Superior 3.5

In 2018, I walked the Camino Frances from SJPdP to Finisterre, then part of the Portuguese as a 64.75 year-old. I wore Altra Superior 3.5 (probably not available anymore) - I loved them. They have a removable 'rock plates' that I used the whole time. I did use Superfeet Green insoles. I went about one size bigger than normal and the inside of the heels were wearing by Astorga - I covered the wear with duct tape and they were fine but pretty well shot at the end of about 850 miles (a little bit of training, a lot of side trips, quite an accurate number based on tracking data). I walked part way with somebody who had both knees replaced about 2 years before. He made it SJPdP to SDC. I don't have any experience / input on Torins, but Strongly recommend that you use trekking poles and learn how to use them in advance (you don't need to buy them in advance, but seriously watch some videos - a large percentage of people don't use the straps correctly). ¡Buen Camino!

How do people generally like the new LP 9+ models that are supposed to be more durable? In the past I used Altra Superior 3.5's that fit me well, but had very little cushioning so for long miles or rocks they really wore on me. Tried Topo Pursuits but too much heel rubbing. I bought a pair of Altra Olympus in a pinch I haven't used yet but the stack height feels so high. Wide toe box is super important for me (not wide mid shoe or heel) - I have a lot of toe splay and pinky toes always are too tight if they aren't really wide like altra or topo

My Superiors and Lone Peaks would start to fall apart at 200 miles. The outsole was ok, but the uppers get shredded. I see mixed reviews on Topo. The most durable of theirs I’ve found is the Terraventure 4. It’s low stack and uses traditional EVA instead of their Zipfoam proprietary midsole blend. Zipfoam feels soft but wears strangely as if the foam directly underfoot compacts a lot after a couple hundred miles, but the foam in front of your toes doesn’t compress creating this sort of steep slope directly in front of toes that almost make the shoes feel too small. The EVA in the Terraventures has worn consistently without these symptoms. I just wish they sold that model in a wide. Nothing has matched the width of the Altra Superior 3 and 3.5. Even the latest superiors have been slimmed down and are lower volume.

Altra uses 3 different foot shapes, not all their models use the same shape. https://www.altrarunning.com/en-us/about-us/footshape.html. I started off w/ the Altra Lone Peaks then didn't understand why i didn't like their Superiors as much. Turns out i only like their shoes w/ original footshape (LPs, Timp).

Altra Superior and Lone Peak are even lower stack than the Timp.

I had 3 pairs of superiors shred apart on the upper on both inside and outside just above where it connects to the base of the shoe. Same for 3 pairs of outroads. I've never had a non altra showle do this. They all died at under 250km. I have ~1800 km on a pair of nordas right now, and ~700 and 400 on a couple pairs of Topo mt5s. Ive put over 1000km on each of the last 3 pairs of topo phantoms I have had. I have a pair of timps and they have held up well, and the paradigm 4 was an amazing altra shoe. Altra is absolutely hit and miss and this topic comes up a ton. It isnt and OP thing. Its an altra thing.

Altra Lone Peak and Superior both feel wider to me than Experience

My trail running/hiking shoes that I wear for about any outdoor activity. Currently one of the recent versions of the Altra Superior. Looking at the Topo Terraventure when the Altras wear out. I liked the idea of the Altra Timp 4s because the midsoles have drainage holes, but the stack height/cushion on them is too high for my preference on rough terrain, felt unstable, they ended up being my jogging/gym shoes.

I've also done it in Altra Superiors, the first time I ever wore the v4 shoe was Kearsarge to Piute.

Rock shoe: Outdoor: Evolve Kronos, may be replacing with LaSpo TC pros Indoor: no real preference yet. Boots: 3/4 season General Uninsulated mid boot: Scarpa Zodiac Tech GTX Winter/ice/mixed: Scarpa Mont Blanc Pro GTX Full winter double: Ski Boots -> Scarpa TX Pro Trail shoes: Trail runner: Altra Loan Peak Race/technical runner: Altra Superior, may be replaced with King Peaks. Camp shoe/sandal: Xero Z-Trail. The shoes that get the most use: Scarpa Zodiac and indoor rock shoe. I don’t use approach shoes, the Zodiacs kinda pull double duty with that.