ALTRA Men's Escalante 4 Road Running Shoe

** Keep in mind, I'm not some crazy advanced runner. I mostly use these shoes for running outside 4-6 miles when the weather is nice and for the gym.Haven't had the Escalante 4s for long but they have quickly become my favorite pair of Altra shoe's I've owned. I've had my ups and downs with Altra but I don't think there's an all around better brand right now for zero drop running/training shoes. My first pair were the Torin 6s and they immediately got me hooked with their great cushioning and stability. However, they did suffer from some quality issue with bits of the outsole rubber peeling off and the upper ripping slightly in places just a couple of months into owning them. Because of this I decided to give the Provision 8s a try since they had overall great reviews and I had the opposite issue; they held up super well but I didn't love how they felt and eventually ended up with foot pain and shin splints. Later I realized this was my fault for not doing more research before buying them since neutral shoes are best for my feet and these have support for pronation which likely was part of the issue.Now giving the Escalante 4s a go they just feel like a lighter, snappier Torin (which I love)! My feet aren't getting fatigued in them and there's enough cushion to not feel like my battering my legs on the road like some more minimal shoes can do. If you want a great all around zero drop running/trianing shoe, give these a try. Hopefully they hold up just as well as my old Provisions did.

Perfect size for my wide feet. Average stiffness, zero drop and comfortable.

I only have a few miles of walking on these, but I like them so far. I am heavier at 6', 230 and usually walk 5 miles per day, broken up into shorter distances (usually no more than a mile at a time.) My right foot is wider than my left, and my pinky toe is often problematic. It does rub a bit in these shoes (left foot if perfect). I find that as I use them, and once I get walking, they seem to work fine, I don't have any pain after walking. My right pinky toe issue is my problem and does not have anything to do with the shoes themselves. Maybe I need an extra wide shoe on my right foot. These shoes are very light, seem to breathe really well, and I like the way they look; understated, a bit sporty, but no over-the-top graphics. They are very nice when I am in motion, but would not be comfortable to stand around in all day (but if you were light in weight, they might be fine.) I don't expect them to last a long time (for me most modern shoes are shot at 300-500 miles). If I can get that much out of them, I will be happy.

I am really happy with the shape and how much space my tows have. The color is more like charcoal, not really black.

Incredible shoe. I have flat feet and this helped tame my knee pain for running

I have owned four pairs of Escalante 3’s, and absolutely loved them, and as my current two pairs are starting to get to the point that they need replaced, i was excited to see that they have been updated to the Escalante 4. I ordered one pair to try them out, and I am glad that i didn’t go ahead and order two pairs at once and throw out my 3’s.sizing for me was the same between 3’s and 4’s.i was excited for the new colorway of neon yellow 4’s compared to the orange of the 3’s, but as of now i’ve got to call these shoes a miss.in the update from 3 to 4, they reduced the amount of cushioning around the back of the heel AND switched from one seam straight down the middle to TWO vertical seams that run about a half inch from the centerline and sweep out to about a full inch as the upper meets the sole of the shoe. the seams can be clearly felt when you run your finger along the inner heel of the shoe. these seams combined with the reduced cushioning create hotspots on both the outer and inner ball of your heel which can and will lead to blisters. (for me it’s the outer edge on my left foot and the inner edge of my right foot) i started to get these blisters after just 1 mile of light jogging and walking to break them in. i gave them a break for a few days to let my feet recover and tried again. same thing with another mile of light jogging and walking, and i had even made sure to tie the shoes more securely than i had done on the first day. at this point i wondered if i would need to lace in a “heel lock” (which i never had to do on the 3’s, but have had other shoes that required it in the past). i laced in the heel lock, and ran 2miles without any issues, but i felt like i needed to lace the shoes fairly tightly even with the heel lock. i then walked a cooldown mile, and even with the heel lock, i was starting to feel some discomfort in the same hotspot areas.Bottom line, i’ve put 5 miles in them so i’m sure that returning them isn’t an option, so i will keep trying them every so often to see if they eventually break in along those seams, but in the meantime, i will stock up on Escalante 3’s as they reduce in price and before they become unobtainable. i did appreciate the lighter, more breathable knit of the upper. i also think that the full-length tongue of the 4’s seems more securely attached than the 2/3 length tongue of the 3’s (the stitching attaching the tongue eventually broke on one of my pairs of 3’s)

These shoes are extremely uncomfortable. You feel that it’s difficult to evenly distribute weight and you sink into the heel. Both my wife and I tried these and we both, independently of one another, discovered that we had the same experience. They caused both foot and back discomfort for both of us.We both wear zero drop, minimalist shoes regularly, so we know it’s not the adjustment period. These are just not good.

These are the best road runnig shoes I've ever owned.