Customer Reviews Altra Olympus 6

Altra changed the heel in this model and it's terrible. This is my 8th pair of Olympus shoes and the new heel pillow now causes both of my heels to have hot spots. VERY DISSAPOINTED! I went through 5 pairs on the AT with zero issues. I've never had this issue before and now I have to tape my heels to use this shoe.

Midsole blowout after 250 miles on trails. These shoes have a serious defect and I've had several pairs blowout. Contacted customer service but they're unwilling to help.

Shoe only lasts a couple of months with a serious manufacturer defect. Bought these in June and wore them for about 250 miles. Contacted Altra and they said: Sorry, can't help you. GARBAGE.

I have had several pairs of the Olympus 4 and I was pretty satisfied with the performance. I bought the Olympus 6 earlier in the year along with a Lone Peak 9+. So I had an 11 mile hike ahead of me and I thought I would wear the 6. A mile and a half in I noticed an extreme sting and burn on my right heel. The trail I was on was 5.4 miles with 2800ft elevation gain and no descent to the summit. I decided to keep going and when I got to the summit I took my shoe off to see this blister. My skin was gone in a patch that was a little bit bigger than a 50 cent piece. I came back off the summit and completed the hike in some pretty good pain. This was in the beginning of July. I put the shoes away and went back to using an Olympus 4 until I fully healed. I recently have been using the 6 again and I like the shoes performance but I am very cautious with that heel issue. I think they have potential, but at what cost is it worth it? I have included a picture of my scarred heel.

I've used several versions of the Olympus, but this latest version 6 with the new heel cup design is terribly flawed. The heel design causes significant irritation and rubbing due to all the excess fabric and stitching.

What is up with this new Heel pad???? This thing is trash, blister after a 2 mile walk. Hope it goes away for next model

I love Altra Lone Peaks. I wanted to give these a try. First, they look very well constructed. However, the heel cushion section seemed odd to me. After 2 no more than 2 miles, I had major blisters on my heels from this cushioned area. Even with wearing wool socks. I could barely make it back to the car with these, imagine if I was on a serious hike, i'd be screwed. Laces are also too short, and it's about half a size too small. Going back to lone peaks.

I have to say I never write reviews, but the blisters I have from these shoes is nothing like I have ever experienced before. The heel padding DESTROYED my feet.

5th pair of Olympus' in the last 3 years. No problems with blisters before - sole fell apart in last version but Altra fixed that with new model. But this pair is causing heel blisters on both feet. I tried to ride it out and break them in. Tried different insoles and socks. No dice. Weirdly this is my second pair of Olympus 6 - I am big and tall and ruck so I wear through them. First pair was fine. This pair never worked for me. It's much softer under the heel so there is constant motion and friction in the heel cup. My heel never felt right in the shoe - it was riding too high - but I thought with time these would fit like the others. Unfortunately after 3 months they haven't.

Blisters rubbed down to the flesh I had the Olympus (5th version) I put 1,400 km on them in various trips over the course of a year. Super comfortable, both in dry weather and when wet for eight hours crossing bogs and rivers, in mid-mountains, and on flat terrain doing 50 km a day on foot they performed perfectly. I decided to upgrade to the 6th version. Of course I immediately noticed the new foam roll on the heel; I thought it might cause problems, but I ignored it and went straight into a 13-day backpacking (my big mistake). About 30 km a day in the tundra not 45 km. On the second day the protruding foam roll in the shoes horribly chafed my heels. On the third day I had to cut the heel fabric with a knife and remove the foam roll it helped a little, but my heels were already blistered down to the flesh. After three days in the tundra I reached a small town, rested there for two days, bought blister plasters, and then had another five days in the mountain part of the route. I barely got through it. There is one thing I want to praise about the shoes this time they made the upper fabric really good, extremely durable: after six days of endless low shrubs in the tundra nothing happened to the shoe fabric at all; the 5th version would have been torn to pieces by then. I'll be looking for the 5th version somewhere they fit perfectly, and my feet are still healing from the 6s.

Bought these shows 2 days ago. Already having a pair of Loan Peak 9 and Timp 5, I was excited to get the Olympus 6 for the added cushion on those longer trail runs. However, I am sadly disappointed. A half mile into my run, I began to develop a blister on my right heel. By the time I got back to my car, the blister had grown in significant size and was bleeding. This after only 1 mile! After reading other reviews, I'm not the only one that has had this problem. I hope Altra can resolve this matter on an otherwise good shoe.

