Customer Reviews Altra Vanish R

Bought in 2021 on a whim, last pair in the shop. First foray into zero drop running shoes - and it turned out to be the absolute best pair of running shoes I've ever had. PLEASE BRING IT BACK!

This was the best shoe I've ever had. The soles weren't absurdly thick and unstable, and perfectly protected my feet from gravel. They were light, agile, & tread had great grip. Bring them back.

Best show i've ever ran in, bring them back

Love the shoe, bring it back!

I deeply cherish the miles I run in this shoe, akin to driving a treasured vintage car that you want to preserve. The Vanish Carbon just doesn't measure up.

There are some imperfections in this shoe. For me it's a little too narrow, the heel is too high. But I love how minimal it is Low stack hight, light weight, less cushion but not yet barefoot. Love it

This is the best 5k shoe I've ever owned! It's also the best speed training shoe I've ever owned. Please, bring this shoe back.

Please bring back

This shoe seems to have been discontinued, which is a shame because it plugs a real hole in Altra's line up. I found a pair in size 9, and thought I could get away with them if I did not wear socks, but these shoes seem to run an entire size small, so I'm going to need to return them. Otherwise, they are really promising and I'm hoping that Altra is just doing a big update and will release that in the spring. I could easily see racing anything from a mile to a marathon in them.

This is a great shoe for it's intended purpose and more than it's intended purpose. I use it for off-road tempo runs and races. I've used it in a 25K trail race down to my short and fast speed intervals. I love how light and springy they are on my feet. My agility is greatly improved jumping skipping over roots, rocks, etc. on the trail. I recently wore them on a 7.1 mile obstacle course race and they shined brilliantly! The race had 5 water crossings and the mesh upper allowed the water to completely drain leaving my felt with less water weight to tote around. I can without a doubt run faster in these shoes!! Plus they're comfortable!

very good minimal shoe for long-distance runs

I have been using this shoes for 3 months, clocking 150K. It is one of the best minimalist shoes I ever used - super light, comfortable, and fast. But be sure to get 1/2 or 1 size larger as it fits tightly round your foot.

I'm absolutely buying another pair!

I was looking for an ultralight shoe for through hiking backpacking. A river crossing / camp shoe that was secure light and dries fast. This shoe has worked perfectly for that. I changed out the laces with a stretch cord and cinches so they slip on and can be tightened for river crossings. Wear bare foot for crossings and with socks at camp. Enough of a shoe to use as back up hiking shoe in a pinch. We abused them for 3 weeks and they will be in the back for all my backpacking trips.

I wanted a minimalist shoe for fast training runs. I race in Nike Vaporfly 4%s and was shocked to find that these give me nearly the same speed boost for less than half the price. They weigh next to nothing and I've started to use them for fast short to medium-short training: 6-12 miles. The lack of padding doesn't bother me a bit and the design forces me to not heel strike. Weirdly, they are the only shoe I don't have to double knot the laces. I love these shoes!

Although these are more narrow than your standard Altra shoe, I am in love with them. I have done both 2+ hour runs in them and short sprints and I am very happy to find a minimalist shoe I can do both in comfortably.

Okay first off I'm not a runner. I use 8.5 men's Altra Lone Peaks for Backpacking and hiking. I bought the Vanish R running shoe in size 8 which fits perfect. I wanted a lightweight yet solid functional shoe to use at camp after hiking all day. I bought these as they were the lightest Altra shoe I could find. I was looking for a slip-on this light or lighter which would be even better, but I'm going to make these work with modifications. The two insole options are a nice surprise. I am going with the flat white ones or none and now have backup insoles for my other Altras! Yeah! The Vanish are advertised as weighing 111 gms, but To get that weight I had to remove the insole and shoelace to get one shoe down to 115 grams. With the lace and white insole it was 126gms and with lace and standard black Altra insole it weighed in at 137.5 grams. Weight is important for me since I'm packing These shoes so I think these can be made to work and I'll get them down to under a 1/2 lb. for you runners this is a crazy light shoe any way to use it. It is very cool to find a shoe this substantial and light. Looks like they'll dry very fast so they might make decent river fording shoes as well. So far I love them.

