Altra Instinct 1.5

Name: Altra Instinct 1.5
Brand: Altra
Rating: 4.2 (12 reviews)

Daily trainer · Neutral · Road · 9.7 oz · 16/16mm stack

Discontinued — we no longer see this shoe in stock. The Altra Instinct 2.0 replaced it

How it ranks

The Altra Instinct 1.5 trails most daily trainers in our data. Cushioning and comfort are its strongest sub-ratings. Looks scores well below its other sub-ratings. The rating rests on 12 runner reviews and 4 other rated shoes in the Instinct product line.

Below average

61/100

Overall

Below average 61

Cushioning

Decent 76

Comfort

Decent 76

Durability

Bottom-tier 58

Value

Bottom-tier 57

Appearance

Bottom-tier 49

Confidence

How settled the rating is against every other rated shoe. A shoe can rate high on confidence with relatively few reviews of its own when its product line has a long record and external ratings from retailer sites agree. Confidence will score low when we have few ratings or when runners disagree.

See the product line's history

Confidence

82/100

Moderate 82

What runners say

“Only lasts about 8 miles before there isn't enough cushioning so joints get really sore”

4/5 Full review 30 mpw training for a half marathon

“Wide toe box allows my feet to splay when they are planting”

4/5 Full review 50 mpw training for a marathon

“These shoes fixed my metatarsalgia and allowed me to run pain-free”

5/5 Full review 45 mpw 1,564 miles in this shoe came from the Nike Air Pegasus+ 29

“Right amount of cushioning for me to go for 2 hours”

4/5 Full review 30 mpw training for a half marathon

“Stopped having bad calf pain with the foot-shaped toe box”

5/5 Full review 30 mpw

“At 650+ miles, trying to wear a hole in the tough soles”

4/5 Full review 40 mpw training for a marathon

“The removable sole is sometimes annoying and hard to take in and out”

4/5 Full review 30 mpw training for a half marathon

“Little uncomfortable at first 200 to break in”

4/5 Full review 40 mpw training for a marathon

“Originally felt heavy and awkward”

5/5 Full review 50 mpw training for a half marathon

“Has a large toe box”

4/5 Full review 6 mpw came from the Brooks Ghost 5

Prefer this shoe over another

43% 3/7

Where to buy

No offers available

Affiliate links included. They never affect our ratings.

Prices updated daily. Last checked Sep 14.

Pros

Three reviewers credit the wide, foot-shaped toe box with letting their feet splay.
Comfort averages 4.6 out of 5 across twelve reviews, and one reviewer uses it for all their easy long and recovery runs.
Two reviewers get past 500 miles, one of them 800.

Cons

One reviewer finds the cushioning runs out after about eight miles.
Appearance averages 3.2 out of 5, well below its other dimensions.
One reviewer needs 200 miles to break it in, and another says rocks get stuck around the heel.

Instinct 1.5 rates 61. This shoe has moderate certainty. See how we rate shoes.

Better Shoes Rating of prior versions of the Altra Instinct

Each dot is one version of the Instinct, placed by its rating and release year. The gold dot is this shoe.

Rating

40 60 80 100

77 2014 87 2015 94 2017 61 2012 88 2018

Release year

We use the reviews of past versions to inform this shoe’s rating. See why.

Instinct 4.5

2018 · 3 reviews

88 Good

54 Confidence
Instinct 1.5 This shoe

2012 · 12 reviews

61 Below average

82 Confidence
Instinct 4.0

2017 · 3 reviews

94 Excellent

76 Confidence
Instinct 3.0

2015 · 7 reviews

87 Good

80 Confidence
Instinct 2.0

2014 · 13 reviews

77 Decent

78 Confidence

Reader Ratings

12 ratings

5/5 3

4/5 8

3/5 1

2/5 0

1/5 0

See written reviews Write a review

Specs & fit

Sizing and ride details at a glance.

Weight: 9.7 oz
Release: 2012
Stack Height: 16mm heel - 16mm toe

Runner reviews

Write a review

Reader review

4/5

Overall

Lil uncomfortable at first 200 to break'em in, relaced, awsome for another 300, then went stale. At650+ miles, trying to wear a hole in the tough soles for a reason to get da 2's

Anonymous runner · Sep 12, 2014

40 mpw training for a marathon

Comfort: 4/5
Durability: 4/5
Appearance: 3/5
Value: 4/5

Reader review

4/5

Overall

This show and most of the Altra shoes are very comfortable. I really like the wide toe box, because it allows my feet to splay when they are planting.

skaye · Sep 2, 2014

50 mpw training for a marathon

Comfort: 5/5
Durability: 4/5
Appearance: 3/5
Value: 5/5

Reader review

4/5

Overall

jukeysmoot · Sep 2, 2014

75 mpw training for a marathon

Comfort: 4/5
Durability: 2/5
Appearance: 2/5
Value: 4/5

Reader review

4/5

Overall

my real workhorse shoe. since i bought it last year i all of my easy long and recovery runs in this shoe. right amount of cushioning for me to go for 2 hours. still breathable to keep my feet dry. the removable sole is sometimes annoying and hard to take in and out. it gets a little smelly at time running sockless. and rocks that get stuck and hard to get out around the heel. besides that its a great shoe if you dont care how it looks

Anonymous runner · Aug 30, 2014

30 mpw training for a half marathon