and believe me have tried them all. The only other recent shoe that has worked well is the Escalante. The Escalante is great for moving forward like running but the knit fabric stretches too much for lateral stability and this is where the Vali is greatly improved. The Escalante is much softer in the sole where as the Vali is comfortable but not as soft below the foot. For reference, I have a wide athletic foot, meaning slim foot not a meaty foot. My go to shoe before Altra's Zero Drop shoes was Brooks Beast in a EE width. E is to snug and EE has extra room. The Vali seems to be closer to the E width in the Brooks Beast. If laced correctly, and it is important to lace the shoe correctly, the Vali will work well enough for my wider foot. Even though my foot does not fit entirely within within the width of the shoe, Altra has made it so it is OK for the width to be wider than the shoe and still be comfortable. About lacing the shoe too loose and the heel slips and too tight and the shoe is uncomfortable. I quickly found a sweet spot and wear these shoes well. For the reasons above, I can recommend this shoe. The shoe runs fairly true to size. Maybe a tiny bit short.

I've had these for a little over two weeks now and It has quickly become my go to everyday shoe. I got the red ones and look great with jeans. They are very comfortable and don't irritate my pinky toe. Altra has become the only brand of shoe I can wear that doesn't bother my right foot. My podiatrist at the VA hospital had never seen anything like them as far as a shoe that was shaped like a foot. He took one my shoes and went up and down the hallway showing all of his fellow doctors my cool new shoes. I love these shoes and I really hope that Altra will produce the Everyday Instinct in a size 15 soon because I could really use something slightly dressier/semi casual to wear with some kakis to work. Thank you Altra for the pain free footwear from a disabled Vet with special needs feet.

I ordered a half size down from my usual Altra running shoe size, and it fits perfectly. So nice to have an Altra for casual wear the others are too dressy for my tastes. The knit seems to breathe well, and my feet don't get stinky like in Vans. This is a 5-star shoe and I'll be wearing it more than any other, but I think there's room for improvement in a few areas. For one, the aglets on the laces are heavy and tend to click against each other when walking. I find it difficult to get the pressure just right with the lacing either it's too loose and my heel slips, or there's pressure on the top of my foot where the laces are tied. And finally, I would prefer slightly less stack height, and more flexibility. Maybe it will continue to break in.

This has to be one of the most comfortable casual shoes I've owned..fits like a glove! At work or just something to wear casually around the house, it's perfect. the algae insole is cool! Glad to see brands making strides towards a more sustainable shoe.

Ordered these the day they were released and so glad I did. Wore them all weekend. Sock like fit with cushion makes these the perfect go-to casual shoe.

I got these shoes because I've always liked Altras and saw these on sale. As has been mentioned by others, there is this heel support that digs into your heel. I have been working 12 hour shifts, on my feet the whole time. The first 8 hrs were almost painful on my heal. But at about hour 9, I realized that my heels felt fine. Then I got to appreciate how comfortable they really are. There is moderate amount of arch support, plenty of toe room, and fairly good lateral support. I don't know that I would run in them but they would make a decent workout shoe. They are very breathy as well.

This is a very comfortable shoe. Nice upper shoe comfort. Yes, they do squeak. I discovered that if I wear the shoe every other day, then no squeak. Every day use produces the annoying squeak. Also, these shoes took some break-in. They caused blisters on my heel. Remedy is to let heel, heal, then place bandage on heel where it developed blisters, then wear the shoes for a few days until my heel toughened up. No longer need to use bandages.

I'm a Chiropractor/PT and on my feet, up and down off the floor for 13 hour days. These shoes are doing a great job keeping up, great cushioning, easy on-off, very comfortable. 4/5 stars because the midsole could be a bit wider. I will order these again, looks great, feels great.

My only complaints: initial painful rubbing at the heel, and the left sole squeaks embarrassingly on hard surfaces, including concrete sidewalks :-(. As mentioned, at first, these things rubbed my heels raw, and I had to stop wearing them for a time. However, after the break-in period (feet? shoes?), these shoes were very comfortable. The green color is better than I feared, and I wear these as my work shoes (I'm a computer programmer). I like the look, although I wish the soles were darker.

I got these because I am on my feet much of the day and wanted something I could wear with khakis without being too dressy. This is the first pair of work shoes I've ever owned where I sometimes forget to take them off after getting home. They are THAT comfortable! My only small critique is that the shoe laces are too short.

I really wanted to like these. I certainly like the look. I thought they felt great when I put them on at first - very light, flexible uppers, and lots of room in the toe box. I typically wear a zero drop, minimalist shoe with a wide toe, so I was feeling hopeful about these. Unfortunately, they have a noticeable "arch support" that puts pressure just in front of the heel. Personally, this was painful after a few steps, so these are not for me. The upper material is also very stretchy around the heel, so your foot kinds of slips out each step. You could probably get used to this, but I sensed a strong potential for blisters.

I bought these at half-price, so I got good value. Otherwise, the regular price is not comparable to competitors. They would be much more comfortable if the back didn't come up so high. I have trouble wearing them with low cut socks, so I usually only wear them with pants.

Let me start off by saying how comfortable these are. The heels are a little stiff at first, but they break in and it's like walking on pillows. Super breathable, much better looking than most zero drop options out there. My big issues are the laces and the squeaks. The laces are very slippery, if I don't double knot them, they come undone 5-6 times over the course of a workday. The aglet being metal/heavy definitely doesn't help in this regard. Minor, I know, I can just swap the laces out but still annoying. And then there's the squeak. Even on carpet. Every step, it's like wearing clown shoes and it's super annoying. I think it has to do with the holes in the bottom of the midsole, air gets trapped in there and when you step down, it's squeezing out. It's getting to the point I don't want to wear these anymore.

I haven't worn this shoe much since purchase in September. I have a high instep and wear custom orthotics. Compared to other Altra shoes, this style simply doesn't have quite enough depth to accommodate my foot plus the orthotics. And despite the stretch of the knit fabric, the pressure on the instep makes it uncomfortable. I can forget wearing any sort of sock with it. Too bad because I like the look of them.

So first off I love Altra. Used this brand for my entire thru hike of the Appalachian trail and never had any problems with my feet. With that being said I would proceed with caution if you buy these. I wanted something casual that would be nice enough to wear out and still comfortable enough to walk a few miles. I gave them a test walk and did a short mile loop around my neighborhood. I noticed very quickly that my heels started to rub and sure enough I developed blisters within that one mile walk. Super disappointing because I've never once had that problem with my lone peak 3.0, 3.5, 4.0, ecalantes, or timps. I taped up my heels and did another mile loop and that definitely helped ease the rubbing issue but hope after I break them in a little more I won't have to use the tape. Otherwise the shoes are super comfortable and look great. Time will tell if these will break in enough and will stop rubbing my heel. Right now I would say it might be a gamble but don't be surprised if you find you get blisters from these. And I know everyone's feet are different so maybe I'm just unlucky.

As an Altra fan, these are really disappointing. There is a very tall, very hard heel cap that digs into the back of my heel. I have tried to flex it and bend it to break it in, but it is still uncomfortable. The knit uper breathes really well, but is made of a rough fabric, rough enough that I can feel it through thin socks. Finally the sides of the soles are grey, not white (as shown in the pictures) on the black model. They grey just doesn't look as good. Overall, they aren't very comfortable and don't look as good as I expected.

Look great, I was hopeful based on my experience in my superior 4s. These are so narrow that I have to force my foot in. Uncomfortable on my foot, almost painful to stand in. I just don't understand. I have extra wide feet (4E), so I keep giving these foot shaped/extra wide toe box companies a shot and they continually disappoint.