I think my red vanish are my favorite shoes of all time. I also have pink. They are Very fitted so if you have a wide foot they may not be wide enough for you. I have narrow feet so I'm great. They're great all-purpose shoes I consider them my summer shoes. I used to wear New Balance because they come in narrow sizes I always had to break them in. He's Ultras when I came in the door I put them on and never had to break them in. I love that. Altra is has been great on working with me to make sure my shoes fit perfectly. The shipping is great.

I love these shoes! Over the past 6 months I have been working on trying to run in a more minimalist shoe, and thats tough to do over long distances (for now). But this shoe is about as close as you can get to a barefoot feel. Its super light! And once you know to order a half-full size up its fits perfectly! I see a lot of complaints about the durability, but I haven't ran into any issues with mine yet. I've had mine for roughly 6 months, with about 300 miles on em, and havent ran into any issues with them falling apart yet. Right now I see no reason I wont be able to get another 200-300 out em. Which is much better than any pair of Nike's I used to run in.

Size - they are snug, but that's what I expected in a racing flat, so I'm calling it true to size. I have only worn these on my weekly track interval workouts, but they are perfect for that! They hug my feet, hug the turns, bounce off the ground, feel light and springy, and just make me feel fast. These shoes make me want to run fast and get after the next repeat. Looking forward to taking them out on a road 5k. This is really just such a fun shoe.

Going out on a limb here saying this as it only a single case and possible not at all the result of such use. Altra vanish shoes have nearly cured my post tibial tendon issue...... Been running up and down Howards knob and fire tower road a lot. 1600 ft climb 3.3 miles- 90% in the Altra Vanish . On the semi flatish part of junaluska road from almost heaven and back down the knob i have generally been running very very fast to 100% all effort. While running only in the Vanish "road" the ankle has felt 100% fine even at the hardest efforts down the knob 15-27% road grade and not hurt any after as well. During work i have been wearing them as well and other low to no drop shoes too and noticed it does not hurt at work while standing for a few hours as it use to become very very bothersome. I can only speculate the 0 drop has allowed the tendons to stretch more while running and working allowing the to possibly heal better than in lifted shoes and the larger toe area maybe have helped my large toe as well. This is purely speculation as i have no evidence other than my own results to say it works. That being said i am running much faster stronger and pain free since using the Vanish roads a lot. Being able to run again pain free is wonderful.

Altra has so many great shoes, but when it comes to racing roads, the Vanish-R is hands down my favorite! Nothing compares to the sheer speed and responsiveness of the Vanish! I ran 2 Marathon PR's, 1 half Marathon PR and won many shorter races using these shoes. The ultra lightweight, minimalist design, combined with the propel plate, create the perfect combination for optimal speed!

At first I got these true to size. Return those and got a whole size bigger. Really glad I did. Been running minimus for a few years but never trained for a marathon with them in mind . Wanted something a little more comfy with a better toe box but without bulk (pebbles suck if you have baby soft feet like me). Ive put about 25 miles on them in last few training runs and they are wonderful. Great race day shoe. Would love to see a heartier sole with another 2mm overall drop for an everyday as i dont expect these to last beyond 150 miles.

Very glad Altra offers this thin sole option. I have gotten used to running with Vibram FiveFingers shoes on the tread mill and track, but I have never been able to take them on the road or off road. Even stepping on small marble sized pebbles seemed to cause soft tissue injuries that took weeks to heal. The Vanish R's sole is thick enough to provide enough protection from small rocks, while not being so thick they get in the way of the new running form I've developed using the Vibrams. My only suggestions would be you could probably even take 1 or 2 more millimeters off to make it even better.