I've been an Olympus fan for years. But, this one missed the mark. The heal pad causes friction and a blister. Never had blisters in Altra before. Do NOT recommend.

Altras have been my goto shoes for the last 6 years for nearly everything. These might be the last I will order though. Altras size calculator told me to order my usual size based on the Lone Peak 9+ fitting perfectly so I did. To my surprise they fit a whole size smaller in width and length! This isn't the first time this has happened with Altra. The amount of returns and exchanges I've had to do over the years has been frustrating everytime as I typically run my Altras till something gives out, then I order them overnight to ensure no major lapses in my training. Once again Altra has failed as something so simple and I'm over it. Going to give another brand a try that hopefully knows how to do basic math and measurements properly.

Disappointing successor for my much loved Olympus 5's. The fit is narrower which didn't allow my feet to swell and my heel felt much less secure.

There are two horizontal stiches along the heel which rubbed into my heal. The Olympus 5 didn't have these. Why add them?

Altra Olympus 6, the blister maker! Not happy with this shoes. I have been using Altras for years. Olympus are my favorite until the 5th generation. This new Olympus 6 failed miserably. They are so uncomfortable that it only took 5km to make me a blister. The little pillow on the Achilles tendon is so awkward and annoyinghard to believe that a good company like Altra doesn't test their new designs on real runners or hikers before sending the shoe to production. Shoes are definitely not comfortable, the shape is awkward and I hope Altra address the design flaw or discontinue the shoes altogether.

Love the fit of the Olympus. I thought you might have upgraded the fabric so this is my second pair with under a year failure. Your warranty site is not working.

This shoe was definitely made for an ultra trail race which I planned to use on a 50k. After 30 miles of use in training, I would give a 10/10 rating except for a major flaw. The heel of the shoe ripped through both my socks and gave me blisters on the heel. The heel is the worst designed of any shoe I've ever worn. I have never had this happen to me. If the heel was fixed after the bad engineering, I'd try the shoe again but at this point Altra should recall the shoe! Terrible flaw but would be amazing if that was fixed!

Long time Olympus 4 user. Olympus 5 and 6 are a disappointment.

I wish I'd read reviews here before buying because the heel cup is terrible. Halfway through a 16 mile run it created (and then destroyed) a blister on a portion of the lower side of my heel that I don't recall ever having friction in a shoe before. Turns out it was the silly heel cushion thing. I don't know what its for, but mission failed. Also, the tongue is shockingly short, which makes no sense to me. I actually put the shoes on an off a couple times thinking I had folded the tongue under, but I hadn't. I kept worrying the laces would pull up over the tongue. The cushion is spectacular, however I haven't been able to run in four days due to needing to allow my foot to heal. I still love my Lone Peaks and was hoping the extra cushioning in the Olympus would make longer runs more comfortable. But at this point I'm just hoping that the 30 day test run will hold even though I bought the shoes through an online retailer instead of Altra, and they're telling me that I can't return them worn. Either way, I won't be wearing them again and recommend you don't either.

Shoes had a complete blowout at 250 miles. I will never trust Altra shoes again for fear of injury or being stuck shoeless. Contacted customer service but nothing done. Not good customer service.

Altra makes great shoes, have purchased the Torin 5, 6 & 7, thought I would try the Olympus 6, tried these on, felt GREAT, got home took a walk, a mile into the walk my Achilles/Heel on both feet where burning. There is an Achilles Pillow, that gave me a blister on each foot.

Received these on July 18th, 2024 and have been using them regularly since, fit very well and true to size, consistent with other Altra shoes I've used. I run around 15 trail miles a week in these and other shoes, did a few 20ish mile backpacks and an 80 miler in these shoes. Just like the Olympus 5 design, the strips of Vibram are delaminating from the sole in under 2 months of what, in my opinion, has been moderate use. Will not be warrantying these this time, assume it's a consistent flaw again. Why not just use a full covering of Vibram for the sole?? All of the extra padding in the heel rubs horribly if you have repeated movement in the ankle outside of the neutral position (not great for a trail running shoe). Have never had this experience in a half dozen Altra shoes before.

The padding in the heel is awful, it's like it was an after thought after completing the shoe. Also you can't use any aftermarket insoles because of that padding, because it places your heel in a spot that feels like it's slipping. Which will 100% give you a blister. worst iteration of the Olympus, go back to the Olympus 4 design.