ALTRA Men's AL0A547G Rivera 2 Road Running Shoe Review

I was formerly a Torin user, but the heel lock on those seems to have gotten progressively worse with each new version. The Rivera 2 gives me a great heel lock and is super comfortable. Hopefully future versions of this and other Altra shoes work the same because I wouldn't mind having a few models that work for me in zero drop foot shape.

My husband bought these Altra’s from REI. He loves them. I thought they look a little huge like clown shoes ;) That’s because of the wide toe box. I finally broke down after I didn’t have much relief from my Hoka’s. I have a neuroma and plantar fasciitis on my right foot and a little bit of arthritis and bunions in both feet(yeah, my feet suck)… I bought these and they really feel great! The wide toe area and zero lift is amazing. I can add in my half arch supporters if my planters fasciitis flares up. Definitely give them a try! Yes. They look a little large/wide, but your feet will not hurt!*I also bought two pairs for my 19yr old son who is a bar back part-time and on his feet for 8+ hours. His feet were killing him and none of his Nike’s helped… He gave in (again, a little clown shoe looking) and wore them. He said they are the best sneakers he’s ever worn and my son has a ridiculous amount of sneakers. ;)

I'm a big fan of Altra and these shoes are no different. There does seem to be a quality control issue with the soles. Specifically, the pinky toe part since it's so thin has come unglued at just under a month of use. I had the same exact issue on my Torin 5 Luxe's. Just know if you buy from this seller, you will not have a manufacturer's warranty. Not too happy about that, but these are being phased out due to the intro of the Rivera 3's.

I have the older pair of these and I use them for running. I feel like they are a little more narrow than my other Altra shoes but still comfy to glide down the road in. However I can only wear them for a short time ( like a few hours to a few more, what’s that like 4-6hrs 🤷🏽‍♂️). Still good and have held up well. I wear 11.5 and have wide feet but not too wide but not too narrow. So average-ish wide-ish

As Altra are known for - the Rivera 2 has a 0mm heel-to-toe drop, that enters my shoe-rotation, and removes any pressures from other shoes with a non-zero drop.As such, my running form reliant on a healthy mid-foot strike, while giving my calves an healthy workout. There is ample space in the the toes-region, that is fantastic for my wide foot. The shoe feels just right, and is incredibly comfortable.Furthermore, it has great cushioning at the sole, and makes my road-running comfortable.As of writing this review, the Rivera 2 is at an incredible price with the introduction of the Rivera 3.The Rivera 2s are a quality shoe product and worth putting in your running rotation should you seek the attributes mentioned above. This is my favorite Altra shoe against the Escalante and Olympus.

I must admit, these shoes are more comfortable than my slippers! Remarkably, they've held up well over the past year, enduring my daily 2-mile dog walks. Initially, I had reservations about their durability due to their lightweight design, but they've proven to be surprisingly sturdy.On the downside, I've noticed that on windy days, I can feel the breeze through the top of the shoes. Because of this, I tend to avoid wearing them on rainy days. I haven't had the chance to test how they handle wet conditions yet. Nonetheless, for their comfort and longevity, I'm quite satisfied with my purchase

For the last couple years, I've been doing a majority of my running in several pairs of Altra's Kayenta. Sadly, with the Kayenta now discontinued (Altra - please consider bringing it or an equivalent low-stack shoe back!), I've been on the hunt for a pair of shoes that hit the points that the Kayenta has so well. I tried out the original Rivera and found the fit pretty sloppy, for lack of a better way of describing it; however, with the Rivera 2 now out, I've been looking forward to getting to try it out.Right out of the box, I noticed the items that Altra had mentioned they'd redesigned, including a different material in the upper and a reshaped heel counter, which Altra have been saying they tweaked to improve lockdown. Sure enough, the heel does fit much better than it did in the original Rivera, and I had no issues at all with my heel slipping out. From the midfoot forward, though, I have to admit I was a little confused about what was going on. A few key notes:• Midfoot - I have a pretty muscular but still narrow midfoot/arch that spreads out to a pretty wide forefoot. It's an interesting combo when it comes to finding shoes that have a wide forefoot but that don't feel sloppy in the midfoot area. Sadly, the Rivera 2 missed pretty badly in this area, at least for my feet, leaving the material in the midfoot ballooning out and around my feet between the front part of my ankle and my metatarsals. This lack of midfoot lockdown then contributed to the next thing I noticed.• Forefoot - Again, my feet widen out pretty far for as narrow as my midfoot is, so I'm usually looking for shoes that are wide/tall enough in the forefoot to allow my toes room to splay and move around naturally while being able to handle changes in direction without my foot sliding to the side. I'll give the Rivera this - it's not overly wide, even for being on the slimmer side as far as lasts go, so my toes did have plenty of room to splay. But even just walking around my apartment, I noticed my feet sloppily sliding from side to side in the shoes. I also found all of my toes bumping up against the top of the toebox; not the kind of feedback I want them to be getting when they'd be moving freely if I were barefoot.• Upper Material - The updated material used in the Rivera 2's upper is stretchier and more accommodating than the prior version's. This is both a good thing (because my toes were bumping up against the top of the toebox and would've otherwise felt very cramped) and a bad thing (because my feet were sliding all over the place inside these shoes).• "Plush-ness" - The tongue and heel are very well-padded and are definitely geared toward a more comfort-based fit, but the cushion level in these areas was just too much for my preference, especially coming from the Kayenta or Escalante, which feel super dialed-in in this area without going to the other extreme of being too sharp/harsh on my ankles.Still, there were things I liked about these shoes, including• EGO cushion - Took me back to my earlier zero-drop transition days and my many pairs of Escalante 1.5s, only with just slightly more cushion to help make longer runs just a little easier to handle. Hands-down one of my favorites as far as midsole foams go.• Outsole - Very grippy; if these things hold up like they have in my other Altra shoes, the Rivera 2 will definitely go the distance and should easily hold up well past 400-500 miles.• Flexibility - As with other Altra shoes, the Rivera 2 is also impressively flexible relative to its stack height.Long story short, I think the Rivera 2 takes steps (pun intended) toward fixing some of what felt "off" in the original Rivera, but, at least in my opinion, and relative to my feet, it still needs work. Maybe it's just that I'm looking for a different type of shoe from what the Rivera is. Either way, I'm hopeful that Altra can improve the fit in the Rivera 3 to reduce the sloppiness and help the shoes feel a little better dialed-in. As with so many shoes that I've tried on recently, these shoes will likely suit the average runner just fine. For my feet, though, they were a no-go, and I'll be looking into other options for the time being while still looking forward to seeing what the 3 (and Altra's other upcoming releases, including Escalante 3 and Torin 6) have to offer.