Altra Superior 4

Name: Altra Superior 4
Brand: Altra

Daily trainer · Neutral · Road

Discontinued — we no longer see this shoe in stock. The Altra Superior 4.5 replaced it

How it ranks

The Altra Superior 4 sits about average for daily trainers in our data. Value and comfort are its strongest sub-ratings. The rating rests on 2 runner reviews and 7 other rated shoes in the Superior product line. Another 10 reviews would set the confidence on this shoe's own reviews.

Current estimate: Decent

76/100

Overall

Decent 76

Value

Good 89

Comfort

Good 88

Durability

Decent 74

Appearance

Decent 72

Cushioning

Bottom-tier 53

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

17/100

Very low 17

Based on product-line history, external ratings, and 2 runner ratings.

Prefer this shoe over another

0% 0/3

Where to buy

No offers available

Affiliate links included. They never affect our ratings.

Prices updated daily. Last checked Sep 14.

Pros

Reviewers praise the roomy toe box, with no need to size up.
Reviewers describe a light, fast-feeling ride with solid trail grip.

Cons

The two who rated cushioning give it 3.5 out of 5, the lowest mark on the shoe.

Superior 4 rates 76. This shoe has very low certainty. See how we rate shoes.

Better Shoes Rating of prior versions of the Altra Superior

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

Rating

40 60 80 100

90 2016 84 2017 85 2018 76 2019 84 2021 85 2023 80 2025 87 2017

Release year

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

Superior 3.5

2017 · 5 reviews

87 Good

60 Confidence
Superior 7

2025 · 0 reviews

80 Good

38 Confidence
Superior 6

2023 · 5 reviews

85 Good

39 Confidence
Superior 5

2021 · 5 reviews

84 Good

53 Confidence
Superior 4 This shoe

2019 · 2 reviews

76 Decent

17 Confidence
Superior 4.0

2018 · 2 reviews

85 Good

23 Confidence
Superior 3.0

2017 · 3 reviews

84 Good

44 Confidence
Superior 2.0

2016 · 3 reviews

90 Good

55 Confidence

Reader Ratings

2 ratings

5/5 1

4/5 1

3/5 0

2/5 0

1/5 0

See written reviews Write a review

Specs & fit

Sizing and ride details at a glance.

Release: 2019 Q1
MSRP: $110

Runner reviews

Write a review

Happy toes

5/5

Overall

The toe box is great. I no longer need to buy shoes a 1/2 size larger to make room for my toes. Will most likely be purchasing Altras again when these wear out.

Anonymous runner · Aug 10, 2019

14 mpw training for a half marathon

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

Superior 4

4/5

Overall

I asked my LRS "what's the trail version of the Escalante?" and they handed me this. It's done what was promised so far. A light, fast feeling shoe with solid grip on the bottom. I typically run roads, and run trails on the weekends, and this shoe has served me well for trail runs, probably up to a half marathon. Longer than that I think I would go with Hokas, for more cushion. The only negative I have: in a race last weekend, there was a section of rock, that became very slippery after a short rain. Traversing this section, it felt like I was on ice skates. Looking around at the other racers, I seemed to be handling it the worst. Maybe I'm just way more uncoordinated than everyone else, or these shoes for whatever reason handled that area very poorly.

emil_zatopek · Jul 3, 2019

15 mpw training for a half marathon came from the HOKA Speed Instinct 2