Altra  Vanish Carbon 2 Road-Running Shoes - Men's

I really want to love these shoes. They feel fast, lightweight, breathable, and genuinely do boost my pace and lower my heart rate for similar trainer shoe-based efforts. However, I have had consistent issues with the unnecessarily high heel cup. Historically I've had to use blister band-aids and leukotape to help. It helps but doesn't mitigate the issue. I recently cut out several mm of the heel cup to alleviate some of the pain in hopes that it helps. I'm still waiting for my current blisters to heal before I try them out but the principle of the matter is that I shouldn't have to modify the shoe when they cost this much and are supposed to be the top of the line. How did this terrible heel cup and lip pass quality assurance and performance testing?

Getting older. Bones of feet spreading due to muscle atrophy and getting Sinus Tarsii w impingement of Talus into space where peroneal tendons wrap around lateral malleolous. Physical Therapist has me retraining my forefeet w toe socks and wider toebox. Excercises too. Thank goodness I found these with the weirdest name. Under blacklight they light up like the sun.

I have owned and run in almost every type of Altra shoe out there and have nothing but good things to say about them. I was excited to grab my first pair of carbon-plated shoes in the Vanish 2. My first short run, I developed a blister on my heels and thought maybe it was me or my socks, even though they were not short socks. The second short run with them, I doubled up on Band-Aids and made sure the socks were correct. I bled through my sock into the heel of the shoe, so 8 miles into these shoes, I'm not sure I can continue to wear them. I hope Altra fixes what seems to be a design flaw.

Takes some adjusting to take advantage of push-off from carbon plate, but did make a recent 10-miler feel faster than if I had used standard shoes. I am disappointed in the price vs longevity. It looks like the limited tread is half worn after only those 10 miles. I understand this is a lightweight shoe designed for "PRs", so it's about the propulsion and limited weight, but be clearer that this shoe is seemingly a temporary tool as it's currently designed. I expect at least 300 miles out of the tread of any shoe that isn't explicitly advertising itself as a limited or single-use race shoe.

I own both carbon insole, and daily trainers from each Hoka, ASICS, On Cloud, and Nike. I am not particularly loyal to any brand, and just base my opinion on what feels right. This is my first foray into Altra and I couldn't be more pleased. I got these as a race day shoe and did a 13 mile test run last night. The toe box felt perfect and allowed my wide foot to sit comfortably. There was no need heel slip or lateral slide, and the spring from the carbon helped me push to a pr. I'm going to get a daily trainer from Altra, and can't recommend this shoe enough.

First off yes, this shoe seems to be overpriced, (I spent close to $300 all said and done) especially when compared to other "super-shoes" like the alpha-fly. However, these shoes will last at least twice as long without degrading performance, and you won't have long-term knee or hip hospital bills that you'll have wearing rocker style carbon plates, or any shoe above a zero drop for that matter. Anyways, I primarily wear barefoot shoes while running but I have caved and previously bought the alpha-flys to see what they were all about, and although these shoes aren't as fast they feel soooo much better. Again, maybe it's because I'd make that drastic switch from barefoot to an extreme rocker plate that would debilitate me after a marathon or even a half, but with these shoes the ride feels sooo comfortable and quick. I just ran my fastest half and I feel very good still. It's crazy not having knee pain while having just ran in a carbon-plated shoe! The width is perfect, the upper mesh is truly remarkable with how it disappears even with a runners knot, these truly are more comfortable than the alpha-flys in the long run. To me this shoe is a more "natural" running technology that doesn't cheat your body, and that investment alone is worth much more than the price this company is asking. TLDR: Peak of "natural gait" shoes, definitely pair if you're a base barefoot runner. Price is justified when these will last 2-3x longer than other "super-shoes." Not the quickest shoe relative to other "super-shoes" but close enough without having long-term knee or hip issues.

I couldn't be happier with these shoes. They met my expectations and then some. I have already put 100 miles on them in the last two weeks. No signs of wear or breakdown. Although they are meant for speed, I find myself grabbing these for all my runs. These shoes make running effortless. I have achieved new PR's on my 5k, 10k, and 13.1k. This weekend, I will be taking them out for a long run. I will most certainly be buying a backup pair soon.

First run in the new Vanish Carbon 2: Objectively speaking, I did my easy/training 5K run 24 seconds/mile faster at a heartrate 6 bpm lower. they fit like a glove and feel like a pair of slippers. They are so comfortable and cushioned you can completely ignore them and just run. I didn't think it was possible, but Altra has made a propulsive, cushioned, racing flat. I can't wait for my first race. Hat's off to the designers and engineers.

Looking for shoe with wider box toe and comfort to wear in Clinics several days a week for comfort. No racing or speed work anymore. I love these as they are comfortable, padded well, and I would switch from 11.5 to 12 as slightly small. Question is, Altra says these are for speed racing etc and I'm not into that anymore at 73 with tons of arthritic issues. Does anyone have experience with daily use of these at work?

I am an Altra enthusiast and run 75-85 miles per week. I've been running in their shoes since the Instinct 1. 5. The Instinct, Escalante, Rivera and even 3 Sum (if you remember their tri shoe) were all my go to shoes. I came to the Vanish Carbons because I wanted to maintain my natural running stride while grabbing the benefits of the new carbon super shoes. I have not liked any of the popular carbon shoes with the crazy plushy, soft foams and extreme plate geometry. I thought the foam and plate in the vanish are well done. They need to go back to the drawing board on the upper. It's extremely tough to get locked in, then it stretches out to much and have to readjust after 3-4 miles. I hope the upper is addressed with the rumored version 3. For anyone wanting to stay close to true to the Altra approach but wants better performance in a race shoe, I recommend taking a look at the Mizuno Hyperwarp Pure. Better upper fit and subtly 3. 5mm geometry let's you maintain your running economy.