Altra Instinct 1.5

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

Daily trainer · Neutral · Road · 8.9 oz (men's) · 16/16mm stack · zero-drop

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. Comfort and cushioning are its strongest sub-ratings. Looks scores well below its other sub-ratings. The rating is based on 12 runner reviews and 4 other rated shoes in the Instinct product line.

Below average

Overall

Below average 62

Comfort

Decent 73

Cushioning

Decent 71

Durability

Below average 61

Value

Below average 60

Appearance

Bottom-tier 50

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 is low when we have few ratings or when runners disagree.

See the product line's history

Confidence

83 Moderate

Moderate 83

Based on

The bars show roughly how much each source contributes to this shoe’s rating. Their influence depends on how many reviews we’ve collected, how many earlier versions are in the product line, and the external ratings available.

Brand rating
Our ratings
External ratings

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

“Felt more normal after 800 miles”

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

“It gets a little smelly at times running sockless”

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

“Awesome for another 300 miles”

4/5 Full review 40 mpw training for a marathon

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 Oct 22.

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 62. This shoe has moderate confidence. 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

73 2014 79 2015 87 2017 62 2012 84 2018

Release year

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

Instinct 4.5

2018 · 3 reviews

84 Good

70 Confidence
Instinct 1.5 This shoe

2012 · 12 reviews

62 Below average

83 Confidence
Instinct 4.0

2017 · 3 reviews

87 Good

69 Confidence
Instinct 3.0

2015 · 7 reviews

79 Decent

84 Confidence
Instinct 2.0

2014 · 13 reviews

73 Decent

87 Confidence

Runner 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: 8.9 oz (men's)
Release: 2012
Stack: 16/16mm
Drop: 0mm

Runner reviews

Write a review

5/5

Overall

I stopped have bad calf pain once I started running in foot shaped toe box shoes.

Anonymous runner · Jan 15, 2016

30 mpw

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

4/5

Overall

This is a little mixed as I bought this shoe after getting injured running a marathon. I have only been running part of the time since last summer. So far the shoe is comfortable, has a large toe box and forces me to be more efficient in certain parts of my form.

trackgeek · May 1, 2015

6 mpw came from the Brooks Ghost 5

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

3/5

Overall

Anonymous runner · Apr 4, 2015

30 mpw training for a marathon came from the New Balance Fresh Foam 980

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

5/5

Overall

Best shoe I've ever run in. I had been blistering for years due to metatarsalgia and these shoes fixed me and allowede to run pain-free again.

thegrtmrslippery · Mar 22, 2015

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

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

4/5

Overall

I really like the shoe but it only lasts about 8 miles before there isn't enough cushioning so joints get really sore. I haven't had that issue with other shoes.

mkng1 · Sep 18, 2014

30 mpw training for a half marathon