Customer Reviews Altra Olympus 5

The laces that came with these shoes are just too darn short. If I snug them down as tight as I can then I can barely tie them down. I called customer support, and they said they couldn't (or wouldn't?) send me out a pair of proper length shoe laces. This is such an annoying and simple thing to fix, but the company wouldn't help. This is the last pair of Altra Shoes I'll ever buy because of this horrible/useless customer service and stupidly short laces. La Sportiva is a much better company, I'll stick with them!

Olympus 5 is much stiffer and heel inner fabric wear out very quickly. After less than 10 hikes of 5-10 miles, hole formed and later the padding started falling out. See photo

Comfortable, stable, and fell apart within 300 miles. It is a very stable shoe with great grip. No blisters in my time with them. I found them to be comfortable on moderately long days (26 miles). They started showing wear on the upper material within the first hundred miles. After finishing 125 miles yesterday in the Wind River High Route, both sides of both shoes were blown out, the heel cups look like they had an ice cream scoop taken out of the padding, and the midsole had compressed where I could feel the rocks more than I would like. It is an excellent show but the lack of durability is disappointing considering the premium price.

I love these shoes but the left shoe has this absolutely annoying squeak from day one. It's been 3 weeks now. Tried no insoles, even on carpet they squeak. VERY annoying. Won't be buying these again.

A hole is wearing in the left shoe near the edge of my foot where the toes start. I see a lot of other customers with this issue. Very disappointing for such expensive shoes. I haven't even taken them on a trail yet. This is just from casual walking and driving.

Sadly I have to give these a bad review. The quality is not good. I love how they fit and how they feel, but for them to be falling apart after 5 months, only using them for daily walking is pretty wild. I wish Altra went back to the days of rugged reliable shoes that don't fall apart from simply walking around. This will be my last pair of shoes until things improve.

The only running shoe I regret buying, bulky fit never felt good on my feet. If you to does ever hit the front of the shoe it is not great.

Love the Olympus series; I've been running in Olympus consistently for 3 years. But this model stinks! The vibrem fell off after 1 month of use. C'mon Altra! You're killing us!!!

Standing still, these shoes feel great. But once you start walking or running, there is nothing that keeps my heel locked in the shoe, no matter how tight I tie them. The cushion that is meant for the back of the achilles is simply too low to where there is no pocket for the bottom of the heel to sit in place. This means that every time you step, your heel the back of your heel is coming in and out of the shoe, rubbing against the back. I don't know how anyone walks or runs in them. I do not have this problem with any of Altra's other shoes.

I've owned 10+ pairs of Olympus 4s. Great shoe. This is my first pair of 5s and in less than 200 miles, the tread is peeling off! So disappointed!

This shoe is alright to run in when everything is just right, but faces too many issues to be worth buying. My biggest issue was with the tread pattern; while the rubber is excellent and provides good grip in a range of conditions, the long individual strips that run under the toes peel up very quickly running on rocky terrain (< 30 miles out of the box). I've been able to continue running in these shoes by super glueing them back together, but they are not worth their more premium price with this major flaw. Hopefully they can get this right on the next generation. The overall durability aside from this issue seems fine, I've reached ~125 miles in them with no other issues arising and seemingly plenty of life left in them. As many mention the laces are too short and it's difficult to achieve proper lockdown. The oversized heel loop is weird, and makes it more difficult to clip the shoes together with a carabiner without really making them easier to put on.

I have been wearing Altra shoes for 11 years now. It never ceases to amaze me how different one model year can fit to the next. The Olympus 5 run a rad short with a less roomy toe box than I am used to with the Altra lone peak. I also dislike the huge pull on loop in the back. I can only wear these with toe socks for a proper fit as I wear a 13 and there are no 13 1/2's Please get with consistent sizing and keep a roomy toe box Altra !

I am not convinced these shoes were tested by anyone with truly wide feet. They claim to use the original footshape, but I have been having extreme foot numbing issues that I never had in the lone peak or torins I have worn. If wearing socks with any thickness and using the heel lock the laces are far too short, exacerbating fit issues. The durability is also sub par, it took 2 long runs (36 miles) to start busting through the sides of the upper material. Overall these shoes feel like they were designed with form first and function second, which makes me worried about the direction altra is headed. These are hands down the worst fitting and feeling altra shoes I have purchased.

I love the Olympus 4. I bought the 5 without trying them on thinking they would fit like the previous model. The shoe has much more padding on the inside making the shoe feel more narrow. I have wide feet and the standard Olympus 4 fit like a glove. Now the 5 fits very tight. The new design is much more esthetically pleasing but the fit is not as comfortable.

I've loved Altra's in the past but the quality on the trail claw was terrible. I had two pairs to rotate between and the claws under the "ring toe" delaminated on all 4 shoes.

looks better in the pictures. wish I could return..

This is my third pair of these. First two were so awesome, I wore them out. This pair looked the same visually, but very different fit. Not the same support, not the same cushion, not the same dimensions. A completely different shoe. Very disappointed.

This show runs more like a clunky brick on your feet than a shoe. Unfortunately it also doesn't last. Hard pass.

Before removing the liner, something I've never had to do with previous shoes, these were without doubt the most uncomfortable shoes I've ever owned. With high arches, the shoe volume is too little.

I have happily worn several ALTRA models including the Lone Peak and Olympus 4 and Olympus 5, I upgraded to the Olympus 4 from the Lone Peak a few years back due to the extra cushioning. The Olympus 4 was the bomb, next I tried the Olympus 5, the grip is great but they start peeling apart to easily and much too soon after buying them new. Also the toe box is more narrow than the Olympus 4, not as comfortable. Please go back to a wider toe box and address the peeling sole or I will be forced to find a new trail shoe brand and/ or go back to the Lone Peak

The Olympus 5 is my 4th pair of Olympus. Having loved all previous models especially the 4's. I disregarded the poor reviews I read and gave them a try. Unfortunately the reviews are true. My previous Olympus were size 13 and fit perfect. Nice and wide. These are 13's but much tighter and the shoelaces are too short. I'd like to return them but after reading the horror stories from Altra's return department I guess I'm going to keep them.

Not happy with the changes for this version. I was a die-hard Altra fan, but like others, the changes for this version resulted in the shoe feeling to narrow/tight and a 1/2 size too small. I appreciate Altra's decision to try and improve the shoe like by adding cushioning around the heel cup, but it was too much and I felt immediate abrasion and pain around my heel just walking around the house. And to top it off, shoelaces are too short. I prefer to create the little loop to help tight the shoe and when doing that, I could barely tie the shoes. I would never be able to double knot it if I wanted too. And frustrated because I can't really go to the other styles because I like to have the extra cushion. I really hope Altra goes back to their roots for runners like me that have for years enjoyed the wide toe box, roomy comfortable feel, nice cushioning and shoelaces that are useable.

I am a an avid hiker. When not thru hiking, I average 6-8 miles a day on a mixture of dirt and rock trails and paved paths. I love the Olympus 5. I hiked the AT in Olympus 4. The show is a perfect fit for me, but, like these other reviews, the quality just isn't there. The vibrant outsole needs to cover more of the bottom of the shoe. The mid sole spongy material wears out way too quick. The lining of the heel has worn out and has holes at about 200 miles. Great shoe Altra but tou need to improve the quality and longevity. Way to expensive for a 200 mile shoe.

While the shoe is great in many ways, the inside material in the heel region blew out after 4 months!! That included only one decent 3 day hike!! When I complained to the shop....bad luck! DON'T BUY