Customer Reviews Altra Olympus 5

I want to love this shoe. The color is gorgeous and it looks good on my foot. However, it's far too narrow midfoot and too short. I usually wear an 8.5 but always order these in 9. My big toe is crammed at the end. If I order a bigger size I'll look like a clown. I hate that this is the case. Again, I appreciate the color. I hope they keep it up and listen to their customers. It's like all room is taken by heel cushion.

I'm truly impressed by the amount of cushion however the heel tab is too and caused some rubbing. Tried different socks and that helped. Sadly these shoes gave me blisters on the sides of my feet. The shoes laces are incredibly short and prevent the use of using the 2nd eye holes for a secure lock down. The laces come undone with a double knot - maybe there is a special coating on the laces to make them slippery? I'm hoping the men's line fixes the blister problem. My feet aren't wide bit maybe the way the shoes are cut is too narrow for my feet. I've been wearing Brooks Ghost for workouts and Brooks Aurora for outside walks and running. Both shoes styles give me no problems. All in all it feels like a comfortable show to wear but it's not worth it if the blister continue and the heel tab rubs my skin.

I have purchased three pairs of Altras. I use them for everyday walking. However, Altras I have bought in the past have not held up well! Either the soles wore out much faster than other brands, or the tops did not wear! I'm very disappointed in my newest pair in that the shoelaces are too short for my high-instep foot! Overall, I am not sure I will buy another pair

Love the cushion and look of these shoes (I got the red and sandstone color way), but unfortunately these give me an achey pain 1/3 way up from ankle, medial to my tibia. I've never experienced pain in this part of my body before. I took several months off from running in these shoes and wore them again today- pain started up within a mile. For reference, I wear the Paradigms with zero issues. I also wear cures insoles with all my running shoes. It's way past a reasonable return window so I guess I'll keep these for hiking and see if they bother me just walking around in them.

Not pleased with the quality of the components. Feels very plastic. The width for toes is ok but the size still feels too short. Meh.

This is my first pair of Altras. I use them for indoor, light sports. They provide a lot of cushion and support. I'm extremely disappointed the tread is coming unglued after 3 months of wear.

I wanted to try these shoes. They are new to me. I ordered and unfortunately the fit is not right for me, I need half size bigger. I wanted to return them. However, I have been trying to get help from customer service to return the shoes for a month! No one responds. No one helps me. It's very frustrating. This is why I rather stick to the brands I know because I know the size I need to order and I know if I need to return, it is always free returns and no issues.

Love the cushion, but tape now holds them together. Bought these two months ago, have a hole in the mesh and the tread is becoming unglued on the bottom (beneath toes). Seems a design flaw.

they were to me not very comfortable

Had high expectations for this shoes as I love Altra shoes; however what a let down! They are stif, I put a lot of miles and they are still stif, they hurt my Achilles tendons. I even bought separate orthopedic implants and they are still so stif., will definitely not purchase this model again. 3 stars is too much for this product.

Got these to replace the timp 4s that I wore out walking every day. Long story short, these aren't as comfortable and have caused an issue with my achilles tendon. The back of the heel was the problem for me. Too high.

I would never buy these again. They have become so insanely stiff. The first pair I had fit amazingly, were so comfortable, and I never had to "break them in". I loved them. Second pair, I sent back immediately. I am not sure why the shoes have absolutely no give and are so rigid? Going back to ON or Hoka.

I wore these shoes to walk my dog and go on occasional runs (max 6-7 km). They wore out very quickly, I am disappointed in the quality. Poor value for cost, would not recommend.

Loved the wide toe box of the lone peaks (1100 mi of PCT)But my feet get sore=>Olympus The heel cup was too shallow&the outer bit of my heal went thru fabric/plastic/foam of the heel @ 200 miles OUCH

I'm a long-time fan of the Olympus, having owned several pairs of the 4's. The Olympus 5 is definitely a different creature, and a much poorer quality one. I should add that the Olympus is one of the only shoes I've encountered that is wide enough to accommodate my already-wide feet that have been made even wider by bunions. They've always been comfortable for me. With their generous cushioning, they have also been comfortable for the balls of my feet, and their tread works beautifully for runs on our sandy, rocky trails. But these new ones? Ugh. I returned my first pair at the end of the 30 day trial period, due to the edging material next to the ankle simply fraying. This has never happened with any of my previous Altra shoes (several Olympus models and a pair of Timp's), and it occurred for no reason that I could ascertain. In fact, because I've previously had issues with the uppers near the little toe fraying and then becoming holes, I'm pretty darn careful with these shoes. The shoelaces are a complete joke. They're slippery and non-stretchy, meaning it's nearly impossible to tighten them all the way down the shoe, and they don't stay tied. In fact, one loosened itself out of a double knot! So on my new replacement shoes I immediately replaced the laces with colorful, cheap, stretchy sneaker laces. Ahhhh, heaven. Highly recommend this. I also used AquaSeal shoe repair glue along the section of edging that frayed on the previous pair, as a preventive measure. Of course, the fact that I had to do both of these things on a pair of expensive shoes is ridiculous. The worst thing by far, though, is I'm finding with this new pair that the balls of my feet are getting hot on long hikes. (The previous pair would have done the same, but I was biking more than hiking/running, so they never had a chance.) I compared the insole to that of my Timp's, and they're a little different. So for today's short hike, I put the old Timp insole into the new shoes, and I'm pretty sure they're better. It'll take a little more time before I know for certain. Bottom line: prices are going up, quality is going down, and Altra obviously isn't doing much real world testing (slippery shoe laces? Frayed fabric in the first month? Come on!). I guess it's time to start looking for a replacement brand.

I've been backpacking in the Olympus for years. This is the first pair to give me a blister. They also lasted half as long as my other Altras. I hope this is an exception and not the new norm.

Wore 3 days and I had SO many blisters (never a single one from my other Altras). Fabric also broke down after 3 days. Returned immediately.

I loved the Olympus 4, and wore out a pair while walking the Camino de Santiago. I could not find Olympus 4 to replace my shoes. I bought three pairs of Olympus 5, hoping to have my black ones replaced, a new pair of waterproofs, and a new colour to kick around in. All the same size. Only the orange ones fit. The black ones and the waterproofs were too narrow in the toebox and too short. I join other reviewers in pleading that Altra returns to the Olympus 4 design.

I made the mistake of buying these in December and placing them in my closet without trying them on. Now that I pulled them out to wear they are too small. now I'm stuck with these expensive shoes that hurt my toes. I just looked at the other shoe colors and sizes and it seems that the size I need are out of stock which is a red flag. I'm about to give up on this brand altogether and go back to Hokas.

I read the comments that this model sucks compared to the 4. I couldn't find a 4 in my size online for love or money. I called altra and asked if they had 4s. They said, try the 5s! They were built using customer feedback, they said. You can return even after wearing. So I tried the 5s, in my regular size and one size up. And they aren't worth the return shipping I'm going to have to pay to return them. The tongue cuts deep into my ankle. The toe box feels much narrower than the 4s. Altra, at a certain point, you've got to stop "improving" on a good thing. Cuz the 5 sure ain't an improvement. Please bring back the 4s.

I liked my Olympus 5 (original toe box) so much that wanted to buy extra pair in case Altra moves to next version. Bought a pair - the toe box is about 1/3" more narrow than identical shoe bought about 1.5 years ago. Returned but bought one more hoping it was a mixeup. No luck, it looks like now "original" is much more narrow.